Mykael Wright’s skills have been consistent thus far in his prep football career, but his location has not.
After spending three years with Valencia prep football, Mykael Wright has enrolled at Narbonne High School of Harbor City. Eric Sondheimer of the Los Angeles Times broke the news via Twitter on July 11.
A change in employment for Wright’s father, Kevin Green, prompted the transfer.
“I received a great opportunity as far as work, so we just kind of had to do what we had to do. I couldn’t pass that situation up, so I had to relocate the family,” Green told The Signal.
While attending Valencia, Wright, a University of Oregon commit, lived with Valencia residents Lori and Michael Wikler, who became Wright’s guardians.
Along with the job change, Green saw an opportunity to be more involved in his son’s life.
“Really, really, really hard,” Green said of his time away from his son. “We try to feel like we do what’s in his best interest and things change and things of that nature, but we tried to do what was in his best interest and we felt like that was in his best interest.
“But I just feel like at the end of the day, I need to be more hands-on in the situation. Especially with him leaving and on his way to college and stuff like that.”
In his junior year with Valencia, Wright hauled in 55 receptions for 1,317 yards and 18 touchdowns while rushing for 341 yards and four touchdowns on 22 carries. On defense, he had two interceptions and one forced fumble.
He and the Vikings went undefeated in the Foothill League for the league title and reached the CIF Southern Section Division 2 championship game, where they lost to Oaks Christian 20-19.
Coach Larry Muir and the Vikings football program found out about Wright’s enrollment at Narbonne earlier this week.
“It’s one of those things where it’s hard to say (when),” Muir said. “We’ve heard things the last week or two in terms of the possibility of stuff, but the question becomes when does he disenroll from the school and when does he enroll somewhere else? It’s hard to pinpoint a day because you heard things but you didn’t know for sure.”
Wright, who declined to comment, will be joining a Narbonne football program that beat Crenshaw 48-7 last season for a CIF Los Angeles City Section Open Division title. The Gauchos went on to win the CIF Division 1-A state title against Pittsburg, 28-21.
Narbonne begins its season in Hawaii, where it will play St. Louis of Honolulu on Aug. 17.
“We’re currently preparing for week zero,” said Narbonne director of football operations Trey Rogers via Twitter direct message. “Our rematch against defending Hawaiian state champion St. Louis High School. We’re very excited about the challenge. Go Gauchos.”
Amidst the changes and the conversation of football transfers in Southern California, Green says he remains focused on doing what he feels is right for his family.
“We’re all individuals, we all have our own families,” he said. “Nobody’s sitting in our seat or my seat to kind of dictate what we do or even really criticize what we do. I obviously don’t know any of these people and they don’t know me either. All they know is my son just from playing football. They don’t know him or they don’t know me … I still have to support my family at the end of the day.”
Valencia football begins its season against Arbor View of Las Vegas on Aug. 24. The Vikings will defend the league title starting on Sept. 28 when they open up Foothill League play against Canyon.
“(It’s a) next man up kind of mentality,” Muir said. “It opens up some spots for guys to compete and we have some good players that did a really good job … We’ll continue down that path and we should be good.”
