Less than a year ago, Jamarian Shelly was just a tuba player in Warren Central’s Big Blue Band looking for another activity to try in his senior year of high school.

As it turned out, soccer was his jam.

Shelly tried out for Warren Central’s boys’ soccer team and not only made the roster, he excelled as its starting goal keeper. He capped off a phenomenal rise on Thursday by signing a college scholarship offer to play at Hinds Community College.

“That was the best option. The atmosphere, the coaches, the school, it was awesome. God gave us a gift and we’ve got to use it,” Shelly said.

Shelly played football, basketball and track when he was younger, but never set foot on a soccer field until he went with some friends to Warren Central’s tryouts last May.

“When I heard about the tryouts I said I was going to try out just to be busy my senior year. But after playing it I liked it,” Shelly said.

Warren Central coach Greg Head also liked Shelly’s potential, but was initially skeptical about keeping him around as part of the team. The 6-footer has plenty of natural athleticism, but Head wasn’t sure about his lack of soccer experience.

“This was one of my lucky surprises. He came out for tryouts last May and I almost cut him because he’s in the band and I knew I wouldn’t see him all preseason. He had a lot of athletic talent and he didn’t know much about the game, so I knew I needed to work with him,” Head said. “He made a commitment to come out there at least two or three days a week, and he did.”

Shelly juggled his commitments to Big Blue and soccer during the summer and quickly took to his new sport. He wowed coaches and opponents alike with some leaping saves — Head said Shelly has stopped some shots that were at the level of the football crossbar 10 feet above the ground — and was a fast learner about the intricacies of the keeper position.

“He’s just a natural. He’s not afraid. He’s smart. He picks it up quickly. He made a couple of mistakes early on, but he didn’t make them again,” Head said. “I would’ve loved to have had him for more than one year because of how good he is. He kept us in a lot of games.”

Shelly said he started to realize his own potential early in the season. In the Vikings’ second game he made 13 saves in a 1-1 tie with Germantown.

“After we started winning our games, and after we beat Germantown and I got 13 saves, I was like, ‘OK,’” he said with a smile.

Shelly went on to post 11 shutouts as the Vikings finished with an 18-3-2 record and reached the MHSAA Class 6A semifinals. He averaged 3.7 saves per game. Opponents only scored more than one goal in six of Warren Central’s 23 games.

By January, Shelly was more than just a novice player. He was a college prospect. A Hinds coach approached him after a 5-0 win over Ridgeland in January and offered a scholarship that Shelly jumped on. It was a crowning moment in a meteoric rise — and the first step toward an even brighter future.

“It’s a whole lot of excitement. I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know what to do with the moment,” Shelly said. “I was happy.”