Roosevelt Harris, Jaylon Winters and Rohan Caples have been friends and teammates for years. So why break up a winning team?

The three Warren Central seniors all announced recently that they have signed with Hinds Community College’s basketball team. Harris and Winters will play, and Caples took an offer to be a manager.

“We’ve been together since we were in seventh grade. We’re the only ones left, so we planned it out where we were going to go to the same school,” Harris said. “Coach Williams put it together. He said his only job is get us to the next level and to raise us to be men.”

Harris and Winters played football as well as basketball at Warren Central and will get the opportunity to do it at Hinds as well.

Harris, a defensive back, and Winters, a wide receiver, were both MHSAA All-Region 2-6A selections in football. In basketball, the duo helped Warren Central reach the second round of the Class 6A tournament for the first time since 2018.

Winters led the Vikings in scoring, with 17.4 points per game. Harris was right behind at 16.8 points per game, while also averaging 6.0 assists and 3.3 steals.

Winters said being a two-sport athlete in college won’t be easy, but it’s something he and Harris have become accustomed to. They missed the first six basketball games this season while the football team made a run to the Class 6A semifinals. In their first basketball game, a 70-69 loss to Pearl in early December, they both scored in double figures.

“It’s a challenge, but we’ve been doing it so it shouldn’t be a problem,” Winters said. “We’ll stay up there in Utica for basketball and drive to Raymond for the (football) workouts.”

Harris said he was looking forward to the opportunity to play both sports.

“I signed more for basketball, but I’m going to do both real hard,” Harris said. “I like both of them. Both of them have been good to me and I think I have a chance to make something happen.”

The third member of the signing class, Caples, stopped playing basketball in 10th grade but remained with the team as a manager. He’s responsible for helping the operation run smoothly, whether it’s shooting video of games or making sure equipment is in place for practice.

“What the coach needs me to do,” Caples said in describing his job.

Caples, who also runs track with Winters and Harris, said he was excited to have the opportunity to follow his passion at the next level.

“Coach (Keith) Williams told me he talked to the coach and he had a spot over there. I don’t have to pay for college so I said yeah. I was glad to hear it,” Caples said.