It’s hard to tell who was happier about Jeremiah Batiste’s decision to leave Miami University in Ohio and transfer to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga: Batiste himself or his mother, Sharelle Washington.
Call it a push?
It’s a benefit for Washington because she no longer has to make the six-hour drive from Chattanooga — through Knoxville, through Lexington, Kentucky, and through Cincinnati — to the Mid-American Conference school. But it benefits Batiste as well, with the former Tyner standout back in a more familiar place and ready to begin his time with the Mocs.
“It’s my homecoming,” Batiste said Wednesday evening as the traditional national signing day wrapped up. “That’s how I feel about it: Why not go back and help? They were one of the first schools to offer me coming out of high school, so let me repay that. I know it’s going to come with hard work; I’m not looking for any handouts.
“I’m looking to work.”