By Kyle Coppola
South Sumter High’s Ja’Kyrian Turner Commits To Pittsburgh
South Sumter High School junior Ja’Kyrian Turner is one of the most electrifying players in Sumter County, Florida, and all of Central Florida for that matter. Turner is a 3-star recruit. Standing at 5’10″ and weighing 170 pounds, Turner has made his decision to commit to the University of Pittsburgh, where he will begin playing in the fall of 2025.
(Ja’Kyrian Turner runs the ball. He would rush for over 500 yards during his junior year while scoring 8 touchdowns. Photo Credit – Joe Ott Photography)
But before Turner gets to Pittsburgh, he has one more season of unfinished business at South Sumter High School. During his junior year at South Sumter High School, Turner had over 50 carries for 533 yards. He averaged 10.6 yards per carry and had eight touchdowns. Turner also had 15 receptions for 203 yards and three touchdowns.
Defensively, Turner also had 37 tackles with 15 of those solo. He wound up with three interceptions and five pass breakups as well. Those are some outstanding numbers and a big reason he will be playing at the NCAA Division 1 level come fall of 2025.
(Turner is always a dangerous defensive player. He had three interceptions in 2023. He’s a solid offensive and defensive player. Photo Credit – JOE OTT PHOTOGRAPY)
South Sumter High School continues to send athletes off to major colleges and universities. The program is one of the best in Central Florida and proves why, year after year.
Now that Turner has the announcement out of the way, he turns his attention to a summer of hard work. Ultimately, South Sumter High is coming into the year with one of the best groups of talent perhaps ever assembled, especially on defense. We say this every year about this team, and that’s due to the strong coaching staff and commitment of the players who elevate South Sumter every year.
Pittsburgh is getting a fantastic athlete. Turner will no doubt have a big role to play in the years to come. We look forward to seeing him play one final year for South Sumter High in 2024! Congratulations to his family, friends, coaches, and everyone who has impacted this young man! Go Ja’Kyrian!
Kyle Coppola was born in Newton, Massachusetts and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communications from Curry College in 2016. After traveling to Florida on a family vacation, he decided he could not get enough of the warm weather and made the move from snowy Massachusetts to central Florida 8 years ago.
For the last decade Kyle has gained valuable experience in social media content creation, marketing and sales, writing, video production, sports announcing and even broadcasting for local radio stations, such as FM 102.9 in The Villages and FM 91.5 in Massachusetts. Every year he volunteers at The Villages Charter High School as a play-by-play sports announcer for the football games as well as a public address announcer for the basketball games, including the annual Battle at The Villages Tournament.
Outside the office Kyle is a husband and father to two beautiful girls along with their cat. In his spare time he likes to spend time with his family, travel, play golf and swim. He is also a huge sports junkie and even bigger motorsports fan and loves to attend racing events when he can.
