John Petty Jr. didn't digest the magnitude of his popularity until the day in 2017 when he led Mae Jemison High School in Huntsville, Alabama, to a 5A state championship.
After the title game, the five-star recruit and Alabama commit told his head coach, Jack Doss, he wanted to find his family in the parking lot. But Doss advised the reserved player and eventual leader for No. 11 Alabama (vs. Georgia, Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET, SEC Network) to wait.
"My coach said, 'Hold on, give it a minute. You don't want to go out there yet,'" Petty recalled.