He could have been butting heads and slamming elbows, but Brantly James chose a more sedate, though still punishing, route.
It was never his first passion, but James' distance running ability earned the Poplar Bluff graduate a cross country and track scholarship to Williams Baptist College.
James signed a Letter of Intent at a ceremony at the Senior High School on Tuesday and said the opportunity to compete in both sports was too good to pass up.
"It wasn't the most important thing but I definitely wanted the chance to do both in college," James said. "The first time they called they wanted me to do mainly just track and I turned them down. I was going to go to Three Rivers but I told myself if anybody reached out I again I'd go there, and Williams Baptist did with the offer to do both."
Prior to his running days, James played basketball and not much else. In the midst of his obsession with basketball, it was a long shot he would ever run competitively.
James was cut during basketball tryouts his freshmen year but made the junior varsity team as a sophomore.
When basketball season ended that year, James explored a new endeavor that he could compete in year round and succeeded at it.
"I always wanted to try track, so sophomore year I went out for it and realized I was decent at it," James said. "I just liked being good at something and eventually I got a drive, a passion for it.
"I stopped going to all the basketball stuff in the summer after that and just kept running."
Now a self described ultra distance runner, James runs everything from the 3200- down to the 400-meter run.
As a junior competing in cross country, James finished 21st in conference with a time of 19 minutes, 50 seconds, and 52nd in district in 19:17. In track, he ran the 3200 in 11:47 before setting his personal record of 10:57 at Webster Groves.
In all, James finished in the top 20 six times and he isn't slowing down.
"I'm big into 5Ks and they're going to have me running 8Ks, which I'm excited for," James said.
The 6-foot, 3-inch James will be one of two freshmen on the Eagles' cross country team this fall. The lengthy runner impressed head coach Ryan Bontz earlier in the year and is expected to make a mark in the American Midwest Conference for the Eagles right away.
"Brantley is a hard worker, an all-around athlete that can do sprint events and distance events. He was exactly what we were looking for," Bontz said. "I could see Brantly being in the top 5 scoring for us in cross country. He seems like a real hard worker and I think he'll make an impact right away."
On top of his athletic career, James has set himself up to pursue a degree in theology and eventually become a pastor. With a commute of about an hour and a half from Walnut Ridge, Arkansas to Poplar Bluff, James won't be too far from home.
"They have a good ministry degree and I'm majoring in theology, so that was a big bonus for me," James said. "It's also not too far from home and I like to stay connected with my family and church, so that will be easy for me."