Roxborough High graduate gets full ride to High Point U. with Randolph Scholarship
Philadelphia Tribune
Chanel Hill
A 2020 graduate of Roxborough High School is getting a full ride to High Point University in North Carolina.
Sam Johnson is the second student to receive the Randolph Scholarship, created in 2019 by Netflix co-founder Marc Randolph.
Sam, who was the valedictorian for Roxborough’s 2020 graduating class, said he’s looking forward to attending High Point University in the fall and studying sports management.
“I’m so grateful to Mr. Randolph and High Point University for this opportunity,” Sam said. “To know that my college education will be completely covered is an amazing feeling. I’m just speechless.”
The scholarship will cover Sam’s tuition, room and board, books and travel expenses to and from High Point University in North Carolina for four years.
Students who receive the scholarship must attend Roxborough High School, demonstrate academic potential and financial need, and be a first-generation college student.
Randolph, who no longer works at Netflix and now serves on the boards of numerous businesses, is High Point’s Entrepreneur in Residence. In that role, he participates in various events on campus and mentors students.
He is friends with a teacher at Roxborough High School, a High Point spokeswoman said, and “he wanted to give Roxborough High School students the opportunity to attend High Point University through the scholarship.”
Sam plans to take full advantage of the opportunity — make new friends, learn from mentors and play basketball.
“I’m looking forward to going to college in the fall,” he said. “I’m excited.”
Sam played basketball at Roxborough.
Sam was the CEO of Roxborough’s Virtual Enterprises International (VEI) program, in which he launched a business that made deals with businesses from other participating VEI schools. He participated in the school’s academy of business, technology, and entrepreneurship career and technical education (CTE) program.
Through Roxborough’s business CTE program, Sam was able to participate in the regional competition for the Network For Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE), an international nonprofit organization providing entrepreneurship training and education programs to young people.
He won NFTE regional competition with his college basketball recruiting business app Inquest, and competed in NFTE national competition.
“The top basketball programs always get the top best high school athletes, but the bottom programs struggle to get the best athletes,” Sam said.
“There are thousands of players like me who want to go to the next level in any sport, but can’t because they’re not given the opportunity. The app gives players an opportunity to play in front of different coaches.”
The Inquest app identifies and screens players from smaller or non-elite schools that don’t get visited by college scouts and matches them with coaches and schools based on players’ goals and interests.
Sam said the idea for the business came from his own experience as a basketball player.
The 18-year-old has been playing basketball since he was 10.
“There are thousands of players like me who want to go to the next level in any sport, but can’t because they’re not given the opportunity,” Sam said. “The app gives players an opportunity to play in front of different coaches.”
While Sam created the app specifically for the NFTE competition, his business plan allowed him to network with people within the professional sports world.
“I’ve been able to connect with someone from the NFL and in the Philadelphia Phillies organization,” Sam said.
The app currently isn’t available to the public, but Sam said, “it’s a part of my plans for the future.”
Despite having a busy academic and extracurricular schedule, Sam found time to intern for The Galman Group, a property management company based in Montgomery County.
“He worked for us last summer and he worked heavily in SEO, Google, and marketing,” said Brian Paule, chief operating officer of The Galman Group.
“Sam is a great kid who is also very driven,” Paule added. “I’m excited to see what he does next as he combines his love for sports with business.”
Roxborough alum Jardai Sharper received the Randolph scholarship last year. He currently attends High Point University and is majoring in accounting.