With a great season comes great rewards.

Velton Robinson and his Southside Panthers had a great season this year as they marched to the Alabama state title game and now his Panthers are starting to reap some rewards.

Forward Deonta Williams signed scholarship papers with Robinson’s alma mater NCAA Division II Carson-Newman in Jefferson City, Tn. Wednesday morning.

“It’s good for Southside, and good especially for Deonta,” Robinson said. “He’ll get a chance to explore a new environment, it will be good for Carson-Newman basketball.”

Robinson said he asked the Eagles coaching staff to take a look at Williams.

“I coached there, I played there and I asked them to recruit him,” Robinson said. “They fell in love with him the first time they watched him play and they probably watched him play 10 times or more. I never got involved in the recruiting heavily, I just had a little bit to do with it.”

With a host of returning starters, Southside should be one of the favorites to make a state title run next year, but they have to replace Williams’ presence.

“I lost this one so I got to find somebody to replace him,” Robinson said. “I think we’ll be fine.

He meant a whole lot to our program.

We’re losing 17 points, nine rebounds, a great defender and a great kid.

He’ll be dearly missed.”