With one announcing on Christmas, the other on New Year’s Day, two Wisconsin high school football players say they plan to enroll at two-time state champion Milton for the 2025 season.
It’s not unusual in Georgia for high-profile high school athletes to transfer, especially to destinations such as Milton, which finished No. 2 in six national polls this season. But two players announcing long-distance moves on social media with matching artwork might be a new one.
Milton coach Ben Reaves, working Thursday at the Under Armour All-America Game in DeLand, Florida, said he didn’t know the Wisconsin players.
Bentley Hickman, a 2026 running back who played last season at Homestead High in Mequon, posted his intentions Wednesday on X (formerly known as Twitter). “I am so so thankful for what Homestead High School and the district has done for me,” the post read. “The community, the love and support that I got there was incredible. But I will actually be finishing my last year at Milton High School in Georgia!”
Hickman tagged Milton and football coach Reaves.
A week earlier, the quarterback of Milwaukee Academy of Science, Brayln Albritton, made a similar X post with the same artwork with Milton’s school logo and a photo of Milton’s field and stadium. Albritton also is a rising senior.
Albritton’s X profile says he is 6 feet, 4 inches and 215 pounds. He posted that he passed for 2,830 yards and 20 touchdowns last season.
Bentley indicated he is 5-10, 205 pounds and rushed for 944 yards, despite missing three games last season.
Reaves said he would sort things out when he returned from Thursday’s All-Star game.
“I honestly don’t know them or know anything about them,” Reaves said. “Whenever we get back to work I’ll be able to see if they’re enrolled and who they are.”
Milton’s leading passer, Luke Nickel, and rusher, T.J. Lester, were seniors this season. Nickel was The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s all-classification player of the year. Lester rushed for 1,848 yards and signed with West Georgia.
Both Wisconsin players are college prospects, though neither has a profile on recruiting sites On3 or 247Sports, which would mean they aren’t rated as major Division I recruits yet. Nine Milton seniors signed with ACC or SEC programs last month, and all were showing up as three-star recruits or higher on recruiting sites a year ago.
Milton and many other top Georgia programs are accustomed to players moving in. Several of Milton’s starters this past season began their high school careers elsewhere. They included tight end Ethan Barbour, a Georgia signee who played the 2023 season at Alpharetta, and offensive lineman Brayden Jacobs, a Clemson signee who came from Buford. Jacobs arrived just days before Milton’s first game, which was against Jacobs’ former team. Both made first-team all-state with Milton.
To be eligible in Georgia, the Wisconsin players must move into the Milton district with their entire family units.
The most recent high-profile, out-of-state transfer coming to Georgia was Jake Garcia in 2020. A quarterback from California, Garcia moved to Valdosta because California was not playing football during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Georgia High School Association ruled Garcia ineligible after one game because Garcia didn’t move with his entire family. He then transferred to Grayson and won a state title. The GHSA since changed the rule to say that athletes ineligible at one school cannot be immediately eligible at another.
This past season, quarterback Hezekiah Millender came to Clarke Central from Arizona. He surprisingly wound up in Georgia’s signing class after being committed to Boise State for almost four months.
The overwhelming majority of transfers go smoothly.
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