DELRAY BEACH — Overcome with emotion, Henry Bryant III had to collect himself mid-speech during his Early Signing Day ceremony at the Delray Beach Marriott on Thursday night (Dec. 19).

Bryant III, who is ranked No. 2 in New Era Prep’s Top 100 for the Class of 2020, signed his National Letter of Intent with the University of Louisville, the college he pledged his verbal commitment to during the summer of 2019.

“I knew the coaches were passionate about the school and about what they do. So I knew they meant everything that they said,” Bryant said of Louisville. “I just love the whole package they have.”

Ranked as a 3-star prospect by 247Sports Composite, Bryant was ranked as the No. 59-ranked defensive tackle in the nation and the No. 95-ranked overall prospect in Florida.

Bryant will early enroll at Louisville in January 2020.

Bryant was accompanied by defensive end Bruce Adlar, who signed with Bryant University, and linebacker Micaiah Joseph, who will join Tennessee State University.

For Joseph, it was a great feeling to share this moment with his family.

“It’s the best feeling ever,” said Joseph. “They’ve had my back for the longest, and now it’s my time to take care of them.”

At Joseph’s signing was Benjamin senior athlete and NC State signee Josh Pierre-Louis. They two were teammates at Oxbridge Academy in their freshmen and sophomore years before transferring after the program shut down in 2018.

Joseph also attended Pierre-Louis’ signing the day before.

“We always tell each other that our mission is to go and make our families proud of us,” Joseph said of their bond. “Both of us are headed down the right track, he’s going to NC State, I’m going to Tennessee State. We just have a bond that cannot be broken.”