Aiken High boys' soccer coach Roger Carpenter introduced Thursday morning's signing ceremony with a sentiment shared frequently during celebrations of college-bound athletes.
It's a bittersweet moment. There's obviously plenty of reason to be proud, but also the wish to keep that player for at least one more season.
But, as Carpenter said afterward, sometimes you've just got to let them go - especially when it's to go play for the reigning national champions.
Hornets forward/midfielder Reid Raintree is Clemson-bound after a Class AAAA All-State season, and he'll head for the Upstate in January as an early enrollee.
"It's crazy," said Raintree, who led the Hornets with 17 goals and 11 assists in his third and final high school season. "I still can't believe it. Coach (Mike) Noonan is awesome. He's been so supportive of me and very friendly. Same with Coach (Phil) Jones and Camilo (Rodriguez) and Rob (Thompson). I couldn't believe it. I can't wait. Hopefully win some more national championships and, you know, help me into my pro career after."
Raintree, who started playing soccer as a 5-year-old at the YMCA before moving up to club soccer with Aiken FC and then with SC United FC in Columbia, finished his high school career with 40 goals and 27 assists. Carpenter said Raintree's presence made the Hornets a dangerous team against many of the elite opponents they faced, as those teams would often need to commit an extra defender or two to try to hinder his playmaking abilities.
"It's been great. He's an outstanding student, and he's done everything we've wanted him to do as a student-athlete," Carpenter said. "He comes out and works hard at practice. He gets along really good with all his teammates. ... Sometimes you need somebody to step up, and he's willing to step up and take the chances, and he's seemed to to score a lot of big goals for us over the years."
Raintree started for Aiken as a freshman and rarely left the field, appearing in 55 games and finding ways to continuously improve his own game while also elevating his teammates' level of play.
"He's always had a lot of energy," Carpenter said. "When he came in, he played fast. He had good skill. His skill has been really good, but he's really developed as a player. He seems to see things more on the field. He plays fast, but he's also calm on the ball like we see in the higher-level players."
It didn't take Clemson long to find Raintree, who impressed the coaches at first sight and never slowed down.
"I was at an ID camp that United was hosting, and Clemson was there and I did really well, so they started texting me after that," he said. "I played well in front of them from there. I went on my visit and eventually committed. I chose Clemson because they're the best program in the country, and I really couldn't turn that down."
Noonan and the Tigers won the NCAA title last fall, their second in three years and fourth in program history. Noonan recently signed a contract extension through 2030, and his philosophy about the game made Raintree feel at home and showed him that Clemson would be a really good place for him to play college soccer.
He also pointed to a friendly environment within the program that made him feel like a member of the family as soon as he came in. He's excited to still be somewhat close to home, and he's hoping to study civil engineering.
Jones told Raintree he could have his signing ceremony any day he wanted, so Raintree chose Thursday - which was also his 17th birthday. A big crowd of classmates and teammates gathered inside the James A. Taylor Activities Center to celebrate, and Carpenter is hopeful Raintree's example rubs off on his younger players.
"For a lot of them, this is something they want to go and do," Carpenter said. "So it shows you that if you work hard and do well in school and do it the right way, things come to you. Sometimes you don't always get to see the benefits of your work, but in these types of moments you can see that you can reach your dreams of going to play at some big schools and playing for a national championship school. That's something that everybody kind of dreams about but very few get to do. I'm glad and excited for Reid to have that opportunity."
Raintree will graduate from Aiken High in December, and then it's off to Clemson. He'll start freshman classes in January and train with the team as they begin preseason preparations, and then in the fall he'll have the opportunity to suit up for his first college games.
"I'm so excited to just work really hard with a bunch of other people who have the same desires and goals as me, and to make a bunch of friends at Clemson and take some competitive classes, and win another national championship," he said.