Luke Kuechly speaks at StarNews Varsity banquet

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — With the 2016-2017 high school sports year officially over, our areas best athletes were honored tonight at the StarNews Varsity Awards Banquet.

This is the first ever banquet for the StarNews Varsity Awards. the top players in each sport were honored throughout the night including Major League first round pick Mackenzie Gore.

Tthe event brought more than just high school stars as Carolina Panthers Linebacker Luke Kuechly was the guest speaker for the event. He talked about many lessons that the athletes could learn, including the importance of the people sitting next to them.

“One of my most favorite things about playing football from all ages is being in the locker room around the guys,” Kuechly said. “I’m sure it’s like that for all you guys playing sports out there. It doesn’t change. You love being around the guys, you love being in the locker room. You love the constant ribbing that goes on and the jokes and the pranks.”

For all of the athletes receiving awards tonight you can visit the StarNews website by clicking here.