By Joe Medley, East Alabama Sports Today

PIEDMONT — Purple is not a Piedmont color, but family connections helped purple reign at Monday’s ceremony to mark Ben Dempsey’s and Om Patel’s signings.

Dempsey, a standout defensive back, and Patel, a high-flying pole vaulter, signed with Millsaps College.

Dempsey, a first-team All-Calhoun County selection after helping Piedmont reach the Class 3A semifinals for the second year in a row, will follow sister Claudia to Millsaps.

“It’s a good school, and they reached out to me and were one of the first schools that really got in touch with me,” Dempsey said. “They showed me some interest and love.

“I just love the academics there. I love where it’s at. My sister goes there and runs track and cross country.”

Claudia Dempsey, a distance runner, is a sophomore, and former Piedmont sprinter/jumper Katie Brown is a freshman on the team. Having two former teammates on the track teams helped Millsaps land on Patel’s radar.

“I just started running, and after Katie and Claudia went, I went and visited,” Patel said. “I really liked the school, so I reached out to coach.

“I was like, ‘Hey, is there an opening for me? I’d really like to compete.'”

Adding pole vault to his event load wound up being his ticket.

“Coach was like, ‘Hey, you started pole vaulting, I saw,'” Patel said.

Patel vaulted 11 feet, 6 inches at sectional.

“Which would’ve easily cleared 12, if you would’ve saw the jump,” Piedmont track coach Burt Lavendar said. “I was like, ‘Oh my gosh.'”

The 5-foot-11, 170-pound Dempsey had what Piedmont football coach Jonathan Miller called a “phenomenal” senior season, with 57 tackles, two tackles for loss, one fumble recovery, one interception, two blocked punts, on kickoff return for a touchdown and on punt return for a touchdown.

“Ben’s always been a guy that’s opportunistic,” Miller said. “He’s never been afraid to try to step out there and make a play, especially when the ball is in the air. He was kind of that daring guy for us on the back end.

“Ben is tough. He’s a competitor, and he’s a good teammate.”