Page Wofford had been around Xavier Means for about three years, but was still unsure how good the 6-foot-1, 170-pound quarterback could be entering the 2026 football season at Northwestern High School in Rock Hill, S.C.

“We didn’t know what we would have,” said Wofford, Northwestern’s veteran head coach. “He had a really good JV season at quarterback, and they won a bunch of games. He was a huge part of that. We knew he could run. But Thursday (JV games) and Friday (varsity games) are different. So we weren’t sure what we were going to have on Friday night.”

It didn’t take long for Means, the son of Northwestern defensive back coach Antwoine Means, to provide a preview of things to come in the Trojans’ first preseason scrimmage.

“The first play of the game, his first time as a (varsity) starter, he keeps the ball and runs about 80 yards for a touchdown,” Wofford said. “So it was kind of like, ‘OK.’ He just continued that and put together a whole season for us.”

Means not only put together a “whole season,” but he also led Northwestern to 5A Division II state championship. He capped an epic junior campaign in the title game by accounting for six touchdowns in a 55-13 romp over Irmo.

The victory earned the Trojans a second straight state championship and completed a 13-1 2025 season. Means was front and center during the 2025 title drive, producing 4,112 of Northwestern’s 6,024 yards of total offense and participating in 52 of its 82 touchdowns. He racked up numerous postseason honors, including Tri-County 4-A/5-A Offensive Player of the Year and South Carolina Offensive Player of the Year from @RivalsHS.

The performance caught the attention of dozens of universities who offered Means a scholarship. But it was East Carolina that gained Means’ verbal commitment on June 13 during his official recruiting visit to campus. Means chose the Pirates over offers from Albany, Charleston Southern, Fordham, Furman, East Tennessee State, Howard, Lafayette, Lenoir-Rhyne, Liberty, Massachusetts, Morgan State, N.C. Central, North Greenville, Richmond, The Citadel and Towson.

East Carolina entered the recruitment of Means last spring, extending an offer on May 31. Their recent success on the field and recruiting the state of South Carolina gave the Pirates an upper hand immediately with Means. ECU is coming off a 9-4 finish and currently has 12 former South Carolina prep players on its roster for 2026.

“They’ve (ECU) done a good job of promoting their brand in our state and really coming and picking up some good players,” Wofford said. “They came to the school in the spring, were able to talk with him and kind of stroke the relationship.

“I think the quality of football there (ECU) is a factor (in Means’ commitment). They are a big-time football school, and I try to explain that to our kids going through the (recruiting) process. I say, ‘Hey man. It’s the real deal up there, and when you get to a game in Greenville you’re going to see something special. So he went on a visit and really fell in love with the place.”

Despite his success at quarterback, Means probably won’t play that position at ECU. Wofford said the Pirates have recruited Means as an “athlete,” who could wind up at receiver or defensive back. Speed — Means has been timed at 10.6 seconds in the 100-meter dash — is one reason for the potential position change.

“I think they’re going to find the best place for him to help the team, and he’s more than OK with that,” Wofford said. “He’s 6-foot, even barefoot and 165, 170 pounds. That doesn’t scream quarterback to a lot of these big-time schools. But he ran a 10.6. He can really, really go. I think they (ECU) saw that.

“When you work him out, anything he does with his feet is going to look really special. So when they (ECU) saw his footwork and kind of what he can do — receiver, defensive back, quarterback, the return game — he can do just about anything he wants.”

Wofford believes Means could also be an effective college quarterback, if given the chance. And Wofford is well acquainted with the tools it takes to play under center at the major college level. He was Northwestern’s wide receiver coach in 2012 and 2013 when future NFL starter Mason Rudolph was the quarterback.

“I’d love to see them give him a chance at quarterback,” Wofford said. “I think he’d impress some people with the things he can do back there. However, I think receiver, defensive back are easy positions for him to make an impact.”

Means will be the second member of his family to become a college athlete when he reports to ECU next spring. His father, Antwoine, was a standout baseball player in the last 1990s at Coppin State. The elder Means was an infielder-outfielder for the 1995 Coppin State squad that earned the school’s first MEAC championship and NCAA tournament bid. The entire team was enshrined in Coppin State’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 2016.