Charles Lester III

Sarasota (Florida) Riverview High School coach Josh Smithers knew early on that Charles Lester was going to be a special talent. Smithers' mother taught Lester when he was in elementary school, and it “feels great because he does everything the right way. When it works out for a young man like this, you just feel great for him.” It definitely has been working out throughout Lester’s high school career. Through his first three seasons at Riverview, Lester developed into a two-way star at receiver and cornerback. As a junior, Lester racked up 487 yards of total offense and four receiving scores. On defense, the ball was rarely thrown in his direction, but he still managed to record 53 tackles from 2021 to 2023. “I do think that he can do it all,” Smithers told ElevenWarriors.com. “That’s part of the reason he’s so highly recruited. He’s long and athletic and has really good feet. He gets in and out of his breaks and has become physical enough to where he can press people and I feel very comfortable against anybody. We play a lot more zone than we do man, and he’s really good at breaking on the football.”