This story starts in a familiar place for Memphis football fans — a Denton Ryan High School football game.

It was Dec. 18, 2020, and the Raiders were in the midst of a dream season. A few weeks later, they'd win the state title with a blowout win at AT&T Stadium to complete a 15-0 season. A few days after that, their quarterback — the coach's kid — would pack up and make the drive to Memphis, where he'd enroll early so he could compete for the starting job.

He'd win the job, of course. But before all that, on that night in Texas, Seth Henigan was busy throwing for a cool 305 yards and four touchdowns. He had help — 216 receiving yards and two touchdowns by Texas commit Ja'Tavion Sanders and 186 rushing yards and two touchdowns by Oklahoma commit Kalib Hicks in a 52-21 win over College Station.

Matt DeBerry, College Station's offensive coordinator, remembers that playoff game all too well.

"They beat the dog out of us," he said. "I got the Henigan experience for sure."

In the stands was a freshman quarterback named Arrington Maiden. Three years later, it's Maiden who's preparing to make the drive from Texas to Memphis in hopes of becoming the next Tigers starter. He committed to Memphis in June and will make it official during early signing day Wednesday, the culmination of a recruitment process that didn't really get going until earlier this year.

Why Arrington Maiden is a Memphis football commit

Memphis football coach Ryan Silverfield told Maiden and his mother, Arquetta Robinson, that he thought Maiden would be a great fit with the Tigers. And that he'd hold him accountable.

Maiden sat up.

"He said, 'Mom, I think I want to do it. I think I want to commit,'" Robinson said.

"You think, or you know?" she asked him.

"I know," he said, "Without a shadow of a doubt."

"So I stood up," she said. "He stood up. We all stood up. And then I leaned over and I started crying."

Memphis had been recruiting Maiden for months at that point, mostly because of what he did during spring football. He'd been College Station's starter for most of his junior season, but he still went into 2023 with no college offers. So he and DeBerry had a kind of heart-to-heart in January, where DeBerry challenged him and told him what he needed to do if he wanted to play at the next level.

"We talked about how I can get better as a football player, how my character can get better, and what I can do to complete that goal to be a Division I quarterback," Maiden said. "And obviously it panned out."

He started reading the game better, DeBerry said, started changing protections at the line of scrimmage and checking pass plays to run plays. He quickly drew the attention of Memphis offensive coordinator Tim Cramsey, who already had a relationship with the College Station program because one of the Cougars' assistants worked with Cramsey when he was the offensive coordinator at nearby Sam Houston State. There's always a connection in college football, and this one helped draw Maiden — a three-star prospect — to Memphis.

Then they took the visit to Memphis in June. Robinson didn't know her son was going to commit, but she was sold because of something that had nothing to do with football. She was at the facility early one morning and sat down to eat in the dining hall area. She was the only one there, but she said Silverfield saw her sitting alone and came over to talk to her, even asking others to keep her company. That's when she knew, she said.

That also assuaged her fears about sending her son to college far away from home. The visit Silverfield and Cramsey paid the family last week didn't hurt either, when they came to check in on Maiden on their trek through Texas even though he's been committed for months.

Arrington Maiden will arrive at Memphis as a 17-year-old

The 6-foot-2, 200-pound Maiden graduated high school on Friday and won't turn 18 until next summer. He's going to enroll early at Memphis so he can take part in spring practices, which means his college experience will start in early January.

But Robinson has been preparing him for months. They've already done the customary college shopping for the bedding and the toiletries and whatnot, plus they've had plenty of conversations about the major life change and how to handle it.

And he might have a pretty big role to play in the future of the Memphis football program. Henigan announced earlier this month that he'll return for his senior season, but backup quarterback Tevin Carter is in the transfer portal. That means the Tigers will go into next season needing not only a new backup quarterback but a long-term successor to Henigan, and Maiden thinks he can be both.

And maybe he can. He threw for 5,000 yards and 48 touchdowns in his high school career, taking the Cougars on two playoff runs. He didn't start playing tackle football until middle school, and he also wasn't always a quarterback.

Doug Vance, a family friend who coached Maiden when he was growing up, remembers playing him as a wide receiver, punter and punt returner. Maiden's father, Alton, was a defensive tackle who played at Notre Dame. But quarterback was clearly his position.

"He had that arm," Vance said. "It was like, 'Wow.'"

Maiden competed in high jump in high school, but that only gave him confidence to start hurdling people in football games. That had coaches wincing, especially when Cramsey attended a game this season and saw it in person.

One thing's for sure: He's ready to jump forward into his future, and that means calling the Bluff City home in about a month.

"I'm in the high school building right now looking outside," he said, a week before his high school graduation. "I've been in this building for forever, it feels like. And now, I'm leaving a semester early, but I feel like it's the right time. I feel like I left my mark on high school. It's time for me to graduate and go on to better things."

Reach sports writer Jonah Dylan at jonah.dylan@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter @thejonahdylan.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Memphis football: Arrington Maiden, 17, could be Tigers quarterback