Off the Court News: Class of 2023

<p>Summer is about half over, and the July club season is about to heat up.</p> <p>But before we put the spring completely in the rearview mirror, let’s take a look at some recent off-the-court news involving top-ranked 2023s.</p> <p>There is, of course, no bigger news in the 2023 class than the recent commitment by Maize guard [player_tooltip player_id="1080176" first="Avery" last="Johnson"] (pictured) to play football at Kansas State. A week ago, Johnson was in the national spotlight at the Elite 11 quarterback challenge, where he placed 8th. The four-star quarterback appears fully committed to a future in football, but let’s not overlook that the #13 basketball player in the 2023 class was recently named honorable mention in 5A baseball as an outfielder.</p> <p>Prior to Johnson’s commitment to the Wildcat football program, two other Wichita-area ballers also decided to play football at K-State. Kapaun’s [player_tooltip player_id="1080159" first="Will" last="Anciaux"], #8 basketballer in the class of 2023, committed in April, followed shortly by Collegiate’s [player_tooltip player_id="1080184" first="Wesley" last="Fair"], the #26 basketball player in the class.</p> <p>Here are some other ranked 2023’s in the news (in alphabetical order):</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="1146292" first="Landon" last="Boss"], Osage City, #51 in the class of 2023:</p> <p>The high-scoring forward showed off his arm by claiming 1^st in 3A javelin with a toss of 192-04.</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="1212165" first="Alec" last="Carlson"], Pawnee Heights. #69 in the class of 2023:</p> <p>The leaper from Rozel showed he can do a lot more than dunk. He grabbed 1^st in the 1A triple jump with a leap of 46-05. Carlson also took 2^nd in 1A long jump, his best jump of 22-00.75 falling just .25 inches shorter than the winner, <strong>Emmitt Jueneman</strong> of Hanover.       </p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="1454192" first="Dylan" last="Cervantez"], Valley Falls, #88 in the class of 2023:</p> <p>This multi-sport star added another line to his resume by earning second team 2-1A baseball at the third base position.</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="1300808" first="Patrick" last="Mccallop Jr"]., Miege, #27 in the class of 2023:</p> <p>Miege isn’t quite the powerhouse in track that it is in basketball, but McCallop showed off his wheels by placing 2^nd in the 4A 400 meters with a time of 49.33.</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="1212170" first="Mario" last="Menghini"], Frontenac, #78 in the class of 2023:</p> <p>This multi-sport stud was named second team 3A in baseball as a first baseman.</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="1378391" first="Nakari" last="Morrical-Palmer"], Southeast of Saline, #48 in the class of 2023:</p> <p>When you’re 6-foot-3, you can cover a lot of ground with each step. That helped the springy guard from Southeast of Saline to place 2^nd in the 3A 400 meters with a time of 50.12.</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="1080202" first="Jake" last="Mueller"], Hayden, #60 in the class of 2023:</p> <p>The defending champ in the 4A 300 meter intermediate hurdles came up just short of a repeat. The gritty guard from Hayden placed 2^nd in the event this year with a time of 39.21. Though he didn’t take home the 4A gold medal, his time was still fourth best in the entire state.</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="1080188" first="Joe" last="Otting"], Hayden, #32 in the class of 2023:</p> <p>Pursued by a number of major colleges across the nation as a football lineman, the big man finally made his decision. Otting committed to Notre Dame in June.</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="1454197" first="Tre" last="Richardson"], Highland Park, #104 in class of 2023:</p> <p>It’s time this guy gets more credit for what he’s doing at Highland Park. A defensive stopper and a blur in the open court in basketball, Richardson is making an impact all over the place. He’s a baseball player for the Scots and his recruitment in football is heating up. But it might be on the track that he is at his best. He took 1^st in the 5A 200 meters with a time of 22.32. That time would have won in every classification this year. He also placed 2^nd in the 5A triple jump with a jump of 46-09.</p> <p>Samuel Same’, Derby, #70 in the class of 2023:</p> <p>The big power forward made his college choice recently, deciding to play football at Iowa State.</p>