A look at south KC’s alumni who are college athletes

By Max Goodwin

Over the years that the Telegraph has been covering local high school sports, a number of the athletes we have covered have graduated from the area schools and moved on to compete in collegiate athletics. One of the best parts of following high school sports is watching what the athletes go on to achieve as they move on to higher levels of competition.

A couple of weeks ago, there was a Monday Night Football matchup between the Buccaneers and Texans. The Buccaneers won with a rushing touchdown on the final snap of the game, scored by Rachaad White, a 2017 graduate of Center High School. Starting in just the second game of his career at right tackle for the Texans, in that same game was Aireontae Ersery, a graduate of Ruskin High School.

White and Ersery might have just been two other players on the field if you didn’t know their background. But for many people, they are kids from the community and it’s fun to see their careers develop.

To help make following these achievements a little easier, here’s a list of local athletes who graduated from high schools in south Kansas City and are now competing in Division 1 college sports.

Barstow

Brylee Glenn – Minnesota, basketball: Along with her twin sister, Jaelyn, both have played key roles for Kansas State basketball in recent years. Brylee redshirted last season and transferred to Minnesota, where she will finish out her college career.

Tyler McNeive – St. Thomas, golf: McNeive finished 42nd at the Summit League Championship last season as a freshman.

Center

Roman Smith – Southern, track and field: In 2024, Smith finished as runner-up in high jumps in the Southwestern Conference.

Grandview

Derek Joiner – Houston, football: As a redshirt-freshman this season, Joiner has seen the field for brief playing time in each of the Houston Cougars’ three games as an offensive lineman. In high school, he mainly played as a defensive lineman and was the 20th-ranked player in the state.

Essence Kendall – Alabama State, track and field: Kendall is a junior and performs jumps for the Alabama State track and field team.

Raymore-Peculiar

Jaidyn Doss – Kansas, football: Doss had just two catches for 20 yards in his career when he decided to transfer from Nebraska to Kansas this summer.

Dalton Smith – Kansas, baseball: In his junior year, Smith transferred to Kansas from Kansas City Kansas Community College last year, and pitched 22 innings with 26 strikeouts out of the bullpen in his first season for the Jayhawks.

Kaidyn Wilson – Texas A&M, baseball: In 2025, Wilson was a sophomore left-handed relief pitcher who pitched in 22 appearances with 26 strikeouts and a 4.43 ERA. He was drafted by the Miami Marlins in the ninth round with the 258th overall pick this summer.

Rockhurst

Henry Acorn – Virginia, cross country: Starting his freshman year after winning the Class 5 state championship in 2024 with a time of 14:52.40. Acorn is arguably the best cross country runner ever to graduate from Rockhurst.

Andrew Baklanov – SMU, swimming: After dominating high school swimming as a five-time state champion and the 2024 Missouri High School Swimmer of the Year, Baklanov heads to Dallas as a freshman at SMU this year.

Jack Bichelmeyer – Ohio State, lacrosse: This will be Bichelmeyer’s freshman season at Ohio State.

Thomas Coppinger – TCU, football: While on the Rockhurst football team, Coppinger brought the energy to the Hawklets’ defense. Now he’s in his freshman year as a linebacker at TCU.

Charie Gormsen – VMI, lacrosse: Appearing in six games last season, Gormsen enters his sophomore year.

Alex Hogan – Kansas, golf: Hogan is a redshirt-freshman this year. At Rockhurst, in 2022 he was Class 5 District 4 Individual Champion.

Will King – Kansas, golf: In high school, King was the 2022 Missouri Class 5 state champion. He’s continued winning as a Jayhawk. As he entered his senior year at Kansas, King won the 115th Kansas Amateur Championship.

Colin Komenda – Denver, lacrosse: The 2023 LAKC MVP is a freshman at Denver.

Luke McNamara – Utah, lacrosse: As the all-time school-leader in goals at Rockhurst. McNamara is already living up to the expectations at Utah. In his freshman season he led the Utes in goals scored with 33.

Ryan Reid – Furman, soccer: Reid redshirted last season after injury. He enters this season as a redshirt freshman.

Andrew Sprague – Michigan, football: Starting at right tackle this year for the Wolverines as a sophomore, Sprague was the sixth-ranked offensive tackle in the country when coming out of Rockhurst.

Anthony Totta – Sacred Heart, wrestling: Entering his freshman year.

Zack Zumwalt – St. Mary’s, cross country: Zumwalt is a sophomore at St. Mary’s.

Ruskin

Tj Ross – Northern Illinois, track and field: During the offseason, Ross transferred from SEMO to Northern Illinois. She competes in long jump and triple jump.