KC area recruiting notebook, Part 1

With only days leading up to the second signing day for college football programs, area standouts from the Kansas City area have announced their intentions of where they will play in the fall of 2022 and beyond. After a wave of Division I-bound stars during the December signing period, there are more players headed to college football’s top level this time around. Here’s some of the players who used social media to announce their respective decisions: Richmond LB/ATH [player_tooltip player_id="37552" first="Keyshaun" last="Elliott"] picked New Mexico State University where he will play for new coach Jerry Kill. Elliott, who was the quarterback for the Spartans this fall, made the decision in December. Elliott, who recently scored his 1,000th point playing basketball, took game day visits to Missouri and Kansas State. North Dakota and Army also offered him scholarships. All-State WR [player_tooltip player_id="178714" first="Isaac" last="Koch"] from Rockhurst has decided to take a preferred walk-on spot at Kansas State. The 6-2, 185-pounder with a 4.59 40-yard dash also visited Kansas the week prior to committing to K-State. Missouri State, Northwest Missouri State, South Dakota also had offers out to Koch. Park Hill South OL [player_tooltip player_id="179113" first="Ethan" last="Hellebusch"] received a preferred walk-on offer from Missouri on Jan. 11 and after visiting the school on Jan. 22, he decided to commit to the Tigers on Jan. 26. Hellebusch and teammates [player_tooltip player_id="172619" first="Jack" last="Bjorn"] and James ‘Sticks’ Williams all visited Columbia on Jan. 22. Park Hill South RB [player_tooltip player_id="230498" first="Lucas" last="Oitker"] is headed to Topeka, Kansas, to play for Washburn, committing on Jan. 9 — four days after visiting the school. Oitker also had an offer to wrestle at William Jewell. Park Hill South LS/OL Liam Aldridge is staying close to home, picking Division II William Jewell. Avila, Missouri Western, Kansas Wesleyan were other schools that had expressed interest in Aldridge. Liberty North C [player_tooltip player_id="172643" first="Wyatt" last="Newcomer"] committed to Western Illinois on Jan. 17, two days after the Leathernecks extended the scholarship. He had a PWO offer from Southeast Missouri, while Division II schools William Jewell and Fort Hays State offered the all-stater. He took game-day visits to Pitt State, Northwest Missouri and Central Missouri. Smithville DL [player_tooltip player_id="96231" first="Mason" last="Crim"] committed to Truman State on Jan. 21. The all-stater had offers from Grand View, McPherson, Graceland, Culver-Stockton, Quincy, Northwest Missouri State, Tennessee Valley Prep Sports Academy. Also headed to Truman State is Liberty’s Hunter Biesemeyer, tweeting his commitment on Jan. 26. The linebacker is currently wrestling for a Liberty squad seeking a third-straight Class 4 title. Smithville’s [player_tooltip player_id="96165" first="Rhett" last="Foster"] committed to play at South Dakota State on Jan. 23. The all-state WR had offers from Northern State, Concordia St. Paul, Missouri S&T, Benedictine and William Jewell for football and Pittsburg State for track and field. Foster, a 6-3 target, had 806 yards and 7 TDs despite missing two full games with injuries and most of a third. Northwest Missouri State is adding Fort Osage LB [player_tooltip player_id="96258" first="David" last="Jacquez"], Truman DB Patrick Martin and Smithville LB [player_tooltip player_id="96260" first="Cody" last="Simoncic"]. Martin is an all-state track runner and all-conference WR/DB for Truman, coached by Charlie Pugh, a former Bearcat. Simoncic was the Class 4 defensive player of the year by the Missouri Football Coaches Association. He had offers from most of the MIAA schools and bypassed a chance to play with his brother Kellen, a QB at Washburn. Jacquez, from Independence like Martin, was the Eastern Jackson County Examiner defensive player of the year and Suburban Conference White Division defensive player of the year. He also had offers from Baker and MidAmerica Nazarene.