Last week, some of the top high school student-athletes participated in the annual tradition known as National Signing Day. Each year the high school seniors who have been recruited to play sports at the collegiate level make their official commitment to play for their chosen college in a celebratory ceremony.
National Signing Day has long been a well-known event for recruited football players, but these days the ceremonies honor athletes from a wide variety of sports for both boys and girls. Our Buzz-area Class of 2020 athletes had a strong showing, committing to play not only football at the collegiate level, but also many other sports including swimming, fencing, volleyball and lacrosse.
At Memorial High School, booster club president Frank Dragna addressed a crowd of proud family members and friends and introduced each of the athletes participating in National Signing Day. Athletes sat at tables decorated with balloons and pennants from each of their new schools, and donned college-logo gear like shirts and hats. On Dragna’s command, they all raised their pens and signed their commitments together.
Although it’s referred to as “National Signing Day,” there are actually multiple signing events each year. Some athletes from the Class of 2020 committed to colleges last fall, and another group will commit later this spring. As of last week’s signing day, here’s where some of the talented athletes will be playing:
Bellaire High School
- Justin Jefferson: Football - East Texas Baptist University
- Willie McCoy: Football - Kilgore Junior College
- Jordan Payton: Football - McPherson College
- Aaron Willson: Football - Navarro Junior College
- Armyni Perales: Volleyball - Missouri Southern State University
- Emily Hawes: Volleyball – University of Mississippi
- Darius Reed: Football – Angelo State University
Duchesne Academy of the Sacred Heart
- Sasha Amelang: Golf - Seton Hall University
- Ariel Schumacher: Field Hockey - Lafayette College
- Peyton Valdez: Acrobatics and Tumbling - Adrian College
The Emery/Weiner School
- Peter Berry: Basketball - University of Alabama
- Noah Berry: Tennis - California Polytechnic State University
Episcopal High School
- Tanner Witt: Baseball - University of Texas
- Jahari Long: Basketball - Seton Hall University
- DA Houston: Basketball - College of Charleston
- DJ Nussbaum: Basketball - Virginia Military Institute
- Laney Pieper: Lacrosse - Lee University
- Trinity Watts: Volleyball - Liberty University
Houston Christian High School
- Colton Harris: Baseball - Trinity University
- Wesley Mitchell: Baseball - Texas A&M, Corpus Christi
- Austin Smith: Football - Howard Payne
- Justin Wilson: Football - Missouri Western State University
- Joseph Mosbey: Football - Abilene Christian University
- Zareion Daniels: Football - Undecided
- Peyton Leingang: Football - Olivet Nazarene University
- Thomas Miller: Football - Bethel College
- Malachi Bingham: Football - Ouachita Baptist University
- Peyton Erck: Tennis - The University of the South
The Kinkaid School
- Chris Stallings: Baseball - United States Air Force Academy
- Trinity Curry: Basketball - Prairie View A&M University
- Alexandra Blake: Cross Country/Track and Field - Washington University in St. Louis
- Annabel Skubisz: Field Hockey - Northwestern University
- Wilson Kelsey: Golf - The University of the South
- Regan Arkless: Lacrosse - University of California, Davis
- Everett Easterby: Lacrosse - Middlebury College
- CC Jeffers: Lacrosse - Colorado College
- Haylie Sims: Lacrosse - California State University, Fresno
- Mikaela Lawler: Soccer - University of Mount Olive
- Eren Senyuva: Soccer - Northeastern University
- Zack Nicolaou: Soccer - Houston Baptist University
- Charlie Brenning: Swimming - Texas Christian University
- Peyton Pivec: Swimming - Bates College
Memorial High School
- Jack Riedel: Basketball - University of North Carolina
- Tom Vincent: Baseball - Texas A&M University
- Ben Dukes: Baseball - Rice University
- Mason Flinn: Baseball - Wharton Junior College
- Josh Witte: Baseball - Grinnell College
- Ethan Taylor: Basketball - United States Air Force Academy
- Grayson Buehler: Basketball - Dallas Baptist University
- Mike Bissinger: Fencing - Princeton University
- Isaac Herbst: Fencing - University of Pennsylvania
- Rocco Silvestri: Football - Stetson University
- Jacob Graham: Football - Texas A&M University
- Zoe Slaughter: Golf - University of Houston
- Emma Kelley: Gymnastics - University of Arkansas
- Benjamin Bradshaw: Lacrosse – Colorado College
- Luke Chapman: Lacrosse - Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Sean Kennedy: Lacrosse - Roanoke College
- Kelsey Hranicky: Soccer - University of Texas
- Noah Czelusta: Swimming - Columbia University
- Jenny Reynolds: Tennis - St. Thomas University
- Claire Bryant: Track - University of Florida
Second Baptist School
- Kaitlyn Kollmorgan – Basketball: University of Mary Hardin-Baylor
- Jay Coleman: Football - Houston Baptist University
- Dylan Cordell: Football - Southern Methodist University
- Nate Dyman: Football - United States Air Force Academy
- Josh Johnson: Football - Trinity University
- Jared Monroe: Football - Trinity University
- David Nunez: Football - Lehigh University
- Maddie Johnson – Track – Texas Christian University
St. Agnes Academy
- Lauren Geczik: Soccer - Texas A&M University
- Allie Wieland: Swimming - Stone Hill College
- Kathryn Leach: Track and Field - Undecided
- Julia Bradshaw: Volleyball - University of Pennsylvania
- Sahara Maruska: Volleyball - Rice University
- Abigail Shelby: Water Polo - Villanova
St. John’s School
- Beckett Vine: Baseball - Pepperdine University
- Mary VanLoh: Field Hockey - University of Virginia
- Amelia William: Field Hockey - University of Iowa
- Christine Wang: Golf - University of Southern California
St. Thomas High School
- Blazek Skucius: Cross Country - Lyon College
- Cooper Thomas: Football - Columbia University
- Chidera Umeh: Football - Lamar University
Strake Jesuit College Preparatory
- Dillon Campbell: Baseball - University of Texas
- Drew Leach: Baseball – Baylor University
- Luke Thorburn: Basketball - Case Western Reserve University
- Michael Artlip: Gymnastics - Penn State University
- Barclay Briggs: Football - Davidson College
- Denzel Blackwell: Football - Boston College
- Josh Cashiola: Football - University of San Diego
- Brian Johnson: Soccer - St. Louis University
- Job Trahan: Track - Duke University
Stratford High School
- Clayton Miller: Baseball - Washington University in St. Louis
- Jackson Ware: Baseball - Millsaps College
- Clayton Wendel: Baseball- Angelina Junior College
- Tyler Zyroll: Baseball - Vernon College
- Jaevon Brandon: Football - Sul Ross State University
- Van Heitmann: Football - Rice University
- Pius Njenge: Football - Southern Nazarene University
- Ashton Kettler: Soccer - Rice University
Editor’s Note: Congratulations to the Class of 2020! If you’re a graduating senior and want to be considered for our annual “Where are they headed” story featuring high school seniors heading to college, fill out this survey here.
