Two St. Joseph Mustangs athletes commit to Wichita State
Jun. 28—The St. Joseph Mustangs' success on the baseball diamond has been showcased week in and week out, but there have been some big wins for a couple of players off the field, as well.
St. Joseph native and Lafayette graduate Brayden Luikart, alongside Mustangs and former Johnson County teammate Ryan Callahan, recently committed to continue their academic and baseball careers at Wichita State.
"Wichita State, I think it's a good opportunity for my playstyle, my personality and it being a little bit closer to home so my family can come watch definitely plays a big part in it, and I'm excited about the opportunity," Callahan said.
"For me, I mean, Wichita State has always kind of been a dream school. It's close to home, like Ryan said, and you know, the coaching staff there I have experience with, and so that made it a lot easier," Luikart said.
The Shockers hired recruiting coordinator Clay Overcash, who worked the past six seasons at Oklahoma and spent 18 seasons before that as an MLB scout, and hitting coach Anthony Miller, who was at Johnson County last season.
Overcash previously recruited Johnson county outfielder Luikart, while Miller worked this past season with infielder Callahan and helped WSU edge out Big 10 schools in recruiting for him.
"It definitely makes the transition a lot easier," Callahan said. "Getting an opportunity to play with one of your really good friends is really cool and there will be a lot of new guys on the team. So, kind of just hopping into that new situation with somebody who, you know, is going to have your back is really cool."
There's another connection to Wichita State, as manager Johnny Coy Spent the fall semester at Arizona State and redshirted in the spring at Wichita State. Even more impressive, Coy was drafted in the seventh round by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 2008 Major League Baseball draft.
Both athletes are thankful for the guidance from their manager, and are proud to carry on a legacy for a college that means a lot.
"We talked about it and obviously talked about it here, and he's kind of been huge in the whole recruiting process about reaching out to schools," Luikart said. "He had a little bit to do with it, but it just kind of worked out how it worked out and happened that he went there."
"Yeah, I've known the Coy family for a little while, just growing up with youth baseball playing against him, but this was my first summer meeting Johnny, and he's been great to me so far," Callahan said. "I mean, he was super excited for me... he was pumped up, so that's really cool."
As mentioned, the two were teammates at Johnson County, but their history goes a little deeper. The two competed against each other every weekend since they were 8-years-old.
Now, the game has come full circle, and the two are ready for the next step.
"Baseball runs full circle, so it's kind of weird how it works where we grew up playing each other and then we end up on the same junior college team, and now we're going to the same university," Callahan said. "It's going to be a lot of fun. I'm super excited about it."
