A lot of West Anchorage High School seniors have an idea of what they’ll be doing after graduation. Many will be going right into a career after high school. Some others will being going to a college in-state or in the lower 48. A fraction of those West students will be going to play a sport in college.

Many West graduates have gone to college and excelled on the field such as cross-country runner Kate Weddleton at Tufts University or baseball pitcher Dalton Chapman at Everett Community College.

A select few athletes in West’s class of 2016 will be going to colleges around the country to continue their athletic careers. Some, such as basketball star point guard Da’zhon Wyche, will be attending a community college. Wyche led the Eagles to a 4A state championship victory in the 2014-15 season. After this school year, Wyche will be continuing his basketball career for Laramie County Community College. Wyche says a father’s friend helped him make his decision. “One of my dad’s closest friends, a assistant coach at a division 1 basketball school in Utah was recommending this school. He said that the coaching staff was good and they developed players well there.”

Another West Eagle going to college as an athlete is Mia Keyser, West’s soccer goalkeeper. Keyser has decided to go to Carnegie Mellon University. Keyser is going to be more academic-minded as a college student, focusing on a double major in chemical and biomedical engineering. “I really wanted to go to a college that had good academics. Carnegie Mellon has a really good engineering program,” said Keyser.

Focusing on earning her degree while juggling the soccer season will be hard, “It will definitely be a test of my time-management skills.”, Keyser says. Trying to earn a degree while also working hard at athletics is a challenge for any student athlete. “I hope to get my education up. So I can graduate from college and get better as a basketball player.”, Wyche said.

Activities Principal Brian Hosken says West has about 20-25 students go on to play their sport in college. But only some will be offered a scholarship offer while others will attempt to walk-on to a college team. Hosken says, “We might have some kids that haven’t been recruited. So we have what might be called walk-on athletes, kids that haven’t been recruited, having had any real contact with college coaches or recruiters.” According to NCAA information, only 460,000 high school athletes go on to play a college sport. “Some athletes are recruited and receive some kind of scholarship offer to actually play.”, Hosken says. But they aren’t the only athletes who will be on a college team’s roster. On Thursday, April 28th two students besides Keyser and Wyche signed their National Letter of Intent (NIT): Greyson Adams and Tara DiGeorge. Adams will be going to the Colorado School of Mines next year on an athletic scholarship competing in division 2 soccer. DiGeorge will be attending the Air Force Academy as a swimmer.