ALL-STATE BASKETBALL: Concordia’s White focuses on football

Concordia senior Joey White may best be known as a basketball player.

He led the Orioles’ boys team to the state quarterfinals this season and was named a first-team all-stater last week.

However, basketball isn’t the game that he wants to play in college.

He has set his sights on football.

As quarterback, White led Concordia to an 8-2 record and a second-place finish in the I-70 Conference.

While he made the all-conference and all-district teams, he didn’t make all-state and didn’t draw a great deal of interest from non-NAIA schools.

The 6-footer, who made the Class 2 Missouri Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association team, may have been overlooked because of his size, but that hasn’t stopped the Illinois native.

He most recently tried out for Missouri Valley College, according to Concordia boys basketball coach Brent Cooper, and has several other schools in mind in his quest for a team.

On the basketball court, White averaged 18.8 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.1 steals a game.

He scored 1,161 points in three years with the Orioles.

He was a full-time starter as a junior and senior and started several games as a sophomore. He transferred to Concordia early in his sophomore year, missing the first few games of the 2005-06 season.

“He’s so quick. ... He can take it to the basket,” Cooper said. “He can shoot the open 3, and he’s good in transition.”

Cooper said that White was an excellent defender and a big part of his team’s ball handling.

Kelsey Weymuth, of Cole Camp, made the Class 3 second team.

Weymuth, a three-year starter, led the Bluebirds to a 23-4 season and a No. 9 state ranking late in the year, while averaging a double-double, 15.8 points and 10.2 rebounds a game. He averaged 3.2 blocked shots and 3.1 assists per game.

“He was a steadying influence,” Cole Camp coach Tom Ward said. “He helped take some pressure off people at times. In our area, he would command one or two defenders, and that freed up some people for open shots.”

Weymuth’s game developed over the years. He became more of a physical player while growing about 3 inches in height and adding 10 to 15 pounds of muscle, Ward said.

The coach said playing football helped his strength.

Weymuth is considering several NAIA schools including Central Methodist, Evangel, Hannibal-La Grange, Westminster and William Jewell.

Blake Shrout, of Bunceton, made the Class 1 second team.

The 6-foot senior averaged 16.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game this season for the 18-5 Dragons.

Bunceton finished 10-2 in the Cooper County Activities Association, good enough for second place.

Shrout was named the CCAA’s MVP.