Three North Platte High School seniors sign to play college athletics
(DEARBORN, MO) - North Platte High School seniors Brenden Matt, Cameron Wortham and Chase Harper all had their college signing days on Wednesday.
Matt signed to play basketball at Grand View in Des Moines, Iowa. Wortham signed to play football at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas and Harper signed with St. Mary football in Leavenworth, Kansas.
Starting with Matt, he leaves North Platte as a 3-time unanimous All-Conference selection, 3-time All-District Selection and 2-time All-State player. Matt finished his career with the 4th most made 3-pointers in state history and the second most in state history in 3's made in a single season. Matt's the school's all time leading scorer with over 2,000 career points. He averaged 26 points a game his senior season in which the Panthers finished 27-5 and a school best third place finish at state in Class 3. Matt's ready to continue on playing in the next level for the Grand View Vikings in the Heart of America Conference.
"I just like the campus a lot and I like the coaches. I talked to them a bunch and I'm I'm just pretty excited to get down there and get back to work," said Matt. "It's really cool to say, I came in, we were 9-18 my first year as a freshman, and then we just ended this year with 25-5, it's just awesome to look back and think about all the stuff I did. I started almost every game in my freshman year, but I mean I wasn't near the player I am now, it's a lot of time in the gym."
For Cameron Wortham, he's going to play on the defensive line at Benedictine College. Wortham was a stalwart offensive and defensive lineman for the Panthers and helped North Platte reach the state championship two seasons ago for the first time since 1998. Wortham had multiple offers to go to other schools like William Woods, Mid-America Nazarene and Central Methodist but he chose Benedictine College for the culture that head coach Joel Osborn and his staff has brought there.
"They're just like the coaching staff here (at North Platte), they'll tell you straight how it is and how to fix it. They like how like (coach Jared) Quigley said that, it's hard to move me on the line," said Wortham. "It's just hard to move me. I love it. I love just tackling people, interrupting everyone's process of trying to make plays, make yards, make catches, everything about it, chasing quarterbacks."
Another strong offensive lineman for North Platte, senior Chase Harper chose to play football for the St. Mary Spires in Leavenworth, Kansas. Harper will look to compete for a tackle spot there and also compete for the long snapper role. He's grateful for his time at North Platte where he helped restore the toughness of Panther football. Harper's also excited to continue playing in college.
"I love the culture that they have over there. I was over there yesterday watching them work out. It's just they have a really good bond in that weight room, and I went to a spring game there last spring, and they all connected on the field, I like that a lot," said Harper. (Making it from a small town), that means a lot because, my dad gives me the stat on it all the time on what the percentage is who makes it and whatnot. I think it's great to finally be from this small town and get noticed out there."
