It’s been quite some time since Braden Wilmes has been to Clemson for a game.
The 3-star offensive lineman (Lawrence Free State, KS) was in Death Valley for the Tigers’ 66-20 rout of App State, the first time he has attended a game since he was three years old.
There were multiple things that stood out to the high school junior, with how well the Tigers played and the wild environment being one of the things at the top of the list.
“The coaches had the team ready to go and the the guys came out and played really well,” Wilmes told The Clemson Insider. “The fans were into it and it got incredibly loud.”
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Wilmes also enjoyed getting to experience firsthand some of Clemson’s pregame and postgame traditions.
“They arranged the recruits to be up close to the players as they got off the buses and ran down the hill,” he said. “We also got to celebrate the win in the locker room with the team and hear from Coach Swinney. Something I will not forget.”
Despite going to high school in Kansas, Wilmes does have a connection to the Clemson program. His mother is a graduate and he is a lifelong fan. Both of his parents accompanied him on this visit and all three came away overly impressed with the experience.
Since the beginning of the contact period in June, Wilmes’ relationship with offensive line coach Matt Luke has only grown stronger, despite the fact that he is still early in the process. Assistant offensive line coach Carson Cramer has also been involved and the 6-foot-8, 280-pound prospect appreciates how transparent both have been with him.
“I’ve had the opportunity to talk with both him and Coach Carson Cramer a few times over the last couple of months,” Wilmes added. “Like any recruit in the early stages of the recruiting process, we’re getting to know each other. I’ve come to appreciate their honesty with me and am looking forward to seeing how I could fit into the Tigers’ offensive line room in the future.”
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Wilmes currently has offers from Wisconsin, Kansas, Kansas State, Minnesota, Utah, Iowa State, Iowa, Arkansas and he is also hearing a lot from Northwestern.
However, it’s the Clemson offer he is looking to add at some point in the future.
“It would mean quite a lot to me,” he said. “I have been a fan my entire life and it would be amazing to have a chance to go and play for the team I have rooted for my entire life.”
While Wilmes has yet to firm up any timeline on making a decision, he said he could see himself making a commitment by late spring next year, or maybe early summer. The hope is to get back to Clemson for another game at some point this season, and then return for one of the junior days early in 2025.
As he continues to navigate this process, Wilmes is looking for the best fit, but at the same time, he is extremely focused on his junior season.
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“I’m trying to find the right balance between great academics, location, football skills development, and of course, a sense of family between coaches, staff and my future teammates,” Wilmes said. “I’ve got tremendous opportunities with each school showing interest in me and I’m very thankful to be in this position. For now, however, I want to spend as much time as I can focusing on my junior season, being a great teammate and doing everything I can to help my team be as successful as possible.”
Photo courtesy of Braden Wilmes on X (formerly known as Twitter)
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The Kansas City Chiefs are in the midst of a dynasty most NFL fan bases can only dream of. They’ve made the playoffs in nine straight years, have eight straight division titles, four Super Bowl appearances, and three Super Bowl wins in the last decade alone. Patrick Mahomes has played in the AFC Championship Game in each of his six seasons as a starter.
The Chiefs have been as dominant as any team over the last ten years, but they appear even more dominant if you look at a smaller sample size. The Chiefs have won back-to-back Super Bowls and three of the last five overall. They are looking to three-peat in 2024, and seemingly have as good of a chance as any team to win it.
Chiefs fans are as confident as ever, especially after their team won a nail-biting Week 1 game against the Baltimore Ravens in a 2023 AFC Championship Game rematch. The same can be said about Chiefs safety Justin Reid, who disclosed the only possible thing he believes can stop the Chiefs from three-peating on a recent episode of the Up & Adams Show.
“Honestly, I don’t think that anyone has a shot with us as long as we’re playing our form of ball, really,” Reid said. “I think our biggest enemies will be ourselves and staying true to the process, never relaxing, never taking our foot off the pedal and just keeping everyone as healthy as possible so we can go into the postseason ready to go. I think as long as we keep ourselves into the game [and] don’t think that anything will be given to us, I don’t think anyone can really challenge us.”
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Reid believes that the only thing standing in the way of the Chiefs is the Chiefs themselves. As long as they’re playing what Reid describes as their form of ball, nobody can challenge them.
If we’re being honest, Reid could easily be right. The Chiefs have won back-to-back Super Bowls and just gave Patrick Mahomes arguably the best supporting cast he’s had since the days of Tyreek Hill and Kareem Hunt. The problem is he appears to be counting the opposition out.
The AFC is incredibly stacked. The Chiefs did just defeat the Ravens, but the game was awfully close and Baltimore might’ve won it if Isaiah Likely’s foot remained in bounds. Teams like the Houston Texans, Buffalo Bills, and Cincinnati Bengals (if not more) loom as at least somewhat realistic threats in their own conference.
Even if the Chiefs do win the AFC, there are still the elite teams in the NFC to deal with in a potential Super Bowl like the Detroit Lions, San Francisco 49ers, Dallas Cowboys, and Philadelphia Eagles.
The Chiefs should be considered the clear favorites to win another Super Bowl. They have the best quarterback in the world, a really good defense, and as strong of a supporting cast as Mahomes has had in a while. Still, if they’re going to just gloss over how talented the competition is, they might ruin their chances of pulling off the three-peat. Confidence is important, but having too big of an ego can prove to be costly.
When you think of “Charlie Hustle,” you might think of the iconic Kansas City clothing brand or maybe the album by rapper E-40. I think of a chicken sandwich.
The flavorful, spicy and well-balanced sandwich is a culinary revelation for me.
It’s found at a former Subway-turned-biscuit heaven: District Biskuits along North Kansas City’s Armour Boulevard.
At lunchtime on a recent Wednesday, ’90s R&B played indoors and in the shaded outdoor seating area. I sat at the counter facing the window, next to a graphic mural with photos of the food. Customers ranged from young couples to office workers with plastic badges.
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Dwight Tiller takes a lunch order from customers on Wednesday, Sept. 4, at District Biskuits in North Kansas City. The restaurant, which opened in 2022, specializes in biscuit sandwiches.
An employee called my name on the loudspeaker to pick up The Charlie Hustle ($13.95), a Nashville hot fried chicken sandwich with hot honey, coleslaw and pickles, with coin-shaped tater tots on the side.
Biting into The Charlie Hustle, I taste sweet, spicy, salty and creamy flavors, all at the same time. The crunchy chicken breading, with that indescribable deep-fried flavor, contrasts with the sticky hot honey and keeps me wanting more.
The sandwich’s paper wrapper barely contains District Biskuits’ signature spicy mayo sauce, into which I dipped my tater tots. I washed down the sandwich with a Troost Juice, a flavored lemonade made in-house, which you can get spiked.
Troost Juice lemonade is available spiked or not, at District Biskuits in North Kansas City. The restaurant, which opened its standalone space in 2022, specializes in biscuit sandwiches.
Owner and chef Guroux Khalifah said District Biskuits’ menu items are named for Kansas City’s “iconic places, people, landmarks,” like its signature sandwich, The Wonder, which references the now-closed Wonder Bread bakery on Troost where Khalifah got snacks as a kid.
While the District Biskuit menu features five sandwiches and other dishes like biscuits and gravy and mac and cheese, The Charlie Hustle is my go-to dish on their menu.
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The first time I went to the restaurant, I tried a bite of my friend’s Charlie Hustle and instantly wished I could eat the whole thing. It’s Khalifah’s favorite sandwich, too.
The honey-drizzled Nashville fried chicken is made for The Charlie Hustle, a biscuit sandwich from District Biskuits. The sandwich features Nashville hot fried chicken, hot honey sauce, creamy coleslaw, dill pickles and DB sauce.
The Kansas City native worked at a variety of storied area restaurants — Lidia’s, Bristol Seafood — before starting District Biscuit in 2017 as a pop-up. After a few years inside the now-defunct Adam’s Mark Hotel near the Chiefs’ and Royals’ stadiums, Khalifah opened the standalone restaurant in 2022 at 504 Armour Road.
But why biscuits? Khalifah said that they unite people of many backgrounds.
Large, fluffy, buttermilk buscuits are the basis for the biscuit sandwiches at District Biskuits, which opened in 2022 in North Kansas City.
The restaurant’s recipe is based on Khalifah’s mother biscuits, though he remarked, “They weren’t as good as (District Biskuits’)”.
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When he started the restaurant, Khalifah said, “I didn’t worry about perfecting anything, because with time, things get better.”
He’s been refining his unique technique for years by listening to the critiques of his customers.
Now, the food is quite close to perfection. I spoke to one customer who said he has been going to District Biskuits for around five years. He said what keeps him coming back is the biscuit. And I’ll be back, too.
District Biskuits, 504 Armour Road, in North Kansas City specializes in biscuit sandwiches.
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KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – A screenshot of a social media post grabbed the attention of multiple school districts in the Kansas City area Monday morning.
Districts said parents also saw the post that was forwarded, and were rightfully concerned about the vague threat of a school shooting. The post threatened violence at schools located in five school districts.
The school districts said they worked with police to make sure students were safe at schools.
Each district also emailed families to communicate and let them know what was happening.
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BLUE SPRINGS
The Blue Springs Police Department said one person is in custody accused of using Snapchat to make threats toward Blue Springs High School Sunday.
An undated photo shows Blue Springs High School in Blue Springs, Missouri.(KCTV5)
Blue Springs High School Principal, Tom Alderman, sent a letter to families making them aware of the incident.
According to the email, the person will face appropriate legal and disciplinary action.
GRAIN VALLEY
Schools in the Grain Valley School District were also included in the vague threat on social media.
A public information officer for the Grain Valley Police Department posted information about it investigation into the threat on Facebook.
School Board Members are also talking about the threat of violence against students and staff members.
Grain Valley Leadership Center(KCTV5)
The assistant superintendent said they take every threat seriously and that is why parents and students may see police on school property.
RAYTOWN
The Raytown School District says it is also taking the threats seriously, even though, after investigating, the district said it doesn’t believe the threat is credible.
Raytown Quality Schools emailed families about it’s plan to handle the threat earlier Monday.
The school district asks families to talk to their students about the seriousness of making threats like these, and the consequences.
Raytown School District increased the rate of pay for teachers based on their experience and when they continue their own education.(KCTV)
They also ask families to talk about the importance of notifying authorities when a threat is made, and not sharing them on social media.
LEE’S SUMMIT
The Lee’s Summit School District said it is also aware of the threat that included schools in its district.
The district said the threat was investigated, and at this point, doesn’t have any information that it is a credible threat.
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Lee’s Summit High School(KCTV 5)
Like other districts, Lee’s Summit said it takes every threat seriously and safety and security are top priorities.
The school district emailed the following information to families earlier Monday.
Anyone who has information about any of the threats, or who sent the messages is asked to contact police in their city and report the information.
GRANDVIEW
The Grandview School District said it shared a statement with staff and families. That statement is below.