ATCHISON, Kan. — A native of Blue Springs, Mo., and a star college basketball player at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kan., is receiving recognition for being among the first college-basketball players to announce he is gay.
Jallon Messersmith, 20, was raised a Mormon, overcame bullying and last fall told his Catholic college basketball team that he was gay, according to the a story by Outsports.com.
Named MVP, Mr. Hustle, Mr. Defense and Mr. Basketball during his years at Blue Springs High School, he was recently fourth in the nation in his division for blocked shots for Benedictine College.
The 6’8″, 215-pound soon-to-be junior fits in perfectly with his teammates at the small liberal arts Catholic school.
“He’s a very outgoing player and if you need an example of a hustler, it’s him,” Benedictine guard Brett Fisher, Messersmith’s teammate and best friend told Outsports.com.
“He’s doing the dirty work for the team. He’s getting the blocks on defense, he’s getting every rebound. We like him on the team,” Fisher said.
Messersmith said after a teammate died in a car accident in 2011, he decided that he didn’t want a big part of himself hidden. That’s when he decided to tell his family, his coach and his teammates.
“During the summer I was petrified to tell my teammates,” he said. “I was scared to come back and I honestly didn’t know what they were going to say. I was just scared and I didn’t know what to do.”
According to Outsports.com, Messersmith has even brought dates to games this past season.
Read more about how teammates reacted to his revelation and the good-natured ribbing he gets about his dates in the Outsports.com profile of Messersmith.
Although Messersmith says he is thriving at Benedictine, he’s cautious about advising others about whether or not they should come out.
“You’ve just got to be comfortable with yourself,” he said.
Source: Outsports.com
