Draughn High School 2023 graduate Luke Rector enters the college football season with high hopes as after transferring from Gardner-Webb to Toledo, the 6-foot-5, 300-pound offensive lineman was named to the preseason All-Mid American Conference team.
Freedom 2024 graduate Alex Bock is now a rising junior at UNC Charlotte and hopes to play more this season for the 49ers, who were ranked among the top 20 NCAA Division I teams nationally last season.
Draughn High School 2023 graduate Luke Rector enters the college football season with high hopes as after transferring from Gardner-Webb to Toledo, the 6-foot-5, 300-pound offensive lineman was named to the preseason All-Mid American Conference team.
In less than one month on national television, Luke Rector has a chance to do something that no former Draughn High School football player has ever done.
Rector, who’s now a rising junior offensive lineman at Toledo University, can be the first former Wildcat to start a game at the FBS level when his Rockets visit Michigan State University to open the 2026 season on Sept. 4 at 8 p.m. (FS1).
Rector in the offseason transferred after three seasons at Gardner-Webb University, including a redshirt 2023 season. In 2024, Rector appeared in four games for the Runnin’ Bulldogs before making a big jump to O-line starter in 2025, when he helped GWU to a 7-5 overall record as the team scored 330 points, racked up 5,013 total yards, and averaged 6.0 yards per play, all of which ranked second in the Big South-Ohio Valley Conference.
The 6-foot-5, 300-pound Rector, who has three years of eligibility remaining with Toledo, was named an all-conference selection after allowing a quarterback pressure rate of just 1% in his 865 snaps in 2025.
The only previous FBS-level player from Draughn was his former teammate Eli Tillery, who signed as a preferred walk-on at N.C. State but transferred after one season.
The most recent ex-Burke County prep player to be active on an FBS roster was BJ Emmons (Freedom) at Alabama in 2016, and the most recent ex-Burke County prep lineman to be active on an FBS roster was Tyler Shatley (East Burke) at Clemson in 2013.
At the prep level, Rector was a wrecking ball. He was a four-year All-Burke County player who as a senior was named conference lineman of the year and was an all-state selection as he manned both sides of the line of scrimmage for a Wildcats squad that finished 13-2 and reached the NCHSAA 1A West Regional final.
Rector as a DHS senior made 56 pancake blocks for a squad that racked up 56 rushing touchdowns and also recorded 70 tackles (14 for loss) on defense.
Toledo in 2025 went 8-5 overall (6-2 Mid-American Conference), losing to Louisville in the Boca Raton Bowl. It was the program’s fourth consecutive season winning eight or more games. The Rockets were picked to finish third out of 13 teams in this year’s MAC preseason poll.
County quartet at Lenoir-Rhyne
Lenoir-Rhyne has not yet announced its official 2026 football roster, but four Burke alums were members of a Bears squad that posted a 6-5 overall record, including 5-4 in NCAA Division II South Atlantic Conference play, last fall.
They include Eli Tillery (Draughn 2024), Nigel Dula (Draughn 2024), Jesus Becerra (Draughn 2024), and Brady Bostain (East Burke 2024).
Of those four, only Bostain got playing time at L-R last season, when he made one tackle in a Sept. 13 home victory over Emory & Henry in addition to appearing in 10 games as a backup offensive lineman.
Bostain is a former Burke County prep defensive player of the year, while Tillery and Dula are both former Burke County overall players of the year and Becerra is a former first-team All-Burke selection.
L-R hosts Virginia Union on Aug. 28 at 6 p.m. to open the season.
Abernathy at Wisconsin-Oshkosh
John Robert Abernathy (Draughn 2023) enters his senior season at Wisconsin-Oshkosh after having earned NCAA Division III Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference special teams athlete of the week honors once late last fall.
Abernathy earned the honor after punting eight times for a 41.8-yard average in his Titans’ Nov. 1 contest at Wisconsin-Platteville.
For the season, Abernathy (who transferred after starting for Guilford College in 2024) punted 51 times, averaging 39.0 yards, with six punts of 50 or more yards, including a career-best 56-yarder, and 12 times pinning opponents inside their own 20-yard line.
Wisconsin-Oshkosh opens the season at home on Sept. 5 at 1 p.m. against Linfield (Ore.) University.
Mull at Gardner-Webb
Jacob Mull (Draughn 2025) redshirted last fall and hopes to win the long snapper role in Boiling Springs this fall. The 6-foot-3, 255-pound Mull excelled on both sides of the ball with the Wildcats in addition to starring on four DHS conference championship baseball teams.
Gardner-Webb went 7-5 (including 5-3 in D-I Big South-Ohio Valley Conference action) in 2025 and opens the season at Austin Peay on Aug. 27 at 7 p.m.
County trio at Brevard
Brevard is also apparently the place to be for former Burke football players as Jordan Fox (East Burke 2025), Chris Moore (East Burke 2025), and Cannon Morrison (East Burke 2025) were all on the Tornados’ roster in 2025. (This year’s Brevard roster is thus far unavailable.)
Morrison played in seven games for Brevard last fall, making four tackles on special teams, while Fox and Moore — who were all-county selections at linebacker and O-line, respectively, as EB seniors in 2024 — were listed as members of Brevard’s “Futures” team.
Brevard was 6-4 last fall, including 4-3 in the D-III USA South Conference, and opens the 2026 campaign at home against Sewanee on Sept. 12.
UNC Greensboro volleyball setter Izora Gragg (3), a Patton 2023 graduate, enters her senior season with the Spartans just shy of 1,500 career assists.
UNCG ATHLETICS / FOR THE PAPER
VOLLEYBALL Gragg at UNC Greensboro
Izora Gragg (Patton 2023) hopes for a healthier senior season this fall than what she endured last year as a Spartans junior setter.
The 6-foot-1 Gragg as a junior played in four matches (14 sets) before an injury ended her season. She recorded totals of 143 assists, 42 digs, six blocks, and four aces.
Gragg’s top statistical season at UNCG came as a sophomore, when she finished fifth in the Southern Conference with 1,022 assists, notched 10 double-doubles, and finished second on the team with 234 digs and 24 aces.
Gragg enters the season — which starts Aug. 28 at South Carolina — just 18 assists shy of the 1,500 mark for her collegiate career.
Edwards at Caldwell Tech
Lyrical Edwards (Draughn 2025) hopes for a repeat of a solid freshman season in which she posted a team-high 292 kills, good for second among all National Junior College Athletic Association Region 10 Division III players.
The All-American Edwards also added totals of 216 digs, 59 aces, and 25 blocks as the Cobras completed a 19-9 season with runner-up finishes in the Region 10 regular-season standings and tournament.
This year, she is joined by former Lady Wildcats teammate Bailey Mozeley (Draughn 2026), who signed shortly after last season, when she was named conference player of the year at the prep level.
SOCCER Jimenez at UMass Lowell
Isai Jimenez (Patton 2025) on July 20 via his Instagram account announced he would be attending UMass Lowell to play soccer starting this fall.
“Happy to announce my commitment to play Division I soccer at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, where I’ll continue my academic and athletic career,” Jimenez posted. “I want to thank God for guiding me every step of the way. Thank you to my family, coaches, teammates, and everyone who has believed in me throughout this journey.”
Jimenez played for Hickory FC each of the past two summers, winning a league championship with the club in 2025. The goalkeeper is a former conference defensive player of the year at Patton.
UMass Lowell was 7-7-4 overall last season and opens the 2026 season at Incarnate Word on Aug. 20 at 7 p.m.
Diaz, Castrejon at Sweet Briar
Senior midfielder Alexis Diaz (Draughn 2023) returns to the Vixens in 2026 as the team’s leading scorer, having posted six goals and four assists last fall as the team finished with a 4-11 overall record.
Diaz, who started all 15 matches, also totaled team highs in shots (66), shots on goal (38), game-winning goals (two), and minutes played (1,292).
Junior midfielder/defender Yadira Castrejon (Draughn 2024) also fueled the team’s success, managing two goals and an assist in seven games (six starts).
Sweet Briar opens at home versus Columbia (S.C.) College on Sept. 1 at 3 p.m.
Freedom 2024 graduate Alex Bock is now a rising junior at UNC Charlotte and hopes to play more this season for the 49ers, who were ranked among the top 20 NCAA Division I teams nationally last season.
REECE HELMS, CHARLOTTE ATHLETICS / FOR THE PAPER
GOLF Bock at UNC Charlotte
Alex Bock (Freedom 2024) enters his junior season at UNC Charlotte aiming for bigger things after already having shown what he can accomplish on the links locally.
A four-time conference golfer of the year, two-time county individual and team champion, and Freedom male athlete of the year at the prep level who went on to win the 2025 Burke County Open, Bock did not compete for the 49ers as a freshman before he got in just two events as a sophomore in 2025-26.
In the fall 2025 semester, Bock finished 3-over par in the three-day Bryson Invitational at Daniel Island in Charleston, S.C., tying for 51st place overall. Bock then tied for 67th place (10-over) at the Gators Invitational on Feb. 14-15 in Gainesville, Fla.
Charlotte, who as a team spent much of last year ranked in the top 20 nationally, has not yet released its 2026-27 schedule.
... Here are the other former Burke County high school graduates playing collegiate sports this fall …
FOOTBALL
Eddie Branch (Freedom 2026) Averett; Jacob Moretz (Freedom 2026) Averett; Colsyn Queen (Patton 2026) Lyon; Daniel Spottswood (Draughn 2026) N.C. Wesleyan
Who did we miss? Let us know! If you know of another former Burke County high school graduatecurrently participating in a fall sportat the collegiate level, email thatinformation to paul@thepaper.media.
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