Lee’s Summit North’s Williams Nwaneri makes KC metro football history. And he isn’t done
Lee’s Summit North High School football coach Jamar Mozee didn’t meet his star defensive end during the team’s offseason workouts.
They met in the school cafeteria.
Mozee, who works cafeteria duty, approached the tall, lanky freshman — who that day was wearing a blue bubble coat — to ask him what sport he played. He was betting his on basketball.
Instead, Williams Nwaneri caught Mozee by surprise and said football. Mozee disagreed. The two went back-and-forth, one saying yes and the other saying no.
At the time of that first encounter, football season was 75% over for the year, and Mozee was sure he would’ve met this ninth-grader already if football was truly his sport of choice.
But there was a good explanation for why they hadn’t yet crossed paths: Nwaneri hadn’t turned out for the team. He and his family were moving from Grandview to Lee’s Summit that fall and he said he’d decided to sit out.
Mozee took that opportunity to tell Nwaneri about the team’s offseason workouts, which would be starting in January. Nwaneri listened and said, “I’ll be there.”
Not only did Nwaneri show up, he showed out. He quickly climbed the Lee’s Summit North depth chart, leading to a starting spot during the second half of his sophomore season.
And now the Broncos senior is making history as the Kansas City metro’s first No. 1-ranked high school football player in the country, according to On3sports.
“I knew it was a big deal, but I didn’t know it was, like, the first-ever in the area,” Nwaneri said. “I didn’t know really what to think about it, I don’t think it’s really hit me yet.”
The five-star college prospect currently holds offers from such football powerhouses as Georgia, Oklahoma, Alabama and Oregon.
South by major programs
Even before the big schools came calling, Mozee knew the recognition was inevitable.
Nwaneri recalled that Mozee, who was highly recruited out of Blue Springs and played running back at Oklahoma and Nichols State, told him he could play at the Power Five level — and that was before he’d seen him play in a game.
Mozee’s belief appeared to be justified in Lee’s Summit North’s 2021 game against Blue Valley North. A sophomore at the time, Nwaneri was raw but dominant. Mozee said he knew Nwaneri was “gonna be a dude.”
“I’ve been around enough football, enough good football players that he was going to be a special one,” Mozee said. “You don’t know he’s going to be the number one player in the country, you don’t know that, but it was clear.”
And Mozee was right.
During pre-game warm-ups two weeks later, Mozee called over Nwaneri and let him know that he’d picked up his first offer, from Iowa. Nwaneri could scarcely believe it, but soon enough his shock became motivation to earn more offers.
Nwaneri believed that he could play at a major school; he just didn’t yet have the film to back it up. As he gained experience, additional offers rolled in. All the while, Nwaneri was getting stronger and building more muscle. He said he had a vision that he wanted to bring to life.
He now stands 6-foot-6 and around 260 pounds.
“When you see him in pads, he looks like a pro,” Mozee said. “When he’s hitting on all cylinders and playing fast and hard, you can’t block it — not a high school kid.”
Throughout his years of coaching and playing, Mozee said he’s never seen anything so unique at the high school level. The coach has accompanied the defensive end on nearly all of his college visits, noting that even in the presence of other elite players, Nwaneri stands apart.
Renewed acquaintances
Lee’s Summit North quarterback and Missouri State pledge Elijah Leonard could attest to the legitimacy of Nwaneri’s athletic gifts before the latter had arrived on campus.
Leonard attended Liberty North until February of his sophomore year but had already heard about his future teammate through social media. He had never seen him in person, though, and recalled being taken aback by Nwaneri’s sheer size — not to mention his impact on defense.
“He holds the defense accountable and I hold the offense accountable for everything we do,” Leonard said. “If any of the defensive players are slacking, he’ll get on them, especially the defensive line.”
The two team leaders also make each other better during practice. Leonard said he sometimes has to double-team Nwaneri because of how easily he’s able to get into the backfield. He does so by using a combination of his long arms and speed — Mozee said Nwaneri runs a 4.6-second 40-yard dash.
Nwaneri said he believes that being able to move so well at his size and weight sets him apart. He also said he can bend around corners well, and that his 84-inch wingspan gives him another advantage over blockers.
Mozee said he played Nwaneri inside last season to help him fine-tune his three-technique. This season’s plans include moving him to the edge — meaning Nwaneri could pose an even bigger problem for opposing offenses.
“One side of the field is going to be really hard to get anything done,” Mozee said. “Whether you roll out over there, run over there, drop back to pass, things of that nature are going to be a problem because you just can’t block him.”
After helping lead the Broncos to the state championship game last year — a first for the program — Nwaneri said his goal now is to return to the big stage and win it all.
On top of that, one of his personal goals includes breaking the program’s season sack record of 16 — he finished with 12 last year. And Mozee said Nwaneri doesn’t just want to beat the record, he wants to shatter it with 20.
Nwaneri said he tries not to pay attention to his national rankings. And when it comes to picking a college, he said he just wants to go somewhere he feels safe and cared for as a player and person. He’s made official recruiting visits to Missouri, Georgia, Oklahoma and Tennessee this summer, and has one more, with Oregon, scheduled for September.
But back to freshman year. Nwaneri said he didn’t attend any of his high school’s Friday night football games that season but watched every one via livestream. He emphasized that his love for the game was brewing even then.
Now, as he approaches the final months of his high school career and his skills continue to evolve, he’s ready to take it up a notch.
“When I’m playing, that’s the only time I feel, you know, free and at peace,” Nwaneri said. “I’m starting to love it because I can see eventually I’ll be able to take care of my family, take care of myself, take care of my kids in the future.”
This story was originally published July 24, 2023 at 7:00 AM.
