Next level: This week’s college commitment updates and highlights from former Kentucky prep stars

▪  Three Henry Clay senior volleyball players — Darby Music, Hallie Shelton and Emma Yarber — signed their national letters of intent Wednesday.

Music and Shelton each inked with Western Kentucky University. Yarber is headed to Western Michigan.

Their class — which also includes Jessica Sunnenberg, who hasn’t yet committed to a school — went 25-0 against 11th Region opponents the last two seasons and became the first from a Lexington school to play in the state finals.

Henry Clay Coach Dale Grupe expressed dismay at losing a history-making class following the Blue Devils’ 3-1 loss to Sacred Heart in the championship game, but feels great about program’s future.

“We’re gonna definitely miss these four seniors, especially their leadership,” Grupe said. “But I think we’ll be okay.

He continued with a laugh, “We’re gonna hopefully pull like an Assumption and just reload.”

▪  Seven athletes from Lexington Catholic signed national letters of intent on Wednesday. They were: Meghan Cason (volleyball, Kenyon College); Julia Hatcher (volleyball, Clemson); Luke Johnson (basketball, Loyola-Maryland); Landon Moberly (baseball, Kentucky Wesleyan); Trip Lockhart (baseball, Kentucky); Reilly Lowe (volleyball, La Salle); and Ben Wilcoxson (baseball, Kentucky Wesleyan).

▪  North Hardin basketball standout Tony Jackson committed to Coastal Carolina last week. Jackson, a senior who led the Trojans to the 5th Region semifinals last season, became the second boys’ player from Kentucky to recently choose the Chanticleers. Christian County star Jaylen Sebree, whose team fell to South Laurel in the first round of the Sweet Sixteen last season, committed to Coastal Carolina on Oct. 14. Both players figure to be contenders for Mr. Basketball this season.

▪  Campbellsville University junior Adam Sandidge, who ran for LaRue County, won the Mid-South Conference cross country championship Saturday at Phil Moore Park in Bowling Green. He ran a 24:51.3, breaking his personal record by 25 seconds. Bret Crawford, a sophomore from Grayson County, ran second for the Tigers.

▪  Former Johnson County star J.J. Jude, who owns state rushing records for career yardage (8,633), single-game yardage (584) and per-game yardage (255.1), was named Mid-South Conference East Division offensive player of the week for the third time this season. He had 130 yards and a TD in Georgetown College’s 31-7 win over Cumberlands, which clinched the Tigers at least a share of the East Division title.

▪  Graves County star Chris Vogt, who last season set the single-season blocks record with 190 and the single-game record with 17 against Webster County on Jan. 16, signed with Northern Kentucky University on Wednesday.

Vogt is 10th all-time with 330 blocks in his career. The state record of 541 is held by Paintsville’s J.R. VanHoose, who won the 1998 Mr. Basketball award. Graves County will play in the Traditional Bank Holiday Classic at Lexington Catholic in December.

▪  Cooper’s Sean McNeil, one of the top players in the 9th Region, signed with Bellarmine on Wednesday. The 6-foor-4, 190-pound guard averaged 16.1 points and 7.5 rebounds for the Jaguars as a junior.

▪  Lexington Christian athletes Brooklyn Brinegar and Evan Davis signed with colleges this week. Brinegar signed with Asbury to play softball, becoming that program’s second player in as many years to join a college program. Davis, a golfer, signed with Belmont.

This story was originally published November 10, 2016 at 5:53 PM with the headline "Next level: This week’s college commitment updates and highlights from former Kentucky prep stars."