Future Game Changers

SI Staff | Jul 9, 2012

Future Game Changers /

Future Game Changers

Jane Campbell

Who's got next? Well, it might be this remarkable group of 14 teenagers whose sports resumes are impressive despite their young age. Over the next few years it'll be fun to see how far their dreams will carry them -- whether it be college stardom, professional titles or Olympic gold. Here are SI.com's future game changers, with a related poll at gallery's end: One of a talented crop of current U.S. U-17 National Team goalkeepers, Jane Campbell hopes to one day follow in the ranks of U.S. national team stars Brianna Scurry and Hope Solo. During the recent CONCACAF U-17 tournament, she had five straight shutouts and did not concede a single goal in all 450 minutes of the tournament. Campbell's performance earned the U.S a berth in the 2012 FIFA Under-17 World Cup in Azerbaijan. "Hope Solo is the best goalkeeper in the world right now and if I want to be like her I have to keep reaching my own smaller goals," Campbell recently told U.S. Soccer's website. The daughter of a pair of former Navy pilots -- her father Mike flew in the Blue Angels -- the 17-year-old has already committed to play at Stanford in the fall of 2013, when she graduates from the Darlington School (Rome, Ga.).

Jahlil Okafor

Rivals.com ranks him as the top big man and overall No. 3 player in the Class of 2014 for good reason: This past season, as a sophomore, the 6-foot-10 center averaged 21.9 points and 12.3 rebounds for Chicago's Whitney Young High, leading the Dolphins to the Illinois Class 4A Sectional semifinals. A distant cousin of Wizards center Emeka Okafor, the 16-year-old has received offers from nearly every major program in the country.

Taylor Townsend

This 16-year-old Chicago native, who attends the USTA training center headquarters in Boca Raton, Fla., is the No. 1-ranked junior in the world. With such a ranking comes lofty expectations, but Townsend has thus far been a star on the junior circuit. In January, she took home the singles and doubles junior titles at the 2012 Australian Open, becoming the first American to accomplish the sweep at a Grand Slam since Lindsay Davenport at the 1992 U.S. Open. Townsend followed that up with a singles third-round and doubles semifinal finish at the French Open. She should be able to make good on her goal of cracking the Women's Tennis Association's top 200 by season's end, when she conceivably turns pro.

Jeremy Martinez

One of only two underclassmen to participate in last year's Under Armour All-America game, Martinez appears to be a first-round lock for next year's MLB Draft. He's currently the top-rated prospect in the 2013 class by ESPN. In March, he helped the Mater Dei Monarchs to USA Baseball's inaugural High School invitational title, batting .538 in four games; for the 2012 season, he hit .388 with 18 RBIs. Martinez verbally committed to USC at the end of his freshman season, but that won't stop a team from drafting him early.

Sarah Hendrickson

A senior at the Winter Sports School in Park City -- a program that runs April through November so students may compete during the winter months -- the 17-year old Hendrickson is the top-ranked ski jumper in the world and is the early favorite for gold at the Sochi Games. Just 5-3 and 95 pounds, Hendrickson claimed the first women's World Cup ski jumping title earlier this year after winning nine of the 13 World Cup events. She'll be eligible to compete at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi as the International Olympic Committee has included ski jumping on its program. Hendrickson first tried ski jumping as a 7-year-old on a small K5 hill.

Arielle Gold

Gold won silver in the halfpipe and slopestyle events at the inaugural Winter Youth Olympics in Austria in January and followed that with gold in the halfpipe at the Junior World Championships in Spain in March. Now 16, she has not shied away from increasingly complex tricks, and has walked away with some notable hardware as a result. In her first run of the 2012 Youth Olympics, Gold initially planned an easy first run before seeing some surprise tricks from her competitors. In response, Gold opted to launch her best trick, a frontside 900, in what was essentially an audition. She didn't cleanly land the 900, but still won silver after showcasing a series of advanced tricks. Gold will enter several Olympic qualifying events this fall to put herself in contention for the 2014 Games.

Tucker Beirne

As a freshman at Aspen High last season, Beirne (pronounced "BERN") threw for 22 touchdowns and more than 2,000 yards in leading the Skiers (cool nickname, right?) to a 7-4 record. Those numbers helped the 15-year-old earn honorable mention on the U.S. Air Force Freshmen All-America team in January. Beirne, who stands 6-2 and weighs 210 pounds, has since transferred to national power Christopher Columbus High in Miami, Fla., a program whose alumni includes former NFL quarterback Brian Griese (Class of 1993) and Packers cornerback Patrick Lee (Class of 2003). The football program competes at the 8A level and is the defending district and regional champs. The rising sophomore is a member of the Class of 2015 and will start at Columbus High next season.

Ariya Jutanugarn

Jutanugarn is ranked No. 1 in Golfweek's Junior Rankings and No. 5 in Golfweek's Women's Amateur Rankings. In May 2012, the 16-year-old won her second consecutive Rolex Girls Junior Championship title, setting a tournament record for margin of victory by finishing 18 shots ahead of the runner-up, her older sister, Moriya. In 2011, Ariya won the U.S. Girls' Junior Championship and the Junior PGA Championship. "She's just an amazing player," fellow junior golfer Casey Danielson recently told the Bangkok Post. "You know that every hole she's going for birdie, she's going to do it because she's got that mindset.

Jabrill Peppers

A playmaker on both sides of the football for Don Bosco Prep, the back-to-back New Jersey state champions and the No.1 football team in the nation, Peppers is the top player at his position (strong safety) and ranked No. 3 overall in the Class of 2014, according to 247Sports. He was named the Air Force national sophomore of the year in '11 after being national freshman of the year in '10.After helping lead Don Bosco Prep to the No. 1 final national ranking and a second straight state title this past season as a running back and cornerback, Peppers transferred in February to nearby Paramus (N.J.) Catholic. His greatest asset might be his speed, which he used to set the New Jersey non-public Class A outdoor 100-meter dash record with a time of 10.77 seconds. The 16-year-old already has offers from Alabama, Florida, Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Rutgers, South Carolina and UCLA.

Kelsey Mitchell

Though Mitchell is only halfway through her high school career at Princeton High, she already has the women's basketball community abuzz. A 5-7 guard with a smooth shot, excellent defensive intangibles and advanced ballhandling skills, Mitchell is the highest rated Class of 2014 prospect, according to ESPN. She's already been invited to participate in the U-18 USA National Team Trials even though she doesn't turn 16 until November. As a sophomore, Mitchell finished her season with 19.4 points, 3.9 assists, 3.4 rebounds and 2.9 steals and was a First Team All-State selection. Despite her nationwide praise, her father Mark insists it hasn't gone to her head yet. "She said the ranking didn't mean anything to her," the elder Mitchell told the Cincinnati Inquirer . "She wanted to know when we were going to go work out next."

Travis Wittlake Jr.

A seventh grader at Millicome Middle School, Wittlake Jr. has amassed a 306-1 career record over four years with Team Bucs wrestling club (coached by Wittlake's father). He also won back-to-back national titles in all three styles of wrestling (folkstyle, freestyle and Greco- Roman) in 2010 and '11 to become only the sixth wrestler to win two straight triple crowns. In addition to winning the Oregon state title in scholastic wrestling, Wittlake was named to the 2011-12 list of Future Olympians by USA Wrestling. He'll compete on USA Wrestling's Tour of America folkstyle circuit this fall. With nine national titles under Wittlake's belt, it's no surprise the 12-year-old is getting so much attention. Looking ahead, Wittlake says he hopes to be a four-time state champ in high school, attend Oregon State and be a four-time NCAA champ. He also has the Olympics in mind.

Austin Kafentzis

Last season, after leading Jordan High to the Class 5A semifinals and throwing for 3,188 yards and 23 touchdowns (and rushing for 1,377 yards and 22 touchdowns), Kafentzis was named Max Preps' National Freshman of the Year. BYU has already offered a scholarship and Kafentzis has been visited by plenty of college coaches. In addition to his performance on the field, Kafentzis, 16, broke the Utah Class 5A record in the javelin in May, throwing 190 feet.

Nick Norman

Having just completed his freshman year at Capistrano Valley High, Norman made the USA Swimming Top 10 list for several events, including the 500 free and 1,000 free for boys age 14, and the 500 free for boys age 15. Just 14, Norman became the eighth swimmer in U.S. history under the age of 15 to break 16 minutes in the men's 1,500 freestyle, which he did at the Missouri Grand Prix earlier this year.

Brianna Turner

One of the top prospects in the Class of 2014, Turner is a 6-3, explosive forward possessing a fantastic combination of size and athleticism. In March she was named to the U-17 USA World Championship Team, the only player from the Class of 2014 to make the cut. While she hasn't completely developed an outside game, she's averaged more than 20 points and 10 rebounds per game at Manvel High. On the defensive end, Turner is a force. Last season she averaged 4.7 blocks per game, including one game in which she finished with 15 blocks. She turned 16 on July 5.

Published Jul 9, 2012

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