Mesquite Poteet football prospect plans official visit to Benedictine College

An official visit from Mesquite Poteet High School prospect Luke Duran will bring another out-of-state football name to Atchison on July 21, underscoring how Benedictine College’s Raven Football program continues to draw attention well beyond Kansas. Duran, a 2027 recruit from Mesquite, Texas, announced the trip as he looks at Benedictine’s football program, home to O’Malley Field at Larry Wilcox Stadium and led by head coach Joel Osborn.

For Atchison, the visit is more than a recruiting stop. It is another sign that Benedictine’s athletic profile has become a point of visibility for the city and the surrounding county, with the college using official campus visits and Raven Days to put prospects and their families inside the campus routine. Those visits include tours, lunch with students and interest sessions, giving recruits a direct look at the college community as well as the football operation.

The football program has backed up that pitch with results. Benedictine finished the 2024 season 11-3, ended the year ranked No. 3 in the final coaches poll and won the Heart South Conference championship for the third straight season. The Ravens also earned a first-round bye in the NAIA playoffs and won a second-round game at Texas Wesleyan, 42-33, before their postseason run continued.

That recent success sits inside a longer tradition that still shapes the program’s identity in Atchison. Larry Wilcox coached the Ravens for 41 years, winning more than 300 games, eight Heart championships and 14 NAIA playoff berths, and Benedictine reached the NAIA national championship game in 2018. The stadium that carries his name remains a landmark for the program and a visible reminder of how deeply football is woven into campus life.

Benedictine has also been leaning on a broader athletics surge to support its message. Since the start of the 2020-21 academic year, the college says its sports programs have won 17 conference championships and made 52 NAIA postseason appearances. The football staff has paired that competitive record with a culture it describes as built on hard work, charity and faithfulness, a formula that now appears to be reaching recruits in Texas and beyond.