ST. LOUIS — St. Louis has been a hotbed of talent at the wide receiver position as of late, sending a number of big names to big-name universities.
From Jameson Williams to Luther Burden III to Kevin Coleman, St. Louis continues churning out big-time receivers.
And the next one is well on his way.
SLUH's Ryan Wingo is poised to be the next big-time wide receiver out of St. Louis.
The five-star Jr. Bill is still only a junior, but can do just about everything his coach asks him to do on the field.
"He can just do anything with the football. I talk about it way too much about his skills as a receiver, but he has skills as a punter. He almost broke the school record for punting last year, he's in line to break it this year. He can pretty much do anything with the football. It is fun. There's not too much you have to do sometimes. There's some times where he gets the ball in his hands and you're like, 'He's gone.' And so I'm just watching the field to make sure there's no penalties or holding calls," SLUH head coach Adam Cruz said.
"I think I'm having a decent year," Wingo said. "Trying my best with all my opportunities whenever I get the ball. There's a lot of double and triple teams that go on. So like punt returns when I catch them I try to get at least a lot of yards or score."
He's also a valuable piece for the Jr. Bills when the ball isn't in play, acting as a team captain this season.
"He's a guy who I go to the referees before the game and say, 'If you can't get me, No. 1 speaks for me,'" Cruz said.
Wingo is among the leaders in receiving touchdowns in the St. Louis area so far through the 2022 season and has shown a particular skill for returning kicks. He has return touchdowns in his past three games.
"Every time we're back for a kick or punt return, when we see the ball get kicked to him we get really excited on the headset, like 'Oh, they kicked to him!' Because he's just so dangerous with the ball in his hand in the open field. And he works hard at it," Cruz said. "He's out here catching balls of the Jugs machine, yesterday in our Monday walk through he's talking to our blockers about where he sees the seams, he does a really great job of putting the time in for that stuff."
"Punt return is probably one of my favorite things. You can make a lot of people miss," Wingo said.
Wingo has scored at least one touchdown in every SLUH game so far this season, notching three scores two different times.
And his quarterback knows sometimes all he has to do is get the ball in his hands.
"Me and Ryan have been playing together since we were in like third grade," SLUH quarterback Marco Sansone said. "Great family friend. I know he's going to be open. all I have to do is get it near him and he's probably going to catch it and score. So it's pretty nice."
He's just a junior, so there's still a lot of time for Wingo to figure out where he's going to college, but the coaches have been all over this star prospect since the moment they were first able to make contact.
"I'm enjoying the (recruiting) process a lot. Kind of everybody is in the mix. It's kind of early for me. Starting Sept. 1, they could text me and stuff like that. So everybody has been texting me a lot," Wingo said. "It's been crazy, crazy. When Sept. 1 hit, I had at least 200 messages at like 12 a.m. And I had to go to school the next day."
And with the skills and drive Wingo has, everyone around him knows his potential is limitless.
"The sky really is the limit for him because of how hard he works. He acts like a guy who doesn't have any of those things because he puts in the time and effort," Cruz said.