photo by: Kahner Sampson/Special to the Journal-World

Free State's Braden Wilmes snags the ball against Lawrence High in the City Showdown on Friday, Feb. 21, 2025.

Braden Wilmes stood in the hallway of Southwest Middle School as an eighth grader after meeting Free State football coach Kevin Stewart and debated whether he’d play football.

Wilmes had played football almost every year since kindergarten and started playing tackle football in second grade. But he was unsure if he wanted to play when he enrolled at Free State. He liked the sport, but he wasn’t sold on it. The running and weightlifting that came with football weren’t activities Wilmes enjoyed much.

Luckily, Wilmes had a friend there to talk him into giving football another chance: Jack Fuchs, his eventual teammate along the Free State line. Wilmes called Fuchs “the one who helped me find my love for the sport.”

“He showed me that football is more than just running and conditioning and weight lifting — it’s about the friends you’re making,” Wilmes said. “I’m truly thankful to him.”

Now, Fuchs is playing in Tennessee and committed to Penn State, and Wilmes is entering his final season at Free State before playing college football at Clemson next year. Wilmes’ timeline is shorter than usual, as he plans on graduating in December and joining Clemson for the spring semester to get a head start on his college career.

“(Football) was part of my life for a long time, but I never truly thought I’d have an opportunity to play in college,” Wilmes said. “It was about my sophomore year that I realized that I may have had an opportunity to go and play at the college level.”

Wilmes first received an offer from Kansas State back in January of 2024. Later that night, he called the Kansas coaching staff and received his second offer.

For the next few months leading up to his junior campaign, Wilmes fought for recognition and scholarships by competing in various camps and showcases for coaches. One camp in June was particularly meaningful.

Wilmes’ mother, Kiersten, went to Clemson, and Wilmes grew up a Tigers fan. Earning a scholarship to Clemson wasn’t easy. The team was selective in its offers, only giving out 18 total to offensive linemen in 2026, and the majority of those 18 offers went to interior linemen.

“I went to camp there and got my name on the list, (but) they’re very slow to recruit at Clemson,” Wilmes said. “They’re very thorough with who they look for, and it took them a little bit — they needed to see some things from me.”

Wilmes put pressure on himself to perform during his junior year. He wanted to show that he could play for that caliber of program at that high level. In November, Wilmes officially received an offer from Clemson and committed a month later.

With a college commitment figured out, Wilmes is trying to live up to his pedigree. As much as he wanted to prove to the coaches that he belonged before, he now wants to prove them right.

Since his commitment in December, Wilmes’ relationship with the team has become real. Head coach Dabo Swinney and offensive line coach Matt Luke visited Wilmes at Free State in January, and at the end of May, Wilmes went on his official visit to Clemson.

“They’ve gotten to know me as a person more than just a football player, and that’s something I’ve loved,” Wilmes said. “I really enjoyed doing the official visit. I got to go up and meet a bunch of the offensive linemen and hang out with them for the weekend. It was great to start to get to know my future teammates.”

Wilmes isn’t far away from the Tigers becoming his full-time teammates. In the meantime, he is focused on a strong finish to his Free State career and being a leader for the Firebirds.

“I can truly say this team cares the most,” Wilmes said. “We’ve got guys that just love it. We truly do, and we’re excited to go and create our own identity. We’re ready for that challenge, and we’re going to meet it and give it our all.”

As for himself, Wilmes wants to keep getting stronger. With weight training in the mornings from Monday to Thursday, he’s focused on getting a little better each day. Wilmes said he’s like a child compared to his soon-to-be teammates, and that he has a grind ahead of him to catch up to that level.

He’s excited for it, and he’s ready to grow as a player and a person in the next stage of his life.

“I can truly say that I’ve gotten all the experiences that I want to from high school, and I’m ready for that next step,” Wilmes said. “I’m excited to go and become a different person in a way — college Braden instead of high-school, elementary-school Braden.”