Starting offensive tackle for the Virginia Cavaliers Jack Witmer joins host Ben Rekosh for the newest episode of Unique Pathways presented by H3 Sports. Witmer is a native of Cypress, Texas and committed to UVA under Bronco Mendenhall out of high school as a tight end. He talks about his journey in high school and why he chose Virginia; then the experience of training during the pandemic. Witmer also gives his thoughts on why the offensive line goes under-the-radar and its role in the success of the team. Change has been a defining factor of Witmer’s tenure at UVA, including going through a coaching search and switching positions. He also shares his thoughts on the leadership of Tony Elliott during the tragedy after the 2022 season and how that impacted the program. Witmer then looks ahead to the 2025 season and reflects upon the 2024 season, plus his thoughts on the new era of college athletics. He then gives some rapid fire answers and closes the show with some words of wisdom from a former coach.

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Former professional golfer and student-athlete at Davidson College Alex Ross joins Ben Rekosh to sit down and talk about his experiences playing golf at varying levels. Ross famously shot a 15-under-par shot at the Dogwood Invitational as a Davidson Wildcat in June 2019, which is one of the best scores in the course’s history. Ross grew up in one of the best states for golf in all of America – Georgia – and he talks about his time there plus playing other sports. Attending Pace Academy outside of Atlanta, Ross earned a plethora of awards en route to earning an offer and eventually committing to Davidson. He was a part of two A-10 championship winning teams, as well as taking home A-10 freshman of the year honors in 2018; he talks about the meaning of those awards and what it was like playing through the pandemic. Ross transferred to the University of Southern California for a graduate year to play on the west coast; he spoke on that decision and what it was like to experience a different landscape. Ross also spent time playing professional golf on minor league circuits before transitioning to the workforce. He ended the conversation by sharing a few words of advice and reflecting on his golf journey as a whole.

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Former Duke Blue Devils forward Javin Delaurier joins Ben Rekosh on a pre-March Madness episode of Unique Pathways to chat about his journey that started in the Central Virginia are and led him to the NBA. Delaurier graduated from the St. Anne’s Belfield school and once held a number of program records for the Saints; after a growth spurt in high school, his stock quickly began to rise and the big man became a highly-touted, highly-ranked prospect. Ultimately choosing to head to Duke University and play under the coaching of Mike Krzyzewski, Delaurier was a productive player on multiple ACC championship teams and got the opportunity to play with a variety of successful NBA players – he was able to speak on his relationship with those players and how Coach K impacted him as a player and as a person. The Duke team in 2020 was poised to make another run in March Madnes before their season got cut short, and Delaurier was able to share some of that perspective fighting through the pandemic. Through that process he tested the waters for the NBA Draft but got feedback that led him to return to college. He went on to play in the G League in the ensuing seasons and had a brief stint up with the Milwaukee Bucks, which is touched on in this conversation. Delaurier has played overseas for the past few years, and has stories from that perspective now recovering from an injury. On the heels of the 2025 NCAA Tournament, he gives thought to what makes this event such an annual global phenomenon.

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Maggie Foxx and Maggie Heaphy join the show to talk with Ben Rekosh about their experience growing up as females playing America’s Pastime and how they’ve seen the sport develop over the past decade. Foxx was a stellar catcher in New Hampshire growing up, as well as excelling at a variety of other sports – she now is a freshman at Brown University on the Softball team. Heaphy is a native of the Central Virginia area and had taken a liking to the sport of baseball since a young age, she went on to play second base at Charlottesville High School, and is now a student at California Berkeley. The group went through the dynamics of being a girl in a boy’s sport, the toughness and importance of strong mentality, and how to grow the game in the future.

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H3 is thrilled to welcome friend-of-the-show Kyle Bogese onto Unique Pathways to join Ben Rekosh in discussing a plethora of topics. Kyle founded and owns The Backyard Baseball Lab in Richmond, which holds a lot of the same values that makes H3 great in growing the game for all people; he has also been able to see first-hand how sports have the ability to impact people beyond the field of play. His life experiences have shaped a strong perspective and competitiveness that is still lit to this day, even with a variety of life experiences under his belt. He grew up in Chester, VA as a man of many talents and the decision to fully commit to baseball in high school. After a tumultuous senior year, that decision ended up paying off with a great deal of success at Division-III Trinity, and eventually playing in the minor leagues. He talks about what playing collegiate baseball is like as well as the ups and downs of lower-level organizations. One night in 2018 his life changed forever, and Kyle is really candid about how difficult that time was and who helped them get there. Since his injuries, Bogese has found a new purpose within the game of developing young pitchers in the Virginia area and helping them become better young men on and off the field. He has lots of strong advice for people in any situation, and believes in the power of work ethic and having a tough mentality.

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Ben Rekosh, host of Unique Pathways, is joined by Yoon Chae for a discussion about baseball, school, and everything in between. Yoon moved to Toronto from South Korea at a young age, and then he spent some time in Virginia at Cape Henry Collegiate School in preparation to play baseball at the next level. Rekosh discusses with Chae about his time living in each of those places and how they helped him and his family shape them into who they are today. Chae is a multi-talented person and incredibly gifted academically, so he tries to give some perspective on how his desire to perform in the classroom has impacted his performance on the baseball field. The two talk about Chae’s stellar first season with Amherst College and what it meant for him to pick a school with such a prestigious student-athlete experience. Following discussion about his busy summer 2024, he gets the opportunity to look ahead to 2025 and quickly answer some closing questions.

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Going into his first year as the head coach at his alma mater, Sean Thompson sits down with Ben Rekosh on Unique Pathways to discuss his journey to becoming the youngest head coach in Division I collegiate baseball. Thompson opens the conversation by talking about the impact that H3 Baseball has on the community and how VCU is able to use sports to impact the lives of numerous different types of people. Thompson was a star pitcher for the Rams, leading the team to the program’s biggest win in 2015, and stayed all four years in Richmond. Following that, he spent a few years in the minor leagues but quickly realized his passion for coaching – spent time as an assistant at FIU, Monmouth and VCU. Thompson and Rekosh go through the transition period in 2024 after the program captured a conference championship and discuss the moments after he got offered his current position. Coach Thompson will be the first to say that being a head coach is a lot different than it may seem, but he’s excited for his first season at the top spot. The two then end with some rapid fire questions to get to know the coach's personality and give some life advice.

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In the debut episode of Unique Pathways, Ben Rekosh sits down with former student-athlete at the University of Virginia and current Physician's Assistant, Allie Crider. She shares what it was like growing up in Charlottesville in a sports-heavy family, and what made a different sport so special to her. Crider has an interesting story and perspective on the recruitment process on what she experienced in high school, and she was able to transition to an entirely new sport. With four years of learning from Kevin Sauer and the staff at UVA, Crider was able to massively improve and become a champion in the sport of rowing; she and Rekosh have a conversation about the sport as a whole and what it means to row in Charlottesville. Additionally, she holds a special knowledge about what it means to be a successful student and is able to draw parallels between team sport and working in the medical field.

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