De Smet Jesuit High School

Basketball

Three of De Smet's five state basketball championships came under coach Rich Grawer, who went on to coach at University of Missouri and St. Louis University. His 1979 team went undefeated, 32–0.^[11] His teams also established the current Missouri state large-school record for winning streaks at 63 games.^[12][13]

In 2016, the school hired Blake Ahearn as its head varsity basketball coach. Ahearn, an alumnus of the school, was a standout player both in high school and in college at Missouri State University. He also spent a short time in the NBA, including stints with the Miami Heat, San Antonio Spurs, and Utah Jazz. In 2017 he brought the Nike Basketball Camp to the school.^[14]

Football

A St. Louis high school football power, the Spartans won the 2005 Missouri Class 6 State Championship. Under former head coach Pat Mahoney, De Smet Jesuit has established itself as a St. Louis and Missouri powerhouse. Recent notable athletes at De Smet include Munir Prince,^[15] Stephen Kaiser,^[16] Ray Agnew,^[17] Malcolm Agnew,^[18] Wes Kemp,^[19] Robert Steeples,^[20], Durron Neal^[21] KeVonn Mabon,^[22] and Andrew Bauer.^[23]

Mahoney stepped down as head football coach in 2015, paving the way for former Dallas Cowboy and Minnesota Viking and Class of 2008 alumnus Robert Steeples to take over the program. In 2017 the school mourned the loss of its assistant football coach, Jaz Granderson, who was killed in a car theft incident.^[24]

Soccer

The soccer program captured five state titles, four of which occurred during seven years during the 1990s, winning championships in alternating years: 1991, 1993, 1995, and 1997. This period is known among De Smet students and alumni as "The Decade of Dominance". The fifth came in 2011, led by All American Louie Berra.^[25] Longtime head coach Greg Vitello led the program from 1969 to 2014. He is the third-winningest high school coach in United States history.^[26] During his time at De Smet, Vitello won five state championships and 33 district championships, and paved the way for five young men to compete on the US national team.^[27] Notable players under Vitello included 1998 Parade Magazine Soccer Player of the Year Bill McKeon; his brother Matt McKeon, the 1991 Gatorade Circle of Champions Soccer Player of the Year and the 1995 National Collegiate Player of the Year; Chris Klein, the 1993 St. Louis Post-Dispatch Player of the Year; Pat Noonan, the 1997 St. Louis Post-Dispatch Player of the Year; Mike Ambersley, a 2000 Parade Magazine All American and Missouri Player of the Year; and Will Bruin, a 2008 Parade Magazine All-American, a three-time Missouri State High School Soccer Coaches Association Player of the Year, the 2007 Gatorade Missouri Player of the Year and the 2007 Post-Dispatch Player of the Year.^[28] Vitello stepped down in 2014, which vaulted Class of 1997 alum Josh Klein to the head coaching position.^[29]

Retreat program

All freshmen make the El Camino retreat in which they come to see life as a journey, with role models, heroes, and acceptance of oneself. It is led by seniors and includes team-building exercises, small-group discussions, and faith sharing. The Kairos retreat runs three days and is led by seniors who have made it. It emphasizes peer leadership and ministry to build solidarity, based on the experience of God’s love in our lives. Follow-up gatherings are held for those attending the retreat. The senior retreat lasts two full days and introduces retreatants to various methods of prayer from St. Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises, directed toward a facility at finding God in all things.^[32]

Service program

Freshmen serve the school community at school events. Sophomores assist at school and are also encouraged to volunteer in their neighborhood and church communities. Juniors select from more than 120 area service agencies; they go out on Mondays and their experiences are incorporated into class on Tuesdays. Many are drawn to tutoring children or recreating with them, at inner-city grade schools, homeless shelters, and in Head Start programs; they also work with children having learning disabilities, physical disabilities, autism, or behavioral disorders. The elderly in nursing homes offer a mutually enriching experience for many. Seniors continue on and deepen their experience from junior year. There have also been service-learning trips to Honduras, Belize, South Dakota, and New Orleans, to learn and grow by working with those in need.^[33]

The school uses graduates of Jesuit schools as Alum Service Corps volunteers and 14 of these have become full-time teachers at DeSmet.^[34]

Liturgies and spirituality

Mass is celebrated daily at 7:20 am. Each Friday there is a Holy Hour along with the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Ten large Eucharistic celebrations are held throughout the year, incorporating Holy Days or special events like Mass of the Holy Spirit, Missioning, Thanksgiving, De Smet’s birthday, family Masses with BBQ or breakfast, Ring Mass, and graduation.

A Christian Life Community group meets weekly for prayer and reflection, focused on Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises and on finding God in one’s daily life. De Smet in Prayer (DIP) has a breakfast meeting before school once each week to discuss, reflect, and pray together on living out one's faith as brothers in the Lord.^[31]

In 2016, three DeSmet students won the North American sector of the St. Francis Xavier Global Instagram Competition whose purpose was "to convey a message of hope, zeal, sustainability, diversity and belonging to a global community."^[35]

De Smet Sports Network

Founded in 2013 by three seniors, DSN started as a series of comedic videos to boost school athletic spirit and transformed into a school-wide media platform to broadcast all things De Smet. DSN was made by students for students and live streams school assemblies, liturgies, and athletic events. Under John Hawkey's leadership, DSN has continued after the founders graduated.^[36] While schools across St. Louis hire outside talent to talk on air, De Smet has students live on air.

Athletics

• Ray Agnew III – NFL player
• Blake Ahearn – point guard for Dongguan Leopards of Chinese Basketball Association (CBA)
• Mike Ambersley – MLS forward</ref>
• Sam Bick – played for US national soccer team
• Will Bruin – Major League Soccer forward for Houston Dynamo
• Eric Delabar – professional soccer player, manager of Maryville University's men's and women's teams^[37]
• Trent Frederic – University of Wisconsin hockey player, Big 10 Freshman of the Year, 2016 Boston Bruins 2016 first-round draft pick^[38][39]
• Steve Fuchs – played for US national soccer team^[40]
• Wes Kemp – NFL player^[19]
• Bob Keppel – Major League Baseball pitcher
• Chris Klein - president of Los Angeles Galaxy and MLS midfielder
• KeVonn Mabon – wide receiver for Tennessee Titans^[41][42]
• Matt McKeon – played for US National and Olympic soccer team, MLS midfielder, Hermann Trophy recipient^[43]
• Bill Mueller – MLB third baseman, 2003 American League batting champion
• Pat Noonan – assistant coach for US National Soccer Team and Los Angeles Galaxy, former Major League Soccer forward^[44]
• Steve Stipanovich – NBA player
• Tony Vitello – University of Tennessee baseball head coach^[45]

Government

• Henry Edward Autrey – United States federal judge, Eastern District of Missouri, also the first graduate from the first graduating class of 1971
• Tom Dempsey – Missouri state senator
• John Diehl – Former Speaker of the Missouri House of Representatives^[46]
• Bob Poe – Former Director of International Trade and Commissioner of Administration for the state of Alaska. Became the President and CEO of the Anchorage Economic Development Corporation in 2004. In 2010, Poe became the first man in the history of Alaska to run for governor as a Democrat.^[47]
• Eric Schmitt – Missouri state treasurer.

Public figures and business

• Frank Cusumano – sportscaster for KSDK^[48]
• John O'Leary – speaker, author^[49]

Chris Higgins - meteorologist for KTVI-Fox 2