Jallen Messersmith is believed to be the first openly gay student-athlete in collegiate sports, reported OutSports.com in a profile on the 20-year-old.
Jason Collins, free agent center in the NBA, was the first player in American team sports to publicly come out and then Los Angeles Galaxy soccer player Robbie Rogers became the first openly gay athlete in American team sports to play in a game.
Now college sports has its first publicly gay athlete. Messersmith, a forward at NAIA Benedictine College, was an MVP at Blue Springs High School in Missouri and was dubbed Mr. Hustle, Mr. Defense and Mr. Basketball.
"He's a very outgoing player and if you need an example of a hustler, it's him," said Benedictine guard Brett Fisher, Messersmith's teammate and best friend. "He's doing the dirty work for the team. He's getting the blocks on defense, he's getting every rebound. We like him on the team."
At Benedictine College, a small liberal arts Catholic school in Atchison, Kansas, Messersmith is going into his junior year and last season he led his team in blocked shots, averaging two per game.
Messersmith's father was a college athlete and he was born in the midst of Michigan's Fab Five NCAA Tournament run in 1993. As a result, he was named with Michigan Star Jalen Rose in mind.
Messersmith had come out to his family more than a year ago, then told his coaches and teammates last fall. He contacted OutSports.com just before Collins publicly came out and now his announcement has become official.
"When I came out, there was nobody in my sport I could relate to," Messersmith said. "I always wanted to put it out there and I had a great experience with it and I wanted to show people it could be fine."
Although Messersmith said he was terrified of coming out to his teammates, he said he's been treated the same as he was before, only now, he's learned he can be open about his personal life.
Fisher said he got Messersmith to talk about his dating experiences and that the team teases and jokes with him just like they would do with anyone in the locker room.
"It told me that I can be open about my personal life and people would listen and give input," Messersmith said. "I'm just one of the guys, who happens to like guys."
