5 Air Force Academy Athletes to Watch Right Now
U.S. Air Force Academy Public Affairs, November 07, 2019
Lavelle Scottie
Senior Lavelle Scottie enters the 2019-20 season for Air Force men’s basketball as a Preseason All Mountain West First-Team selection, the first Falcon to do so since 2006. Scottie is also Air Force’s leading scorer each of the past two seasons. Scottie earned Third-Team All-Mountain West honors last year as a junior, when he averaged 15.3 points per game. Scottie set program records with 324 points and an 18.0 points per game average in Mountain West play. The Fort Worth, Texas, native comes into his senior season with 1,045 career points, which ranks 22nd all-time at Air Force. Scottie is an economics major and hopes to work in Air Force acquisitions.
Lexi Romero
Freshman forward Lexi Romero leads the team, and the Mountain West Conference, with 14 goals and 33 points. She is also the conference leader in goals per game and points per game. Nationally, Romero is eighth in goals, and 10th in points, goals per game and points per game. In addition, she is the only freshman in the nation with 14 or more goals, and 33 or more points. Romero intends to major in behavioral science and would like to fly or work in space operations.
Kyle Johnson
This season alone Johnson has seven tackles and a QB hurry; he’s second on the team in tackles with 44. He had his second interception return for a touchdown and is the first Falcon with multiple defense touchdowns since former linebacker Corey Nelson returned touchdowns in the 1999 and 2000 seasons. He was named to the Charlotte Touchdown Club Defender of the Year watch list. Johnson is senior and a management major and will likely serve as an intelligence officer.
Denise Ssozi
Denise Ssozi, the squad’s lone senior, is in the midst of another stellar season. She recently broke the program’s Division I record for double-doubles in a career, as she notched her 30th against San Diego State on Oct. 19. Overseeing a young Air Force team, Ssozi has helped the squad to its best DI conference start in Academy history. She is currently ranked among the conference leaders in kills and points, while holding top-10 marks in kills, attempts, digs and points on the program’s all-time standings. Ssozi is a legal studies major and hopes to serve in a cyber or space specialty for the Air Force.
Pierce Pluemer
Senior Pierce Pluemer has played in 89 career games on the ice and has been a part of two conference championship teams (2017 and 2018) and competed in two NCAA Tournaments. He is the chairman of the Academy’s Student Athlete Advisory Committee and is a three-time academic all-conference selection. An operations research major, he has been on the dean’s list every semester and the superintendent’s list once.