By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The Big Kev Give Back Camp took another step forward in Year 5, drawing more than 100 participants while hosting a two-day event for the first time Thursday and Friday at Washburn University.
Topeka Shawnee County Hall of Famers Kyle Weems and Michael Wilhoite co-hosted the camp while numerous other current and former local players and coaches were also on hand to serve as instructors.
Kyle Weems interacts with a young camper during Friday's Big Kev Give Back Camp at Washburn University. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Michael Wilhoite instructs campers during Friday's Big Kev Give Back Camp at Washburn University. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
"We were well over 100,'' Weems said. "At the beginning of this week we were like in the 60 range and we had people signing up at 3 in the morning, we had people signing up at 9. We get a lot of walkups and we hit it head on.
"You don't realize how much goes into something like this until you actually do it, but it's been great.''
The 2026 camp kicked off on Thursday night with the first Mental Performance And Wellness Night, followed by the traditional basketball/football camp on Friday.
The Big Kev Give Back camp is named in honor of Kyle's father, the late Kevin Weems, a former Drury and Washburn University basketball player who envisioned the local stars returning to Topeka to help inspire the youth of Topeka.
Weems and Wilhoite are both Highland Park graduates, who went on to highly successful college and pro careers.
Weems earned All-America and Missouri Valley Player of the Year basketball honors for Missouri State before embarking on a 13-year pro career overseas while Washburn product Wilhoite put together a seven-year NFL career as a linebacker with San Francisco and Seattle, including a Super Bowl appearance, before coaching in the NFL for the New Orleans Saints, San Diego Chargers and Denver Broncos.
Wilhoite said he felt it was very important to add the Mental Performance And Wellness Night to the Big Kev Give Back lineup after devoting much of his past year to concentrating on the mental side of sports.
"I'm out of football for a year and that was tough,'' Wilhoite said. "That had essentially become my identity and that had become who I was -- football coaching -- and that being taken away it kind of stripped me of that with it.
"It got tough, so I went and sought out help and it changed my life. It gave me perspective that I hadn't had before in my life. And when I learned this side, it was like, 'I want to give this back. This should be given to everybody.' Everybody should know the importance of the mind and mental health and mental performance.''
Weems agreed.
"I want to give credit to my brother Mike for coming up with this idea and I was all for it,'' Weems said. "It was good to be able to get it out there and let people understand what it is, what it's about, that it's a safe place.
"Mike and I have been blessed, to be about to live out our dreams, but at the same we're not perfect and everybody needs help. This is something that's positive and something that we wanted to bring to our city.''
