Growing up, Zach Sterup always dreamt of playing basketball at the college level.
Until recently, the St. Cecilia junior figured basketball was his best chance to play at the highest level after high school.
But then his first NCAA Division I football offer came in February. And then another. And another. And they haven’t stopped. As of now, Sterup is up to eight scholarship offers.
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Sterup, who is being recruited as an offensive tackle, has received full-ride scholarship offers from Iowa, Stanford, Kansas State, Kansas, Ohio, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Memphis.
But no offer from Nebraska, which already has four offensive lineman commits for its 2011 recruiting class.
“They want me to go down to camp,” Sterup said of the Huskers. “And then they’ll decide if they want to offer based on my performance at camp — that’s what they’ve told me. I understand where they’re coming from and why they haven’t offered yet. They’ve got a pretty solid class already. I understand why they haven’t recruited me that highly.”
Does Sterup have a favorite among the eight schools that have offered
“I want to play at a big BCS conference,” he said. “But that’s the only deciding factor.”
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Stanford is the most recent school to offer, having offered on Monday.
If Nebraska were to offer, Sterup said the Huskers would move toward the top of the list.
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Sterup has made unofficial visits already to Iowa, Kansas State, Kansas and Wisconsin and could be making more in the future. He said Notre Dame, which hasn’t offered yet, and Stanford both want him to visit.
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Sterup will be attending Nebraska’s camp in June along with a couple other camps.
Sterup’s summer will be mostly filled with basketball, though. He will be playing on the Bison-Nebraska Red team, which features some of the state’s top to-be senior basketball players.
That shouldn’t hurt him in football, he said, and most college coaches actually have no problem with him playing basketball.
“Most of the people I’ve talked to like that I’m playing basketball,” Sterup said. “It keeps me active and competitive through the summer. It’s good footwork. So they don’t see it hindering me at all.”
On the football field, Sterup still feels he has plenty of room for improvement.
“I’m pretty raw as it is,” he said. “(The college coaches) just see a lot of potential. My technique could use a lot of work — staying low and getting the footwork down. Pretty much everything could improve drastically.”
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“It’s just coming on,” Tesmer said. “I think the guy is an All-American. I think he’s a potential All-American college football player. And I think he can play professional football. Just looking at his frame and his work ethic, his potential is unlimited.”
