“I couldn’t imagine this the last time we talked,” Joe Hemschoot said.
Why would he? It was more than a year ago, when Hemschoot was a junior linebacker at Class 5A Lakewood and all of 15 years old.
On Wednesday’s national signing day, Hemschoot was every bit of a Sweet 16 as he signed to play football at Stanford.
For those of you who choose to do the math, high-schoolers who put their autographs on official documents to attend colleges are usually 17 or 18. Some are 19.
But 16? Think of Hemschoot when you have to square things with Uncle Sam. He won’t turn 17 until tax day, April 15.
Envision his future reunions. Classmates could set the over-under for his beginning to turn gray at the temples at, say, 30 years.
“It has been an amazing ride,” Hemschoot said. “I just feel so blessed and I’m so grateful.”
Keep in mind this isn’t tennis. It’s not golf. It’s not distance running.
It’s football. Hemschoot (6-feet-1, 170 pounds) has been competing in a violent contact sport with and against older players since he strapped on his first helmet, and he has the chance to continue on another level in the Pac-10.
While most of us are surprised at such a young player as a 12th-grader excelling in the big-school game, Lakewood coach Mark Robinson isn’t.
“For everybody on the outside, they are,” Robinson said. “For us on the inside, we’re not.”
Forgive Robinson for broaching selfish tendencies fueled by a first-hand look at the ever-evolving recruiting process, which runs from the reason-it-was-set-up honorable to the totally underhanded and bizarre. Even at 16, Hemschoot’s case qualifies much closer to the latter.
“I was trying to sell Division I scouts last year that they were looking at a 15-year-old kid,” Robinson said.
Agewise, Hemschoot could be a junior or a sophomore, and because of that, Robinson said: “No one knew about him. I honestly think he would have been the No. 1 pick out of Colorado” if Hemschoot were in his appropriate grade.
“And at that point,” Robinson added, “everyone would have known.”
Hemschoot got into the position of being a 16-year-old senior because he has always been an A student. His rapid progression was noted early, causing him to be moved ahead a grade in elementary school, yet later was able to compete against older and more mature football players.
He was recruited as a linebacker, although keep in mind he also played quarterback for the Tigers in displaying the mind-set and willingness to line up wherever he was told for a program that probably should be in 4A. It showed. Hemschoot was first-team all-Big 8 League, the group that was clearly the most demanding in 5A in 2009, and the 5A first-team all-state specialist by The Denver Post in recognizing his all-around skills.
Ultimately, colleges were alerted to Hemschoot through a highlight video by former Tiger John Bacon, an all-stater who played at Oregon and was in his first season assisting Lakewood. Suddenly, the Ducks were interested, as was Colorado, but the academic side of Hemschoot couldn’t pass on the chance at a Stanford education.
He said he liked Oregon “and it would have been nice staying close (at CU), but in the end and in talking with my parents, I tried to make the choice that would benefit me the most, football or not. Stanford has the intangibles.”
While he may be the classic poster child for redshirting, don’t be fooled. Hemschoot will be with the Cardinal by June, taking classes and working out.
Although Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh indicated a redshirt is an option, Hemschoot said he was told, “I’ll have just as much of a chance as any other guy to play right away.”
Why change now?
Neil H. Devlin: 303-954-1714 or ndevlin@denverpost.com
