Sports editor Jim Rossow has picked 12 of his favorite stories from 2009. The list includes Bob Asmussen's trip to Kansas City to visit with incoming quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase.

By BOB ASMUSSEN

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Character. They are trying to build it daily at Rockhurst High School.

Nathan Scheelhaase gets it. Shows it. Lives it.

Want stories? The folks at Rockhurst have them in bunches.

In 2007, Scheelhaase received the prestigious Simone Award, which goes to the top football player in the Kansas City area. Scheelhaase became the first junior to win the award and was honored by a surprise ceremony at Rockhurst.

The award is named in honor of Thomas A. Simone, who lost his life in 1983 at age 12 after being hit by a police car.

As he received the award, Scheelhaase turned to the Simone family and said, "I'm sorry for your loss."

Character.

In the 2008 Class 6 state quarterfinals, defending champion Rockhurst was stunned by Blue Springs South, a team it routed in the season opener.

It wasn't the ending that Scheelhaase wanted or expected. Nobody would have blamed him for firing his helmet into the ground and sulking. Not this time.

As he left the high school field for the final time, Scheelhaase put his arm around Rockhurst Principal Larry Ruby and said, "Thanks for being here."

Three days later, Scheelhaase came up to Ruby at Rockhurst and asked "Hey, man, are you all right?"

On Wednesday, the next stage of Scheelhaase's life begins when he signs at Illinois. With offers from Missouri, Oklahoma, Iowa, Kansas and others, Scheelhaase could have taken a handful of paid recruiting trips and strung out the decision until Signing Day. Instead, he picked Illinois on July 16 and took one official visit .. to Champaign-Urbana

No wavering. No game playing. Pick the school. Visit the school. Sign with the school. Keep it simple and be honest. Character.

Last spring, longtime Rockhurst coach Tony Severino asked Scheelhaase to whittle down the list of potential schools to 10.

"Illinois was one of those 10, but never did I think it would be No. 1," Severino said.

In the summer, Scheelhaase told his coach he wanted to commit early. After listing the pluses and minuses for each school, Scheelhaase said, "I'm going to go to Illinois."

Scheelhaase can't wait to get started.

"It's something that I've always dreamed about when I was a little kid, playing for a college," Scheelhaase said. "It's finally here, and I'm very excited about it. I'm sure there will be nerves the first day going out there, but if you don't have nerves, you probably don't have a heart."

Mr. Popularity

The three words roll off everyone's tongue at Rockhurst High School. As if they've been waiting for you to ask.

"Leader."

"Competitor."

"Winner."

Scheelhaase has won them over at Rockhurst. And not just by playing quarterback for the Missouri power.

"He is the B.M.O.C., but he doesn't act the B.M.O.C.," Rockhurst athletic director Pete Campbell said.

"People are going to gravitate to Nathan. He does the right things on and off the field. He does not follow the road of being cool or looking cool. He's not into that."

"When he walks the halls here, he fits right in," Ruby said. "He works very, very hard."

He does it in the classroom (3.8 GPA) and after school (helping to organize the senior retreat). He listens to his parents, obeys the law ("I never got a ticket") and avoids the usual temptations for an 18-year-old (no smoking or drinking).

The football star doesn't get treated any differently at Rockhurst.

"I don't think students see Nathan as a football player in the hallways every day and in their classes because he's such a doggone good student," Ruby said. "He's a great citizen of the school. He's committed to it. He believes in it."

Sports are kept in perspective.

"You can walk our halls on a big game day and you won't know it's a big game day," Ruby said.

Not that the school ignores its athletic success. In the hallway leading to the school's new gym, district title plaques line the wall. In the older gym, banners on the wall celebrate the school's success in state competitions. They are running out of room for all of the championships.

School of choice

The Rockhurst seniors aren't in school most of January. Instead, they are out in the community as part of a service project. Scheelhaase worked with disabled students at a Kansas City-area public school.

Scheelhaase's first day back at Rockhurst was Jan. 22. As he sat in class, Missouri coach Gary Pinkel walked into the high school and found Coach Severino.

Top college coaches visit Rockhurst routinely. Severino, 246-57-1 in his 26th year in charge, can't count the number of Division I-A scholarship players from his school.

But Scheelhaase is among the Rockhurst elite.

"He's in that top five," Severino said. "He's by far the best quarterback we've ever had. You're talking to a coach whose son played for him and went on to play Division I ball also.

"He's one of the best to ever play in the city. A lot of people just see the wins and the championship. I see the everyday stuff that he brings to the table. I always gauge great players by their effect on our program, not while they're here, but for the three classes that had a chance to be here when he was here. He'll have a great effect on these kids."

Sitting literally across the street from Kansas, Rockhurst has 1,079 students. The tuition is $10,000 a year, though one-third of the students receive help from more than $1 million in financial aid.

Nathan Scheelhaase lives in Overland Park, Kan., a 15-minute drive from Rockhurst. Shawnee Mission West, a fine school with an excellent athletic program, sits three blocks from the family's home.

Nathan's family makes sacrifices to keep him at Rockhurst. They drive older cars, live in a smaller townhouse and cut corners where they can.

"It's just a great school to teach leadership," said his mom, LouAnn Scheelhaase. "We said going in, 'There are kids of all different income levels who go to school there. You have to be prepared that you're going to be on the lower echelon of that.' "

"We're not going to have a Mercedes," said Nate Creer, Nathan's dad. "He's got a '97 Honda Accord."

Severino had worked with Scheelhaase in youth summer camps and welcomed him to the school and the football program.

"The beauty of Nathan is that he wanted to come to Rockhurst because of the tradition," Severino said. "He wanted to show people, 'I can be the best at the best.' That's just his mentality."

The decision has been the right one for Scheelhaase. Campbell, who had Scheelhaase in his freshman algebra class, credits Nathan's parents for his success.

"His mother and father did a great job," Campbell said. "I would say we enhanced an already- wonderful product.

"He was never a kid who put himself above anyone else. In fact, he went out of his way to take the little guys under his wings."

Rockhurst students take seven classes each day. There isn't a lot of free time at the Jesuit school, which will observe its 100th birthday in 2010. Students have three to five hours of homework each night.

About 500 juniors and seniors quietly eat lunch in a crowded cafeteria. Wearing dress pants, dress shoes and collared shirts, they have 30 minutes to get their food and snarf it down. You won't find any wrappers left on the table, unless the offending students want to stay after school or earn cleanup duty.

The system seems to work for the Rockhurst students. Alums come back from college and tell their old teachers how much easier they have it now.

"Sometimes, the more difficult and busy you are, it teaches you structure, time management, organization," Campbell said. "You don't have time to sit around watching cartoons and 'Oprah.' "

Scheelhaase could have cruised during his senior year, could have gotten C's and easily graduated.

But he wouldn't think of it. He's getting A's and earning academic honors to go along with those he gets for sports.

Campbell expects Scheelhaase to continue his fine work at Illinois. On and off the field.

"Nathan Scheelhaase, I guarantee you, will never be in any kind of trouble, will never have any kind of academic problems," Campbell said. "You could see Nathan coaching somewhere after he's done. He's so cerebral athletically."

Home visit

Start with the trophies. Scheelhaase has more than his share.

Lining two long shelves and the floor of his basement bedroom, Scheelhaase has awards for football, baseball, basketball, soccer and track. They fill one wall.

Mom used to group them by sport but doesn't bother now. It's organized chaos.

Mixed in with the trophies are photos of Nathan with Bill Self, Roy Williams, Latrell Sprewell and Kevin Garnett.

The opposite wall is all Nathan, all the time. There are framed photos of Scheelhaase during his youth football days. He wore No. 29, the same number Nate had at Iowa.

But 29 wasn't available at Rockhurst, so Nathan switched to No. 7.

He clearly likes the new number. How do you know? Check out his Kansas license plate: Rock 7.

But 7 won't be available his freshman year at Illinois. Juice Williams isn't likely to give it up. How about 77? Sorry, that's Red Grange's retired number.

"(Juice) is keeping 7 for sure," Scheelhaase said. "I was joking with Coach (Reggie) Mitchell the other day and said I'd like a single digit, 'If you can work things out.' Numbers really don't matter. It's the player inside the number."

Most guys go off to college and they leave the family behind. Not Scheelhaase.

Mom and Dad are planning to move to the C-U area. They spent part of Nathan's official visit weekend checking out possible homes.

"It will be a good situation," Nathan said. "I'm not going to be taking my laundry over there, having dinner every night there."

LouAnn works for EMS Consulting, a technology solutions company based in Tampa, Fla. She works out of her home, which means there is no reason to stay in Kansas City. Especially when her only child is moving to Illinois.

Creer will look for a job in C-U with "flexible hours and weekends free." The family will try to travel to all of the Illinois away games.

During recruiting, Dad didn't push his alma mater. Creer started 3 1/2 years as a defensive back at Iowa, playing in the 1986 Rose Bowl for Hayden Fry.

"Whatever he wanted, no problem," Creer said. "I'm the one who contacted Coach Mitchell. I liked the style of the (Illinois) offense."

Creer coached Nathan during his youth football days, starting in second grade. Nathan weighed 2 pounds too much to be a running back, so he played center.

In third grade, Scheelhaase tried quarterback during a scrimmage. On an early play, he rolled out and raced 60 yards for a score.

"We looked at each other, me and Mom, and said, 'He's going to be something special,' " Creer said.

Looking back, Creer said he was sometimes too hard on his son. Nathan nods his head in agreement.

"We butted heads a lot," Nathan said. "It was just me thinking I knew stuff and himthinking he knew what was the best for me. You're going to have it. He's always been there when I needed somebody to throw to and I needed somebody to work me out. I know he's going to put me to work. I see how much it's done for me."

Nathan's parents are supportive. And they see his flaws. Such as ..

"He can't keep track of anything," LouAnn Scheelhaase said "Wallet, keys, shirt, bag."

"He can't do laundry," Creer said. "We've got about four months to teach him."

Oh, yeah, he can play

His varsity career started early, Scheelhaase playing for the Hawklets as a freshman. One play sticks out, a 76-yard touchdown run at Dasta Memorial Stadium, which seats about 6,500.

"That was the point that I put my foot down and said, 'I'm here to do something special,' " Scheelhaase said.

As a junior, Scheelhaase led the Hawklets to the Missouri Class 6 title. Rockhurst beat Blue Springs 42-17 in the quarterfinals and DeSmet 67-7 in the semis. Undefeated Rockhurst beat Mehlville 28-9 in the final at the Edward Jones Dome. Scheelhaase threw for 85 yards and ran for another 59. For the season, he finished with 1,861 passing yards and 20 touchdowns. He ran for 917 yards and another 14 scores.

With Scheelhaase back, the Hawklets were considered a good bet to return to the Class 6 final in 2008. It didn't happen. They lost in the quarterfinals 14-9 to Blue Springs South.

Hard to know when Scheelhaase next will play in a football game. It could be the 2009 Illinois opener against Missouri in St. Louis. Or it could be the 2010 opener against the Tigers.

Severino can't tell you "when." But he has little doubt Scheelhaase will make an impact at Illinois.

"He's going to play because of his mental toughness and his physical toughness," Severino said. "I think he's a terrific quarterback because he's so smart and he does all the little things great quarterbacks do. He's a thinking man's quarterback. He's a coach's quarterback."

What are his flaws?

"He probably tries to do too much," Severino said.

Work ethic will never be a problem, Severino said. He's got a story to prove it.

During Scheelhaase's junior year, the Hawklets played a Friday night game at Edmond, Okla., a five-hour drive from Kansas City. The team arrived home at 2 a.m. and had an 8 a.m. meeting at Al Davis Fieldhouse. Severino got to school at 7 a.m.

"He's down on the field, running 100-yard sprints," Severino said. "He was pretty upset with the way he played the night before. We won the game."

Character.