From our Iowa site on in-state QB Nate Stanley:
I had an opportunity to speak with Stanley's coach, Joe La Buda of Menomonie high school. Here is the full Q&A but the recruiting/Wisconsin stuff is towards the bottom.
Q: What type of player has Nathan been for you?
"He is obviously a tremendous leader. His junior year, he was injured in the first game and that crushed our season that year. This year we got to the state quarterfinals and our tailback/linebacker, who is going to Wisconsin, got injured. We would have probably make it to the state championship if not.
He is one of the best quarterbacks in the Midwest. One of the reasons he choose Iowa is he gets along well with the coaching staff. His grandparents and mom are from Iowa so he has been an Iowa fan since he was younger. Wisconsin is still working hard on him and he had interest from Stanford, Michigan State, and Minnesota.
He is one of the greatest athletes that I've been around and that includes when I was coaching in Florida. He is very athletic and is not just a big kid that can throw. That is evident watching him play other sports. Barring injury, he'll be our schools all time leading scorer in basketball and that is a record from the 1950s. He can take off and dunk from the free throw line, hit the three, and can handle the ball like a guard. I think he could have been a Division I basketball player if he had chosen to do so. He scored 38 points in our game on Friday. In baseball, he throws 91, 90 so he will be hearing from some MLB scouts. He has as strong of an arm that I've seen at the high school level and had one ball that he threw 72-yards for a touchdown. He has an amazing work ethic and is in the weight room at 6AM every morning. He is a tremendous student. What separates him from most kids is his humbleness and the type of person he is. He doesn't like talking about his individual accomplishments. He should have thrown for a lot more yards this year because we had a lot of drops but instead of getting down on the kid he would pick the kid up. He is about as humble as they come and he is about as classy as they come. He is always going o do what is right and both of our Division I players have been role models. We were fortunate with that both were like that but unfortunately not many kids are like that now. He has a fire to succeed at the college level. He'll do everything exactly right and you won't have to worry about him at the next level. No one will persuade where he is at. He is a kid of great faith.
He is a hardnosed, tough kid. He is unusual because he is big and has long arms but still benches 300 pounds. I'll miss coaching him. The other thing about him is his football smarts. His dad is a coach who he has been on the field since he was knee high standing on the sidelines. He can read defenses and knows things about the game that are hard to coach. He has a great knowledge because of that."
Q: What will he be working to improve on before reporting to Iowa?
"There is a difference between high school and college with the quickness of the reads. That is something every high school quarterback has to adjust to. The defensive backs are moving faster and it is a whole different speed with his reactions and getting the ball out of his hands. It is something every high school quarterback has to adjust to."
Q: What have the Iowa coaches said about his role with the Hawkeyes?
"Obviously he is doing to come in and sit behind (CJ) Beathard. That is a great guy to sit behind. There are some programs who have talked about him coming in and playing right away. I don't think that is ever a good thing to a quarterback to play as a true freshman. One opposing coach in the Big Ten talked about how he could play right away but he never really talked to them much. It is good to sit and learn from Coach Davis. He has a great knowledge of the quarterbacks and it shows with the guys he has had in the past. He is going to be coached up and will have to continue learning."
Q: How did he end up at Iowa?
"When Coach Chryst was at Pitt, they saw film on him and offered him early on. It had a lot to do with that being a long ways away. He did an unofficial visit at Michigan State and they were after him but it was a long ways away. They are also on the other side of the Big Ten. I think the thing with Iowa is he really hit it off with Coach Ferentz, Coach Davis, and Coach Wallace. They came out a lot of times and have been here a lot. With how they recruited him, he really likes the coaches. When Coach Chryst came back to Wisconsin, he was already committed to Iowa. Minnesota also has come after him hard. I think with Iowa it was the right fit and with Coach Chryst at Pitt they took advantage of it. They established the relationship and it was perfect. They did a great job recruiting him."
Q: How much is Wisconsin still recruiting him?
"They are recruiting him very hard. Give Iowa's coaches credit because they sewed him up when Wisconsin had a coach who in my opinion did not do a good job recruiting the state. He wanted to bring in some other guys."
Q: Is he considering Wisconsin?
"I can't answer that. They are after him really hard because he is the best quarterback in our state. You don't see a kid that size who can run and do all the things he can do very often."
Q: When are the Iowa coaches coming next?
"They are coming Thursday, the first day that they can come back out after the dead period. Coach Davis and Coach Brian Ferentz are coming up on Thursday, the first day they can."
Q: Has he scheduled his official?
"It is the weekend of the 23rd."
Q: Is Wisconsin coming to the school?
"They are coming at the end of the week."
I had an opportunity to speak with Stanley's coach, Joe La Buda of Menomonie high school. Here is the full Q&A but the recruiting/Wisconsin stuff is towards the bottom.
Q: What type of player has Nathan been for you?
"He is obviously a tremendous leader. His junior year, he was injured in the first game and that crushed our season that year. This year we got to the state quarterfinals and our tailback/linebacker, who is going to Wisconsin, got injured. We would have probably make it to the state championship if not.
He is one of the best quarterbacks in the Midwest. One of the reasons he choose Iowa is he gets along well with the coaching staff. His grandparents and mom are from Iowa so he has been an Iowa fan since he was younger. Wisconsin is still working hard on him and he had interest from Stanford, Michigan State, and Minnesota.
He is one of the greatest athletes that I've been around and that includes when I was coaching in Florida. He is very athletic and is not just a big kid that can throw. That is evident watching him play other sports. Barring injury, he'll be our schools all time leading scorer in basketball and that is a record from the 1950s. He can take off and dunk from the free throw line, hit the three, and can handle the ball like a guard. I think he could have been a Division I basketball player if he had chosen to do so. He scored 38 points in our game on Friday. In baseball, he throws 91, 90 so he will be hearing from some MLB scouts. He has as strong of an arm that I've seen at the high school level and had one ball that he threw 72-yards for a touchdown. He has an amazing work ethic and is in the weight room at 6AM every morning. He is a tremendous student. What separates him from most kids is his humbleness and the type of person he is. He doesn't like talking about his individual accomplishments. He should have thrown for a lot more yards this year because we had a lot of drops but instead of getting down on the kid he would pick the kid up. He is about as humble as they come and he is about as classy as they come. He is always going o do what is right and both of our Division I players have been role models. We were fortunate with that both were like that but unfortunately not many kids are like that now. He has a fire to succeed at the college level. He'll do everything exactly right and you won't have to worry about him at the next level. No one will persuade where he is at. He is a kid of great faith.
He is a hardnosed, tough kid. He is unusual because he is big and has long arms but still benches 300 pounds. I'll miss coaching him. The other thing about him is his football smarts. His dad is a coach who he has been on the field since he was knee high standing on the sidelines. He can read defenses and knows things about the game that are hard to coach. He has a great knowledge because of that."
Q: What will he be working to improve on before reporting to Iowa?
"There is a difference between high school and college with the quickness of the reads. That is something every high school quarterback has to adjust to. The defensive backs are moving faster and it is a whole different speed with his reactions and getting the ball out of his hands. It is something every high school quarterback has to adjust to."
Q: What have the Iowa coaches said about his role with the Hawkeyes?
"Obviously he is doing to come in and sit behind (CJ) Beathard. That is a great guy to sit behind. There are some programs who have talked about him coming in and playing right away. I don't think that is ever a good thing to a quarterback to play as a true freshman. One opposing coach in the Big Ten talked about how he could play right away but he never really talked to them much. It is good to sit and learn from Coach Davis. He has a great knowledge of the quarterbacks and it shows with the guys he has had in the past. He is going to be coached up and will have to continue learning."
Q: How did he end up at Iowa?
"When Coach Chryst was at Pitt, they saw film on him and offered him early on. It had a lot to do with that being a long ways away. He did an unofficial visit at Michigan State and they were after him but it was a long ways away. They are also on the other side of the Big Ten. I think the thing with Iowa is he really hit it off with Coach Ferentz, Coach Davis, and Coach Wallace. They came out a lot of times and have been here a lot. With how they recruited him, he really likes the coaches. When Coach Chryst came back to Wisconsin, he was already committed to Iowa. Minnesota also has come after him hard. I think with Iowa it was the right fit and with Coach Chryst at Pitt they took advantage of it. They established the relationship and it was perfect. They did a great job recruiting him."
Q: How much is Wisconsin still recruiting him?
"They are recruiting him very hard. Give Iowa's coaches credit because they sewed him up when Wisconsin had a coach who in my opinion did not do a good job recruiting the state. He wanted to bring in some other guys."
Q: Is he considering Wisconsin?
"I can't answer that. They are after him really hard because he is the best quarterback in our state. You don't see a kid that size who can run and do all the things he can do very often."
Q: When are the Iowa coaches coming next?
"They are coming Thursday, the first day that they can come back out after the dead period. Coach Davis and Coach Brian Ferentz are coming up on Thursday, the first day they can."
Q: Has he scheduled his official?
"It is the weekend of the 23rd."
Q: Is Wisconsin coming to the school?
"They are coming at the end of the week."
