[Buckskin86]

http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/du...s/10248747.htm

Posted on Mon, Nov. 22, 2004
Beckum 2004 Wisconsin Player of the Year
ARNIE STAPLETON
Associated Press

MADISON, Wis. - Travis Beckum is a talented two-way throwback who never wants to be on the sideline, begs to play on the scout team at practice to make the starters better and can do just about anything he wants on a football field.

The Oak Creek senior star who has narrowed his college choices to Wisconsin, Miami (Fla.), Oklahoma and Tennessee, was unanimously selected the 2004 Associated Press Player of the Year by a statewide panel of sportswriters.

"That's outstanding. It takes hard work to do something like that," Beckum said sheepishly when informed of the award. "I love to work, I love to play football."

Mukwonago's Keith Hensler, who led the Indians to their first state championship in his 26th season, was named Coach of the Year.

Beckum was a repeat first-team selection at linebacker on the All-State team that included two unanimous selections, both on the offensive line: Arrowhead's Jason Fiacco and Joe Valdez of St. Francis, as well as a repeat first-team selection in Janesville Parker offensive lineman Nick Nolte.

Also, Racine Park running back Johnny Clay was just the third sophomore to make the first-team All-State squad since The AP team debuted in 1945.

The others were Pete Johnson, a defensive end from Fond du Lac, in 1971 and punter Kevin Stemke of Green Bay Preble, in 1994.

Playing for a team that went 8-3, Beckum, a 6-foot-5, 220-pound outside linebacker, had 38 tackles for loss, 16 sacks, seven interceptions, four forced fumbles, five fumble recoveries and four blocked kicks.

He also averaged 41 yards on 31 punts, including a staggering 77-yarder, caught 22 passes for 506 yards and also played tight end, defensive end, inside linebacker, safety and cornerback his senior season.

Amazingly, he did this all while nursing a strained rotator cuff that prevented him from using full motion in his left shoulder.

"Travis is the most talented defensive player we've ever had," Oak Creek coach Joe Koch said. "He was a great leader for a young team that might have been 3-8 without him instead of 8-3. He loves to play the game, he's a throwback. He played as hard in practice as he did on Friday nights. He just loves to compete."

Beckum has the size to play linebacker or on defensive line but the speed - he runs a 4.4 in the 40-yard dash - to play in coverage. The Badgers are hoping to lure him to Madison with the promise of playing both linebacker and wide receiver, Koch said.

Over the last 13 years, Oak Creek has produced three dozen Division 1 players, many of them highly touted and nationally recruited but none of them were as gifted and dedicated as Beckum, Koch said.

"Usually the great players who become high-profile as a junior don't do as well as a senior, whether they put it on the back burner or they're saving themselves for college," Koch said. "Travis did the opposite. He went up a ton. He never let it get to his head, not one bit, when big-time schools came to watch him.

"I've never had that happen before. Usually the kids lose their minds for half a year until they come out of the have," Koch said. "He likes playing the game for the game itself. He just loves to play. He's like a little kid. He volunteers for the scout team. He's your old throwback and he wants to play on every play."

Beckum said his style isn't just meant to make his teammates better but himself, too.

"If I play soft, I'm not getting anyone any better. If I go hard on every play, I'll bring out the best in everybody," he said.

Beckum said his shoulder popped out during a scrimmage before the season but "I wasn't going to stop playing." He said the shoulder is almost healthy now that he's had time off from football and is concentrating on basketball, where he plays all five positions.

Beckum said he never let the notoriety or the recruiters watching him go to his head because "I just basically didn't want to worry about that until after the season. We didn't do as good as we could have but it was still fun."

He said he has dropped Ohio State and Florida State from his wish list and will announce his college choice at the high school all-star game at the Alamodome in San Antonio on Jan. 15.

Koch said the Badgers coaching staff calls Beckum not only the best player in the state but in the country.

"I don't know if you'll ever see another kid like that," Koch said. "He's a beautiful looking athlete. He's graceful, smooth. He's a tough customer with a good, competitive mean streak. He looks pretty and he plays great."

Hensler, the coach of the year, has seen Beckum firsthand for several seasons and said Koch isn't exaggerating: "He's a very gifted and talented athlete. He's a natural kid who works hard and for a big player is fast. Joe moves him around a lot. He's very universal."

Hensler's team beat Oak Creek 28-8 in the playoffs on its way to a 14-0 season capped by a 17-6 win over Marshfield in the Division 1 championship Friday night.

Hensler, who is 225-103-3 in his career, said his coaching award, like the championship, was a shared honor because "it goes way back to a lot of great former players and coaches and current players and coaches and even our youth coaches who made this a memorable season."