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UW FOOTBALL RECRUITING: Prized linebacker commits
00:00 am 12/07/04
Tom Mulhern Wisconsin State Journal

OAK CREEK - The University of Wisconsin football team landed its top-ranked choice in recruiting on Monday when Oak Creek outside linebacker Travis Beckum gave an oral commitment to play for the Badgers.

"(UW coach) Barry Alvarez told me to my face, (Beckum) is the No. 1 kid they have on their board, regardless of position, regardless of state," Oak Creek coach Joe Koch said. "He's the No. 1 guy in the whole country."

Although Beckum is an in- state player, and Alvarez has had a lot of success keeping the top players in the state, this was hardly a slam dunk. Beckum was initially upset with UW over the Badgers' decision not to offer a scholarship to Oak Creek defensive lineman Raymond Henderson.

"At the beginning of this entire process, I would say they were dead last," Koch said of the Badgers. "I mean out of everybody, out of 117 Division I- A schools."

Beckum, who lives in Milwaukee, was born in California and moved here when he was 3. He did not grow up a UW fan and almost never watched college football until this year. The first time Florida State coach Bobby Bowden came to the school for a visit, Beckum had no idea who he was.

The turning point in UW's favor, Koch believes, came recently when Marquette men's basketball coach Tom Crean talked to the Oak Creek players before a playoff game. Crean, who has become friends with Alvarez, stopped to chat with Beckum and made it clear how badly the Badgers wanted him.

"(Crean) said, 'Do you know you're the No. 1 guy they want in the country?' " Koch said. "He said, 'Take it from me, a Division I coach, it means a lot more when you're the top guy. When you come in there, they're going to take care of you.'

"He wasn't trying to work him, he was just trying to let him know, from his perspective, how much that means and to give it consideration. From there on out, everything started to turn quickly."

Beckum, who held a news conference in the school's weight room, said his decision came down to sticking close to home and going to the place where he thought he could have the most success.

"I like how good they are and basically how they play freshmen," Beckum said. "You can succeed in that school. And how their defense was this year."

Beckum, 6-foot-5 and 215 pounds, projects to be an outside linebacker, but UW coaches told him he could also try to play on offense as a slot receiver. He said he runs the 40-yard dash in 4.5 seconds.

"It would be fun," Beckum said of playing both ways.

That probably wouldn't happen until later in Beckum's career, but Koch doesn't think it's far-fetched. Beckum is athletic enough to have played everything from defensive end to cornerback on defense, and tight end and receiver on offense. He's also the punter and has a strong enough arm that he could have been a quarterback.

Oak Creek has produced 36 Division I players in Koch's 13 years, including current UW running back Brian Calhoun, a transfer from Colorado who is sitting out this season.

"Brian Calhoun is a kid who wowed us," Koch said. "He could just do things you couldn't believe he just did. The Badgers, now they're seeing that first hand. Travis is going to do the same thing. Travis is a defensive version of Brian Calhoun."

Beckum seems to thrive on the pressure that comes with such lofty expectations. "It's not me, personally, being cocky," Beckum said. "It's the mindset of a winner. I don't think I can be stopped. . . . It's just what winners have to think like."