Elk Grove's Meyer picks South Dakota

Nick Meyer had listened to a lot of recruiting pitches before Elk Grove's winter break started.

Then the Cook County captain of the Daily Herald's All-Area football team received one from South Dakota which piqued his interest.

“A lot of schools were coming in and they came in right at the end of the day,” Meyer said.

“I was kind of tired from talking to everybody. They woke me up and I liked what they were saying.”

South Dakota's coaches liked what they saw on film of Meyer as a quarterback and offered a full scholarship.

Meyer liked what he saw during his visit last weekend to the Sioux Falls campus and made a verbal commitment Tuesday night after a home visit by head coach Ed Meierkort.

“I was real comfortable with the people there and I liked the guys who were looking at the school,” Meyer said. “It's a good time to be becoming a Coyote.”

The 6-foot-1, 190-pound Meyer, who has a 4.75 grade-point average, scored 27 on the ACT and plans to study business or medicine, had hopes of going to an Ivy League school. But opportunities with Penn, Dartmouth and Cornell fell through.

Meyer had also talked to Southern Illinois and canceled a visit this weekend to Holy Cross.

“Things fade away and there's nothing you can do about it,” Meyer said. “Luckily with South Dakota, I don't feel stuck going there. I'm excited to go there.”

And continue playing quarterback there after three years as a starter for the Grenadiers.

In Meyer's last two seasons, which ended with playoff appearances, he threw for 4,065 yards and 35 touchdowns and rushed for 1,937 yards and 36 touchdowns.

“(The position) didn't really matter, but I like having the ball in my hands,” said Meyer, who also played safety at Elk Grove and had colleges considering him as a wide receiver. “It would feel weird to not be touching the ball on every play.

“It's good to be in the mix all the time. I've been playing (quarterback) since the second grade so I can be at that comfort level and not have to learn a new position.”

Meyer will redshirt next year and get to learn the college game behind former St. Viator star Dante Warren.

Warren has one year of eligibility left after throwing for 2,137 yards and 18 touchdowns and leading a memorable upset of Minnesota last season.

“I'll have a pretty good opportunity to play for three or four years and it will be mine if I want to work for it,” Meyer said. “It's an exciting incentive to not be stuck behind an all-American for four years.”

South Dakota will be entering the fourth year of its transition from Division II to the Division I Football Championship Subdivision level.

The school opens with Air Force next year, has future games with Wisconsin and Iowa and will join the Missouri Valley Football Conference in 2012.

“It's nice to have an answer,” Meyer said of the questions of where he's going to school, “and know where I'm going to be hanging out for the next five years.”