North Stars' Juriga commits to Navy
St. Charles North senior linebacker Jake Juriga knows the commitment he made Tuesday to Navy includes a greater responsibility than to just Midshipmen football.
The additional five-year commitment past graduation was not a deterrent to the Coaches Association All-State and Daily Herald All-Area player.
"I'd look into that more seriously, because those five years start to go into your pension," said Juriga, son of former Wheaton North, University of Illinois and Denver Broncos lineman Dr. Jim Juriga, now owner of the Valley Animal Hospital in Geneva.
"Once you hit 20 years then you start getting 50 percent of your salary as pension," Jake said.
Smart thinking, but that's normal for a student who carries a grade-point average of 5.65 on a 5-point scale at St. Charles North, while playing both football and basketball.
A 6-foot-3, 210-pound middle linebacker who moved up to the varsity early in his sophomore season, Juriga led the North Stars in tackles his junior and senior seasons. In 2008 Juriga recorded 105 tackles with 2 interceptions and 6 pass deflections.
He said Navy's Illinois recruiter and outside linebackers coach Tony Grantham projects him as an inside linebacker.
The possibility of a lucrative career as a Navy-educated engineer was a key to attracting Juriga, whose ball-hawking skills also intrigued Grand Valley State, Northwestern and Iowa.
"It was probably just the best fit for the level of football and academics," said Juriga, who made his official visit to the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., over the weekend of Jan. 9-11. "And, they open with Ohio State next year.
"It's almost considered an Ivy League education, where when you graduate from there your resume stands out. It presents a lot of opportunities. When I visited it became more and more clear I liked it a whole lot.
"One of the other things I liked about it was how close the guys on the football team were," Jake Juriga said. "I heard from everyone that when you graduate from there you stay close to all the guys you graduated with, more than any other school."