DeMoss lands spot at Iowa

A longtime Purdue fan, Gary DeMoss has a new favorite Big Ten school - or at least a second one to root for.

That's because his daughter Leah, a senior at St. Charles North, has committed to Iowa.

"I'll make an exception for her," Gary DeMoss joked.

Leah DeMoss, a forward at St. Charles North and also on her Fox Valley Strikers club team, will receive a 45 percent soccer scholarship.

The Hawkeyes began showing interest in the spring during the high school season. One of their assistant coaches came to a tournament St. Charles North played at in Burlington, Iowa.

Iowa also came to watch DeMoss during a State Cup game in June, then she went to visit their campus and team camp. DeMoss was impressed with the coaches and the soccer facilities.

"The campus was really, really nice," said DeMoss, who plans on going into nursing. "It is more of a smaller Big Ten school. I didn't want to go to a huge school that was overwhelming. The (soccer) fields were amazing."

DeMoss had initially been hoping to go to Purdue, and also had been receiving interest from Illinois State and Northern Iowa.

"I had always wanted to play in the Big Ten," DeMoss said. "I'm glad they (Iowa) wanted me on the team."

DeMoss comes from a basketball family, including her brother Jonathan who just graduated from St. Charles North in the spring and is now a freshman at Augustana, and her father Gary at Miami of Ohio in Akron, Ohio.

Leah played basketball through her sophomore year in high school before focusing on soccer. She's glad to have the decision out of the way and now is able to fully enjoy her senior year.

"It's so nice. It was a pain always e-mailing (college) coaches and telling them when my games were," said DeMoss, whose teammate with the North Stars, Maryl Behm, also will play Division I soccer at Kansas.

"I love it (high school soccer), love the coach, I love playing the spring season. I can't wait for it to come."