Libertyville's Kimpler to play football for Miami
The rush end was part of a blitz. And as more and more football offers came Ben Kimpler's way, the easier it was for him to choose football as his college sport.
A 6-foot-6, 225-pound defensive end who helped Libertyville experience its best season in 10 years last fall, Kimpler has verbally committed to Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. He excelled in three sports as a junior.
"After my junior football season and getting a lot of attention from that, I made a decision," Kimpler said, "that depending on how my junior year of baseball goes regarding offers and interest and connections with college coaches, that was going to determine whether I go football or baseball."
While baseball interest in him never picked up speed, Kimpler continued to attract college football coaches. He said he also received football offers from Toledo, Buffalo, UConn, Wyoming, Illinois State, Western Michigan and Nevada. He visited Toledo, Miami and Western Michigan.
Miami contacted him in March, sending the two-year varsity starter its spring schedule and inviting him to check out its campus in Oxford. He drove to Ohio with his father on a Sunday, a rare "off" day for the busy athlete, and said he loved it. Miami reached out to him again late in the high school year and made a scholarship offer in early June.
"Hearing from people and seeing everything on Twitter, I know that a lot of college teams are starting to recruit early and get commits early, so roster spots were starting to fill out," Kimpler said. "I sat down with my parents and took those eight scholarship options that I had and crossed off some and circled the others that fit my needs."
He said he chose Miami over Western Michigan because Oxford felt "more like home." He visited Western Michigan last Friday and then traveled the following day to Miami again. On Sunday, he committed to Redhawks head coach Chuck Martin, believing that Martin and his staff, including some coaches who were with him at both Grand Valley State and Notre Dame, can turn around the program. The Redhawks went 2-10 in 2014, Martin's first season.
Kimpler said Western Michigan was interested in him as a tight end. He will play defensive end for Miami.
"I've always gone into it saying whatever position can get me on the field the fastest is what I would do," Kimpler said. "But I've always been a defensive player. I've always had that one edge to me - to not slow up before a tackle, but to accelerate. (Playing defensive end) was a factor (in choosing Miami), but it definitely was not the decision-maker."
Before he verbally committed, Kimpler sat down with Libertyville classmate Riley Lees and picked his brain since Lees had already been through the recruiting process. Lees, the Wildcats' all-state quarterback last year, committed to Miami in the spring before recently accepting a scholarship offer from Northwestern.
"He's a really good friend," said Kimpler, who played both football and baseball with Lees. "I just asked him questions like what made him choose the school he did and what were some of the categories that he looked at."
Kimpler helped Libertyville reach the Class 7A state semifinals last fall, registering 9.5 sacks en route to earning all-North Suburban Conference and Daily Herald all-area honors. After starting for the basketball team, he collected all-NSC and all-area honors in baseball. The right-hander had a breakout season on the mound, going 6-0. He beat both Mundelein and Warren, which were two of the top teams in Lake County.
Kimpler received some Division II interest during basketball season. Despite his strong season in baseball and being a 6-foot-6 pitcher, he said only ISU and Central Florida contacted him.
As for his senior year of high school, Kimpler plans to play three sports again. He's played varsity football, basketball and baseball since his sophomore year. He also played each sport on the freshman level.
"Going into high school, my dream was to be up on the wall as a 12-sport athlete and receive an award for that," Kimpler said. "I've put in all the time and effort the past nine seasons so I might as well finish off the last three strong."