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Wheaton North senior Taylor Graham never felt obligated to play football, become a quarterback or commit to Ohio State because his father, Kent Graham, once did all those things.

No, Graham chose those paths because that's what he sought for himself.

"He's always told me if I love football, that's what I should do," Graham said. "If not, there's no problem with that. I have to do whatever I love and do it to my fullest. It turned out to be football."

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Olympia quarterback Trevor Siemian and wide receiver Rashad Lawrence never planned on attending the same college, especially one in the Midwest.

Not that they don't get along -- they have been friends since seventh grade -- but it never crossed their minds.

Each was focused on his own recruiting journey.

It was Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald's idea to put them on the same path. With Olympia (Orlando, Fla.) High School possessing a quarterback and wide receiver capable of playing in the Big Ten, it only made sense for the Wildcats to recruit them as a package.

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If Fremd senior offensive lineman Christian Lombard doesn't end up in the NFL, his high school coach, Michael Donatucci, believes he could pen a self-help guide.

"He should write a book on how to handle the recruiting process," Donatucci said.

Lombard's recruiting story is the opposite of most you hear these days. From the start, Lombard knew what he wanted -- high-end academics along with a solid football program. He also decided early he was going to end his recruitment early. He wasn't going to prolong it for extra attention. When he found his criteria in Notre Dame, Lombard ceased his recruiting in January 2009 and committed. He also didn't need to put "strong" or "soft" beside his verbal. Once he decided on Notre Dame, he was going to Notre Dame. End of story.

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GENEVA, Ill. -- The reality of his college football future struck Geneva defensive tackle Frank Boenzi before his senior year.

Boenzi had always assumed he was fated for the Big Ten. He had a Big Ten body and Big Ten ability -- as Geneva coach Rob Wicinski put it, "He has the unique body control of a 200-pounder in a 300-pound body."

The problem has never been his skill. Big Ten schools did want the 6-foot-3, 320-pound Boenzi, as they knew he has the makings of menacing defensive tackle at the next level. They just weren't so eager to have him as a student.

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Prospect quarterback Miles Osei expressed relief when he committed to Northern Illinois in December. He had taken his time with his decision, so he was confident the Huskies were the best available fit for him as a school and as a football program.

For Northern Illinois, it was also a key commitment. Osei was sought by a number of MAC teams that all saw the same thing: a future 6-foot-2 dual-threat star.

Then Illinois stepped in and complicated everything.

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Junior Mike Stovall arrived at DePaul this season believing he was recruited to be a point guard, so that was the way he played.

With his quickness, Stovall had an easy time flying past defenders and getting into the lane. Once there, Stovall felt obligated to distribute the ball to his teammates. That is what point guards are supposed to do, Stovall thought.

The problem was, his passes weren't hitting their intended targets.

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SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Unlike Arthur Agee, Jonathan Peoples wasn't forced to dodge the ever-present dangers of Chicago's Cabrini-Green housing projects. Different than William Gates, Peoples struggled little in the classroom.

There were no long commutes from the inner city to St. Joseph High School in Westchester to endure for Peoples, who grew up just a few miles away in the western suburb of Bellwood.

But similar to Gates and Agee, whose professional basketball aspirations while playing for legendary St. Joe coach Gene Pingatore served as the premise for the 1994 documentary "Hoop Dreams," a poverty-stricken Peoples was equally consumed by a desire to reach the NBA and change his empty-handed family's future forever.

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EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern coach Bill Carmody always has pointed to the Big Ten as being a long road whenever someone has brought up the importance of individual games.

His simple answer has been that every game is significant in the Big Ten, and he repeated that heading into Saturday's home game with Illinois.

"We've played six games in conference, there's 18 [total games] and then there's a tournament," Carmody said before practice on Thursday. "Every game is very, very important. Everyone is in the mix. You have Michigan State and Wisconsin, and everybody else has two, three, four losses. You have to wait a little longer to know."

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