Signing: Blaine's Di-Jon Starr's choice was SDSU

By Troy Misko
Sportsweek

With a simple stroke of a pen on Wednesday, Di-Jon Starr put an end to one of the most exhilarating and anxiety-filled periods of his young life.

Starr, a senior at Blaine , inked his name to a letter of intent on a scholarship to play football at South Dakota State University.  The event finalized the 14-month recruitment of one of the area's top defensive linemen.

"It's a really big relief," said Starr, a two-time all-state selection as a defensive end for the Bengals, of finally making his decision.

"I was stressing out about it lot. I didn't know where I was going to go and everyone was asking where I was going to go. It's just a relief to have it off my chest and know I'm going somewhere."

Starr was recruited by several Division I football programs following his junior season, when he helped Blaine to the Prep Bowl.  

Early in the process, at least three Big Ten programs -- Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin -- were among those pursuing Starr. Eventually, after some programs stopped actively recruiting him and he eliminated others, Starr narrowed his choices to handful of Division I Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Divion I-AA) programs in the Upper Midwest. South Dakota State easily won out.

"Basically, I just liked my visit a lot," Starr said.

"I went down there and the coaches were really nice and everyone just seemed like they were just cool about stuff. It just felt right. The atmosphere was nice. I liked the campus. I liked everything about it."

The Jackrabbits, which moved to Divion I in 2004, liked what they saw in Starr. And there was plenty to like.

Starr, a 6-foot-2, 258 pound force, was the Northwest Suburban Conference's 2009 Defensive Most Valuable Player and a Mr. Football nominee. Despite being the target of double teams and other offensive schemes to limit or avoid him, Starr recorded 64 tackles (27 solo, 37 unassisted), four sacks, eight tackles for a loss and 12 quarterback hurries.

He also forced a fumble, recovered a fumble and blocked two kicks (one punt, one kick). And those are only the things that can be measured with statistics.

"He did a lot of things for us," Blaine coach Shannon Gerrety said. "He had a great year for a defensive end, I'll tell you that.  He was a great player. "[Opponents] knew who he was and where he was. They knew they had to do something different against him. So a lot of times a protection slid his way to block him or things would go the opposite direction of him. We, in turn, because of how good he was, used him on what side we thought the quarterback would roll out to. He disrupted a lot of offenses."

Starr's profile might have fallen slightly during his senior season, but perhaps that could be attributed to Blaine 's performance as a team.  

As a junior, Starr stood out just as much on the field as he did during his senior season, but he garnered more attention as the Bengals marched to the 2008 Class AAAAA title game.  

Last fall, Blaine lost in the Section 7AAAAA championship, denying Starr the opportunity to shine in the state playoffs, on the Metrodome's grand stage.

It was at the Metrodome, in a 2008 Class AAAAA state semifinal against Cretin-Derham Hall, that Starr showed Minnesota's prep football community the kind of difference maker he is.  

His overtime tackle of Raiders quarterback Mark Alt at the 1-yard-line on a two-point conversion attempt preserved a 28-27 Bengals' victory.

It was the most prominent highlight of Starr's three-year varsity career. But it certainly wasn't the last.

"I think he was just as good this year as he was as a junior," Gerrety said. "We were a little more high-profile team his junior year just because we went to the Prep Bowl.  

"This year we got beat in the section championship. But I think his year was just as good."

Gerrety thinks Starr will be good at the next level, too.  

"I think he's going to have a great college career," Gerrety said.

Starr likely will find himself playing a different position at South Dakota State. Coaches have told him to plan on moving to an interior defensive line position in college. Physically, Starr might be better suited to playing defensive tackle.  

His height is considered short for a Division I defensive end but shouldn't be a negative for a defensive tackle. He will be asked to add size to his frame, provided the added weight doesn't diminish his speed and quickness, two of the assets that set Starr apart as a prep player.

"I think it will be a good transition," Starr said of the likely move to defensive tackle. "I think I can do it. I think I can just bang it out down there and see how it goes.  It shouldn't be that bad."

Starr will welcome the challenge. It's just the next step in a football career that grew into more than he ever thought it would. In fact, it wasn't until just over a year ago that he realized he might be good enough to earn a D-1 scholarship.

"When I was a freshman, I really didn't think about it too much," Starr recalled.  

"I was just playing football with friends. In my sophomore year, I didn't really think about it either, being that I had just been moved up to varsity. It was pretty nice just to do that.  

"But once I got to my junior year, I just started playing well and people started knowing about me. I was like, 'Maybe I can go to college and do something with football.' Then I started getting letters at the end of the football season when I was a junior.

"I was like, 'I have to keep on working out, working hard and I can do this.' "

Starr relishes the opportunity he'll get at South Dakota State. At the same time, he's just happy the whole recruiting process is completed.

"At first it was fun just to know I had options to go somewhere," he said. "Then it got nerve-wracking because I didn't know where to go. It was fun at a point.  And, at a point, it was bad."

Now it's all good.  

Starr is confident now. He knows where he's going. He knows a scholarship awaits him at South Dakota State.