Crete-Monee’s Joshua Franklin, who has received recruiting interest from a handful of colleges, plans on taking an unofficial visit Saturday to Iowa.
The junior quarterback has shown enough versatility in offseason camps that scouts like what they see, even if they aren’t quite sure where he fits in best.
“They aren’t looking at me for one position yet,” Franklin said. “They are looking at me as an athlete.”
They are looking in the right place.
From age 4 until he stepped onto the high school stage at Crete-Monee, Franklin tried his best to split time between five sports — football, basketball, baseball, track and wrestling.
With the Warriors, Franklin dropped baseball but still was able to play four sports as a freshman. Aside from football and track, he played basketball and wrestled on the lower levels, even though the latter two sports are in the same season.
“My coaches had a schedule where I would come to basketball practice one day and wrestling practice the next day,” he said. “And the meets and games were never on the same day. It worked out well.”
He’s hoping to have the opportunity to do that this season on the varsity level.
“Whatever they let me do, I’m going to do,” Franklin said. “If they let me do basketball and wrestling, I will do both.”
But first, there’s a football season to complete.
Crete Monee (5-2) was ranked sixth in the state last week in Class 6A by Associated Press.
The Warriors, who lost 35-20 to Lincoln-Way East and 41-27 to Joliet Catholic, have two victories by shutout along with an 18-13 win over Plainfield North and a 78-18 win over Thornwood.
This is Franklin’s first year as a quarterback, and Crete-Monee coach John Konecki likes the progress he has seen.
“The quarterback at any level is the most integral position to find someone and the most important person to have in that position,” he said. “Josh has done a fantastic job and is growing with it.”
When it comes to college, Konecki said Franklin can play literally anywhere.
“If you’re talking about level or position, the answer is the same — yes,” he said. “Josh has a wide array of interest as far as colleges are concerned. Everything from the Mid-American Conference to the Big Ten.
“And Josh can play anywhere he wants to on the field. We’ve also had him as an inside linebacker and defensive end. You ask him to play somewhere and he has the ability to do it.”
The 5-foot-11, 165-pound Franklin accounted for 469 yards and eight touchdowns — six passing and two running — in the rout of Thornwood (5-2), which entered the game 3-0.
“It was obviously a special night,” Konecki said. “It wasn’t until it was over that you find out what he did and you say, ‘Oh, wow.’ It was beyond impressive.
It’s probably one of the better performances I’ve seen as a coach.”
The Warriors picked up a forfeit victory Friday against Rich Township, but through six games, Franklin has thrown for 1,213 yards while running for 576. He has 13 passing TDs, seven rushing TDs and one punt return for a TD.
Last week, he picked up an invitation to the Offense-Defense All-American Bowl, which will be held Dec. 26-29 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.
Franklin said he feels fortunate to enjoy athletic success in various sports. And he likes the hectic pace of playing multiple sports.
“Sports have just come natural to me,” he said. “I never had time to practice one sport too much. When the season start, it just clicks for me, and it’s been fun playing with my friends.”
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.