By Bruce Karnick

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Raider football star Brenden Freiermuth announced this week that he has committed to play football for Valparaiso University in Indiana. Valparaiso is an FCS Division I school in the Pioneer League of the Missouri located in Valparaiso, Indiana. Geographically, it is located about 30 minutes southeast of Gary Indiana and about an hour west of Notre Dame. Google Maps says it’s about a seven-hour drive from Hastings Senior High.

Freiermuth explained that his search for a school started 1-1/2 years ago when he started to get recruiting letters.

“The whole summer, I was really trying to grind and get attention from D1 schools. Going into the season, I honestly thought I was going to go to the University of St. Thomas until about three or four weeks ago,” he said.

Four weeks ago, the Valparaiso track coach made contact with Freiermuth about his sprinting abilities. That conversation led Freiermuth considering going there for track until the coach asked about his other activities and sports.

“I was like, yeah, football is my main sport, so the coach was like, ‘Oh, I can talk to the football coach for you if you would really like.’ I said that would be great,” explained Freiermuth.

The track coach sent the film to one of the football coaches who contacted Freiermuth two days later and said he really liked what he saw and wanted to get Freiermuth out for a visit.

“I went out there and I immediately loved it there. I loved the coaching staff. I loved the players. I loved the school. It just felt right for me. Then I had a meeting with a head coach, and he told me I had a spot on the team. I told him, oh, I want to play here. I think this is place for me,” added Freiermuth.

Since he is planning on going there, he may still also run for the track coach depending on how it fits into the football schedule and the training in the spring.

The piece that really sold Valparaiso for Freiermuth? “It felt like the coaches really wanted me there and they cared about me as a person. It was really an awesome experience,” he said.

He kept the commitment a secret for a short while, only letting his closest friends know. Then he told the rest of the team who were beyond excited for him and now he has told the rest of the world.

Freiermuth had a message for Hastings, “I really do love his community and honestly without their support, love and their help through my journey to get here, I don’t think I’d ever be where I am today.”