A high school junior in Springfield will have a tough time deciding where to play football in college. That’s because he’s already received multiple offers from Division 1 schools.
As Kellen Lindstrom gears up for his senior year at Glendale High School, he knows that his time on the field over the next few months will be a blur. During that time, he’ll also have to make a decision about where to commit for college – and football.
Lindstrom is a four-star recruit at his position -- defensive end – and, according to rivals.com, he’s the sixth overall ranked player in the state of Missouri. Given his 6-foot-5, 240 pound frame, many would assume Lindstrom was destined for great things on the football field. But Lindstrom said his first love while growing up was baseball.
“I always wanted to be a baseball player. My dad and grandfather both played baseball at Mizzou," said Lindstrom. After my freshman year of football, I just fell in love with football and realized that’s kind of what I want to do. I was just hopeful for the future — had no real idea that my recruitment would blow up the way it has — and trying to just live in the moment, trying to play my game day by day, year by year, and I guess I just got really lucky.”
Lindstrom has accumulated around 30 offers from major football programs across the country, including Alabama, Tennessee, Oklahoma and USC. He says Glendale assistant coach Grant Wistrom — a former NFL player who played college ball at Nebraska — has been a huge help with his game and as a mentor throughout the whole college recruiting process.
Lindstrom said a favorite memory playing football occurred in a game this past season.
“We went down to Camdenton, and they were 8-0 — last home game of the year for them, senior night, nobody predicted us to win. And we go out there and win in overtime. Actually. I stopped the goal line stand, third down with 10 seconds left to play, tie ball game," he said. "I stopped the QB sneak and then fourth down with five seconds left, I block the kick to force overtime. We go march down the field and score and get the two-point conversion. They get the ball back and then they score, and I stopped the two-point conversion to win the game. That’s been my best game and all-time best moment in football.”
Lindstrom realizes, not only is he being noticed by college recruiters, he’s also being watched by younger players. He has this advice for young people who want to go on to play at the college level after high school.
“Just keep your nose down, keep grinding, keep working, do everything you can outside of the field -- like going to morning weights, going and doing extra work on the field, working with coaches outside of practice, making sure you have a great attitude and giving your absolute best no matter what in practice, in game -- because you practice the way you play, and if you’re not practicing a hundred percent, then you won’t play a hundred percent.”
Lindstrom has a lot of thinking to do before he settles on a college where he’ll continue to play football, but he says he would like to have a decision made before beginning his senior season this fall.