After Tyler Nubin’s freshman year, St. Charles North coach Rob Pomazak knew he had a special talent.
So he pulled aside Nubin and his parents, Rodney and Sherese, and tried to map out the plan for how Tyler’s high school career would go.
“I told him, obviously you’re really talented and you have a lot of opportunity,” Pomazak said. “But you’re going to have to live your life differently than 99 percent of the students in our school.
“Every person you meet is going to know who you are before you meet them. For a young kid in this day and age, he handles it all well.”
Nubin has navigated the waters of the modern athlete — in the era of social media and phone cameras in every hand — as well as could be expected.
“His plan he had laid out for me freshman year, I followed it,” Nubin said. “I worked my butt off. (The success) is not surprising to me just because of how hard I worked.”
Nubin, a 6-foot-2, 180-pound senior, has excelled on the field, earning a scholarship offer to Minnesota. He’s also a two-time academic all-conference pick for St. Charles North — ranked No. 1 in the preseason by The Courier-News.
“He’s really an impressive young man, aside from his tremendous athletic ability,” Pomazak said of Nubin. “It’s a lot of responsibility. I don’t think I could have done it at 17. He’s just a strong kid.”
Nubin is one of the top cornerbacks in the state. That’s where he’ll be playing at Minnesota.
For this season, however, he will also be playing wide receiver. With his athletic ability, he may be the best in the Elgin area at that position.
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“He might be a better wide receiver than he is a cornerback,” Pomazak said. “The things he does as a receiver are just tremendous. His (catch) radius is just out of control.”
Much like a baseball pitcher who won’t bat in college letting it loose at the plate for his senior year, Nubin has a similar mindset playing on offense for the North Stars.
“I love having the ball in my hands,” Nubin said. “I love making plays for this team. I always loved offense, even though I’m a defensive guy.”
The North Stars move this season to the newly formed DuKane Conference. A more rugged regular-season schedule is just what the program needs to take the next step, according to Pomazak.
North has won a second-round playoff game only once, in 2009.
“I think this is the right time to be challenged,” Pomazak said. “There will be some uncomfortable times going through it, but I think in the long run, if we can weather the storm and get to the playoffs, I think it will benefit us to get to that elite status of the semifinals and finals.
“That’s where we think we should be at this point.”
Nubin is just one of several key returning players for the North Stars. The main change will be at quarterback, where Peyton Brown replaces the graduated Mike Hohensee.
That has given the run-up to this season a different vibe.
“It does feel that way,” Nubin said. “We all know each other and we all know how each other plays. I think if we come together, this could be the year. This could be something really special.”
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.