MONROE — J.T. Seagreaves has already proven himself to be a premier athlete at Monroe High School. The 6-foot-6, 220-pound junior is projected to end his career as a top-10 scorer in boys basketball program history. He’s been a starting wide receiver on Monroe’s football team since his freshman year and is a state-qualifying track athlete in both the high jump and in sprinting events.

Like many juniors across the country, the recruiting from colleges has picked up for Seagreaves. With the delay of the football season this past school year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, perhaps the recruiting of Seagreaves comes across as slow by some. However, he kept grinding and showcasing himself in various camps and AAU leagues.

“With just five games this spring, we tried to get him the best highlight tape we could,” Monroe football coach Toby Golembiewski said. “He had a great year. He was Defensive Player of the Year in the Rock Valley, and we just hoped it would be enough for him. When you are a D3 team, you need to stand out.”

Highlight tapes can help, as well as postseason awards and general statistics. However, impressing college coaches and scouts at various camps goes a long way. For Seagreaves, the X-factor may have been his accomplishments in his spring sport: Track and field.

“I think what really helped interest in him was his track season. A multi-sport athlete with his size and speed, and track times in the 100 and 200 (meter) — that’s when guys got excited,” Golembiewski said.

By the end of May, he had collected three NCAA DII scholarship offers to play basketball: Hillsdale, Northern Michigan and Michigan Tech. After showing great strides this past spring football season as a defensive end and a wide receiver, he also received a scholarship offer from Illinois State.

“ISU jumped on him immediately at defensive end,” Golembiewski said. 

But the biggest name yet was wading in the waters nearby: Wisconsin.

Earlier this month Seagreaves attended a pair of workouts with the team. He left enough of an impression on the coaches to be extended a scholarship offer just days later. 

“I went Thursday, and they had me back Monday, because they liked me,” Seagreaves said. “After Monday I was talking to coaches and I think they were figuring out stuff amongst themselves. A couple days after that they offered me a scholarship and invited me up that Friday (June 11) for an unofficial visit.”

Golembiewski said that he and JT’s parents helped “coach him up a bit” for the recruiting process, camps and visits. 

“They want kids that are hungry and want to work. You need to seize your own opportunities and take charge,” Golembiewski said. “And he did exactly that.”

Seagreaves is projected by the coaching staff to play tight end. He’s the first Cheesemaker to receive a football scholarship with UW since Brian Lamont in the late 1990s.

“It’s an awesome place — I love it up there. Great people; great environment. I’m actually going back this weekend for an official visit,” Seagreaves said of the UW campus and Camp Randall. “It means a lot. I know that my hard work has paid off. That’s a great opportunity for me.”

As soon as the Badgers made the offer, other schools began reaching out to Seagreaves as well, meaning he’ll keep his options open for now.

“I’m kind of going to see how the official visit this weekend goes, and kind of go from there,” said Seagreaves, who also carries a 4.0 GPA.

In the scheme of the Monroe offense, Seagreaves can get split out wide and uses his speed and height to separate himself from defenders on passing routes. He said he’s open to moving inside to get a jump start at the tight end position, should he choose the route of the Badgers.

“When they (UW) invited me to go to the camp, they reached out to me and had me come as a tight end, because they saw the potential. I think that this year I will just be training hard and trying to get ready,” said Seagreaves.

Golembiewski said the Cheesemakers will be trying to win football games in the fall, and that means Seagreaves may stay split out wide on offense. The coach said that with Seagreaves simply standing on the field makes opposing teams scheme against him — whether it be a double or triple team, or what plays they might run. 

He also said that having a player jump so quickly in the recruiting trail has been beneficial to the program as a whole.

“I think this has really created a lot of energy (on the team). It shows that if you work hard, that dream could be there as long as you stay on the right path.”

Seagreaves has found himself grinding hard these past six-plus months. After helping lead the Monroe boys basketball team to sectionals, Seagreaves had little rest before football practice started. As soon as the final whistle of the season blew, he jumped right into track practice — all while attending camps and playing AAU basketball. He qualified for track sectionals in four events on June 15, including putting up the fourth best time in school history in the 200-meter dash. Eventually he’ll let his body rest, he said.

“It’s a lot of work on my body, and it’s gotten worn down a lot. It’s not easy to keep pushing and pushing. I haven’t had any days off from AAU to football and then track. It’s been a lot of stress on my body, so I’m just trying to stay healthy and use that adrenaline to keep going,” Seagreaves said.