CEDARBURG, Wis. - A chiseled 6-foot-6 quarterback, Chip Rank could have played college football. He chose basketball.

Once that was settled, the versatile power forward from Cedarburg (Wis.) High School could have accepted scholarship offers from a number of programs, including Miami (Ohio), Loyola (Chicago), Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Wisconsin-Green Bay, William and Mary and North Dakota State. He chose the University of Northern Iowa.

Lance Randall, Rank's basketball coach at Cedarburg, said the Panthers will get a player who is physically ready to make an immediate impact when he arrives on campus in 2010.

"He's got a great basketball build," said Randall. "He's a big, strong kid who is a great competitor, practices extremely hard and plays hard. He's a college-ready kid physically.

"Skills-wise, you think of a kid like him as a back-to-the-basket guy, but he has 3-point range and can handle the ball. He has played a lot of point guard for us."

While competing in a rugged North Shore Conference that sent eight players into Division I programs after last season, including the state's Gatorade Player of the Year, Rank averaged 20 points and 10.5 rebounds as a junior while shooting just under 40 percent from 3-point range and 80 percent from the free throw line. He's a two-time, first-team all-conference selection and earned honorable mention all-state honors last season.

"There are a lot of good basketball players in our league," said Randall. "It's not like he was the only big kid around."

Rank, who also elevated his game on the AAU scene while playing for the Wisconsin Swing, is generally considered one of Wisconsin's top 10 returning players this season and one of the top five seniors. The top three players on that list are entertaining scholarship offers from top 25 programs like Texas, Michigan State, Arizona, Maryland, Wisconsin and Marquette.

"I would put him in the mix to be player of the year in our state," said Randall, a former assistant coach at Loyola. "He's not being recruited by the level of schools a couple of other players are, but he's that productive of a player."

Beyond the numbers, Rank possesses the intangibles that complete the overall package.

"He's a great teammate and a tremendous kid," said Randall. "He's right in line with the type of kids Northern Iowa has been winning with. He will be great in the locker room and he'll be great in practice. He will work as hard as he can and do whatever is necessary to help UNI win championships."

Randall said Rank made visits to all the schools that offered him, but something about UNI and the Panther program won him over.

"I think he had a great connection with the coaching staff, and they did a great job recruiting him," he explained. "He liked the appeal of going to a place where there is that tradition and chance to win championships, along with the sense of community that exists within the team and the entire area.

"I know he's very proud of his decision, and I think it's going to be a great fit on both ends."

Rank was attending his high school football team's preseason camp and unable to return messages.