KingCo 4A: Opportunity times two for Lake Washington's Ryan Staudacher

KIRKLAND — One of the best athletes on the Eastside waits, biding his time, leaving others to wonder.

What will it be?

Football or basketball?

Nobody seems to know, not even Ryan Staudacher. "He's really torn, he loves both," says his father, Bob.

"I know he wants to play football, but as he has always told me, he's not going to close any doors," says his coach, Tim Tramp.

And so the season starts and the question looms, growing larger by the day: Will Ryan Staudacher, whose numbers put him among the best quarterbacks to ever play in the KingCo Conference, find a college home on the gridiron or the hardwood?

Already, he has said it won't be both.

"I don't really want to think about it right now," said Staudacher, a senior and three-year football starter at Lake Washington High School. "It's tough because I love both sports and it's hard to give up one."

The first game of Staudacher's final high-school football season kicks off tomorrow, at home against Skyline, at the same stadium where he started this journey as a nervous sophomore. He stands 6 feet 3 now, weighs 190 pounds, and in the past two seasons has thrown for 4,628 yards and 31 touchdowns, completing 60 percent of his passes, while virtually rewriting the school's record books.

"You name it, he's got it," said Tramp of the school's passing records. "There isn't anybody close."

And if this were any other player, the decision would be easy. But Staudacher has enjoyed equal success in basketball, where for the past four summers, he has played for Friends of Hoop, one of Seattle's elite traveling teams, alongside such nationally recruited stars as Seattle Prep's Martell Webster, Snohomish's Jon Brockman and O'Dea's Mitch Johnson.

So what will it be? Basketball or football?

The decision, it seems, will come down to opportunity. And though coaches from both sports have shown interest, no official offers have been made.

In football, most suspect it has to do with questions surrounding Staudacher's right arm, which some say lacks the zip required of a Division I college quarterback.

Give the kid a break, Staudacher's supporters say. He never has been in a position where he could focus on quarterbacking. Yet he still completed 251 of 395 pass attempts last year (64 percent), netting 2,960 yards, 19 touchdowns, and leading the Kangaroos to the state quarterfinals — their best finish since the state playoffs started in 1973. With more coaching, and full-time work, who knows?

"I'll bet you 100 bucks they said that about Joe Montana, too," Tramp said. "Ryan's the best quarterback I've ever had, and I'd rank him right up there."

Staudacher has taken the criticism in stride, using it as motivation. This summer, he did extra lifts to build power in his triceps and shoulders. He worked with medicine balls, and threw passes as often as his busy schedule allowed.

"That kind of stuff, all it does is motivate me. I'm not going to hate you for it," he said. "All I can do is be accurate and get my throws out a second earlier."

A self-described perfectionist, Staudacher takes the same can-do approach to basketball, where he averaged 14.7 points as a shooting guard. He says he believes he can play either sport at the Division I level, regardless of what the so-called experts might say.

"Somewhere," he said. "I think I can."

But for now, we all watch, and wait.

Matt Peterson: 206-515-5536 or mpeterson@seattletimes.com