Jefferson basketball star Jarrod Uthoff, a thoughtful and talented young man,  thanked a lot of people when he signed his national letter-of-intent Wednesday (Nov. 10) with the University of Wisconsin.

He saved a special “thank-you” for his sister, Erika, who welcomed Jarrod into her home on the southwest side of Cedar Rapids in 2008.

Uthoff lived in Marengo with his parents, Dale and Diane Uthoff, and attended Iowa Valley High School as a freshman, but he wanted to attend a bigger school and face stronger competition to pursue his dream of playing Division I ball.

He was friends with Jefferson kids from a youth basketball program, so that steered him toward Cedar Rapids. And with Erika already here, the decision was made for Uthoff to enroll at Jefferson as a sophomore and live with her.

“It’s amazing. I really can’t thank her enough,” Uthoff said Wednesday after signing his letter-of-intent in the Jefferson library. “Without her, this opportunity to come to Jefferson and get more exposure for basketball and a better education … What she did for me was amazing.”

What Uthoff has done at Jefferson is amazing, too. He grew from a 6-foot-4, 155-pound stringbean into a 6-8, 190 slender young man who picked Wisconsin over Iowa, Butler, Illinois, UNI and Iowa State. He averaged 21 points and 10 rebounds last season, maintains a 4.0 GPA and served as the junior class president.

“He’s a good kid. I can’t complain,” said Erika, 28, who works at Aegon. “He doesn’t cause too much of a mess. And he’s very courteous.”

Uthoff, the youngest of five children, is looking forward to starting his basketball career at Wisconsin next season.

“I’m very excited,” he said. “Redshirting is completely up to me (as a true freshman). It’s really how much bigger I am and how much better I am by next fall when the games start at Wisconsin.”

Jefferson Coach Stuart Ordman praised Uthoff for his work ethic, consideration of others, coachability, talent and academic achievement.

“He worked awfully hard for this,” Ordman said. “What’s revealing about Jarrod is how much he’s improved.”

“Terrific young man,” Jefferson activities director Scott Kibby agreed, “but he’s a better young man than he is a basketball player.”

Uthoff wore a Wisconsin T-shirt and a big smile to the ceremony. Ordman said the scholarship to Wisconsin is worth about $30,000 per year in tuition, room, board and books.

Now Uthoff is looking forward to trading his Wisconsin T-shirt for a Wisconsin jersey.

“I think the style of play best fits me,” he said, explaining why he picked the Badgers. “Just the swing offense and how Bo (Coach Bo Ryan) sees using me. I think it’s going to work out very well for me.”

Uthoff also wanted to thank his brother, Dale, for getting him started in basketball.

Uthoff’s cousin, Dean Uthoff, was a basketball star at Cedar Rapids Jefferson in the 1970s.