He may be a jeans-and-T-shirt-guy now, but Kurt Stottlemyer will soon be sporting a slick Yale University sweater.

“I’ll adapt,” he said with a laugh following baseball practice last Wednesday evening.

When the Bothell High senior and his dad recently visited the historic New Haven, Conn., campus, they attended the end-of-the-year football banquet — and the sweater-wearing players stood out.

The campus was impressive, as well: “It was pretty overwhelming. The campus is amazing, it’s beautiful. They’ve got a Gothic thing … it’s old there.”

Come fall, the 5-foot-10, 161-pound Stottlemyer will be suiting up for the Bulldog football team and playing under new head coach Tom Williams, a former defensive assistant coach with the Jacksonville Jaguars. On Feb. 4, Stottlemyer — a member of Bothell’s football, basketball and baseball squads — signed on to play for the Ivy League school, passing up a preferred walk-on offer at Stanford University.

“It’s pretty exciting, it kind of hasn’t sunk in,” said the 4.0 student who favors math and science classes. “I have a real connection with the coaching staff, and they mean business, they’re really into the football thing. At Yale, they expect to win every year. They have two goals: to beat Harvard and to win the Ivy League championship.”

Bring on baseball

Stottlemyer speaks of the history and tradition at Yale as reasons he chose the school, but he need look no further than his own Bothell High back yard to experience the same qualities.

The Cougar baseball team, which opens up its 4A Kingco campaign at 3:45 p.m. March 24 at home against Inglemoor, is one of the school’s many successful squads. Last year, Bothell finished 17-8 overall, won the 4A Kingco championship and competed in the state tournament.

“Student No. 1” — Stottlemyer’s nickname — had football and basketball in his blood over the last few months, but now it’s all about baseball.

“My favorite sport is whatever I’m playing right now,” the shortstop said as his teammates filed out of the dugout and headed home for the night.

Stottlemyer shakes his head and smiles when talking about how his own evening will unfold.

“It’s definitely a lot of long nights. I come home and do homework late at night,” he noted about the life of a three-sport star. “Last year, I had two days off the whole year. It’s pretty grueling, but I can not only play one … I love them all so much.

“Sports take up a lot of my time. I like to play video games — but it’s mostly sports.”

Stottlemyer’s body has suffered some minor wear and tear over the years, and he’s fought through it all to take the field in his final spring season as a Bothell Cougar. Case and point: he displays a taped-up broken left wrist he suffered during his junior football season. He may have surgery during the summer, but for now, there’s a bone chip floating around in there.

“I wear a wrist guard when I hit, and I’ve lost a bunch of power. Sometimes it flares up,” Stottlemyer said.

All-around impact

According to football coach Tom Bainter and baseball skipper Paul Moody, Stottlemyer is a tour de force on and off the field — and makes an impact with ball or no ball in his hand.

“He will always put the team before his own personal goals, and this has helped him to excel in all three sports. He is a rare breed who can balance three sports and be such a gifted student,” Moody said.

Added Bainter: “He’s one of those kids who I know as a parent, you dream about having. As a teacher, you dream about teaching, and as a coach, as well.

“You don’t have to worry about what he’s doing: he’s accountable, he’s dependable — he does what he’s supposed to do and does it the right way. He’s good for the kids around him, as well.”

Stottlemyer gives a nod to his older brother, Derek, for instilling his passion for football and encouraging him to climb the Mount Everest of high-school athletics by playing three sports.

“I’ve always looked up to him my whole life, I followed him around everywhere,” said Stottlemyer, who played cornerback and wide receiver on the Cougar football team. In the fall, he was named 4A Kingco Crown Division defensive player of the year and — along with teammate Jackson Pierce — earned $2,000 in college-scholarship funds from the Seattle-King County Chapter of the National Football Foundation.

This year’s basketball season is one that Stottlemyer will surely look back on to guide him into the future. Picked to finish last in Kingco, the Cougars qualified for the postseason and won a playoff game.

“You’ve just got to believe in your team,” he said, adding that his coaches have been integral in his teams’ success, as well. “And you always need senior leadership to succeed. It helps to step up your (skill) level and instill a work habit.”