UW recruit Dike could be one of the state's all-time best prep receivers
Prior to the 2019 prep football season, the Journal Sentinel will reveal the Supreme 17, a look at the top players in the area to watch. Each day between the first day of practice on Aug. 6 to the first day of games on Aug. 22, one player will be revealed.
With Waukesha North trailing by six points in the fourth quarter against Oconomowoc last fall, Chimere Dike took a short screen pass from quarterback Johnny Kelliher at the opposing 19-yard line.
With his convoy of blockers all between 5 and 10 yards down the field already, three defenders were left untouched. They surrounded Dike the moment he made the catch just outside the right hash, including one linebacker bracing to make the tackle just as the ball struck Dike's fingertips.
With an expeditious cut to his left, Dike slipped the tackle only to find himself going backward. He was trapped by two more converging defenders at the 21. Dike planted his left foot and headed up the field, slipping through both players as they wrapped their arms around him.
With three tackles already broken in a tight space with the confines of a walk-in closet, Dike shook off a fourth as he darted toward the sidelines, where he then threw a stiff arm to elude a fifth defender. From there, he found the gear of a state medalist sprinter, blowing past three more Raccoons to reach the end zone.
It was the eventual winning touchdown and play that had no business being made.
It also embodied everything that stands out about Dike's game: strong hands, lateral agility, strength and gamechanging speed.
“I feel like I'm a quick receiver, fast, really smooth with my routes,” Dike said. “When I get the ball in my hands, I'm a play-maker. If I get the ball in open space, that's where I'm most comfortable.”
These are the reasons Dike's high school career could be among the best in state history.
He enters his senior year with 2,071 yards receiving and 21 touchdowns on 147 catches. Another 79-catch season like he had last fall would move him into third in Wisconsin all-time in receptions. If he is healthy, it's not hard to envision Dike becoming just the fourth player ever to finish his career with at least 200 catches, 3,000 yards and 30 touchdowns.
As a junior, Dike also medaled four times at the state track and field meet in June and was a firstteam all-conference selection in basketball.
He is the rare prep athlete who leaves onlookers, including his head coach Matt Harris, speechless every time he steps on the field.
“He's absolutely incredible,” Harris said. “There's times that I'll be watching film, see him make a play and just kind of start laughing.”
As an eight grader, Dike had two main goals.
Play football for the Wisconsin Badgers.
And make it so people would know how to pronounce his name (it's CHIM-ray DEE-kay).
“I told him, ‘I have a funny feeling that's going to happen, Chim,'” Harris said.
Dike then went and chased those goals down.
It's why, as a freshman, Dike caught wind that UW assistant Chris Haering was in the building to speak with Kendall Gould, North's top senior receiver at the time, and tracked down Haering in the hallway to introduce himself.
“I was like, ‘OK, this kid has a mission,'” Harris said.
It's why tears nearly filled his eyes on the sidelines during a 17-point loss to Kettle Moraine as a sophomore when he dropped numerous catchable passes.
“He dropped eight wide-open passes,” Harris said. “He was like, 'What's wrong with me?'”
It's why, the following Monday, he worked on ball drills at practice until the field was empty; why he stopped playing AAU basketball in the summer after his freshman year to better prepare himself for football; why he added 25 pounds since the end of his junior season with hopes of competing at UW right away.
Behind the scenes, Wisconsin pursued Dike intently beginning his sophomore season.
“Whenever they came into the area, they made a point to talk to Chimere,” Harris said. “But on the same hand, recruiting is a business. I don't know that they wanted too many people to notice.”
But UW hadn't had even offered a scholarship to an in-state receiver recruit since Kenosha Tremper's Jazz Peavy in the class of 2013, a fact that was on Dike's mind.
“It's definitely special being one of the only guys since Jazz Peavy and, before that, Nick Toon,” Dike said. “It's not like a lot of in state guys get it, but I always believed in myself, always worked hard. I knew that it was another obstacle to overcome. It's not like they're often offering receivers from the state left and right, but I always believed in my ability.”
After an impressive sophomore year, schools did just that. Ohio State had Dike out for a visit, as did Iowa State.
That's when UW cranked up the pressure, ultimately resulting in head coach Paul Chryst offering Dike a scholarship on Jan. 19. Five days later, he committed.