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LOWER LAKE >> Guess who came for a visit to the Denis and Tammy Brunk residence … and never left.

And, while you”re at it, guess who, when he finally does leave the Brunks, will be headed for one of the eight colleges (so far) that are dangling football and academic scholarships and aid in efforts to recruit him.

Hint: As a quarterback and every other kind of back for Lower Lake High School he was the best football player in Lake County during the 2014 season, as adept at throwing the ball as toting it. He is as much a threat when he pulls the ball down as when he passes it. Or more so.

He is Isazah King, a high school senior possessed of a rare combination of amazing athleticism and academic brilliance. When he graduates in June it will be after two years as a straight-A student.

But his story doesn”t start or end here. Based on what King”s life has been up to now, this is a young man who bears watching.

“Isazah is a great student-athlete,” Lower Lake High School principal Jessica Taliaferro asserts. “He is focused and dedicated both in and out of the classroom. He”s popular with other students and an all-around great kid.”

Comparisons have been drawn between King and NFL offensive lineman Michael Oher, who inspired the film “The Blind Side.” Like Oher, he is a black athlete who has been unofficially adopted by a white family (three boys and a girl).

“Two years ago my son Michael started befriending Isazah when he came home from the college back East where he plays football and lacrosse,” said Denis. “Michael said, ”I just met a new friend and I”m bringing him home tonight for dinner.” That”s how we got to know Isazah.”

The King-Brunk relationship was blessed by the fact that Denis came to Hidden Valley Lake after 21 years and two state championships in high school football in Colorado. He soon found himself serving as offensive coordinator for second-year Lower Lake head coach Justin Gaddy.

“I said, ”I”m not going to coach football anymore.” Tammy says ”You”re crazy; you”re going to help that team right over there (in Lower Lake).””

Brunk”s assistance with Trojan football became the key that unlocked the door to his family”s relationship with King.

“But I had never been a foster parent. Never done anything (like it) in my 21 years,” said Denis. “I coached the boys and went home.”

The Brunks became aware that King “had some difficulties in his home” one night when Tammy picked up the phone to hear his voice telling her “I need some help.”

In short, he felt that his home life was not conducive to reaching a 4.0 GPA, which is an essential in applying for academic aid in college.

Isazah, said Gaddy, rarely talks about his birth parents.

“My birth parents didn”t put me up for adoption. I just didn”t want to live with them anymore,” King told a reporter. “I wasn”t getting that much support at home. It”s not for me to say how to raise children, but it just didn”t feel right.”

Said Denis, “I know that his home life was tough when you don”t have what you need to eat and when you”re worried about where you”re going to sleep.”

The Brunks filed the necessary court documents to place King in their care in October 2013.

“We talked to his birth mother and father and we didn”t have to fight,” said Denis. “They came into court and agreed to everything. To adopt Isazah we”d have had to take all rights away from his (birth) parents. We didn”t feel that was the right thing to do. But we knew he was in a very difficult home environment.”

A man who worked in a program for at-risk youths before becoming the Lower Lake coach in 2013, Gaddy came into the position with an understanding of King”s needs.

“You look at the kids from this end of the lake, most of them have been through a lot,” said Gaddy. “Isazah”s had his moments, his bad days and good days. Through all of it, though, he has been coachable and he”s listened. His heart is down once a while over something he”s had with his folks, but he”s continued to work hard and do the right things.

“When I came here last year and tried to establish a weight program he already had a good understanding of how to lift weights and had a good base of understanding of how he would do to try to develop his body .”

Says King, “I know that (hard work) will pay off when the season comes around. All the time I put into it makes it a lot easier. It becomes second nature.”

No question King did reap the rewards of his hard work. No one player perhaps ever contributed to his team as much as King whose captivating 60- to 100-yard trips down the sidelines were followed by every set of eyes in the stadium and chased by virtually every Lower Lake opponent.

“He could score on defense, he could score on punt returns and he could score as a quarterback,” Gaddy said of King”s Lake County-leading 1,629 yards rushing and 19 TDs, 951 yards passing and 9 TDs, and five interceptions that included three touchdown returns.

Isazah is among players who have bought into Gaddy”s “family” approach, which is equal parts rock-ribbed football, dedication to improvement in the classroom and school loyalty. Anthony Williams, Mason Sanders and Brendan Maninger, Gaddy says, are others.

“The important thing is you can take a kid like Isazah and he makes the kids around him better,” said Gaddy.

“He was a good leader, a good athlete and he encouraged us to do better,” said lineman Anthony Williams, who, like King, wants to play in college.

Moving on from Lower Lake will be a bittersweet experience for King. He has lived in Lake County since his education began after his parents moved to Clearlake from Oakland.

“I went to kindergarten in Burns Valley, went to Pomo in fourth grade and then came here to high school,” he says, “and I loved being here. It”s been a really good time. I heard all the stories about how (disreputable) Lower Lake has been, but my years here have been nothing like those stories.”

Where he”ll go for the next leg of his education remains uncertain. King says only that he wants to continue playing football, preferably as a quarterback. But the college he goes to may dictate how much time he”ll be on the field and in what position.

Among Division I schools, the University of Miami and San Jose State University have expressed an interest. Both might see him as a prospect for the defensive secondary or special teams whereas a couple of Division II schools have indicated they want King as a quarterback, says Denis. That”s unusual he says because most recruiters are looking at him as a defensive back.

Among Division II colleges that have shown an interest in King are Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo, South Dakota School of Mines, the College of Idaho and, in the East, Robert Morse University (Pittsburgh) and Bryant College in Rhode Island.

“It”s cool that he”s getting looked at by a top Tier 1 team,” says Ron Hays, Director of Scouting for National Scouting Report (NSR). San Jose State ? that”s a better look for him; because it”s not a top-tier team he may play more there.

“I think he should look at DIII because of his academics. Along with his athletic ability he could get a big package (of financial aid) at that level.

“He really needs to take a look at his degree, what he wants from a college and where he can go and have an impact. You go to these top DI schools … there”s a lot of guys like him over on the sidelines,” Hays added.

King says he doesn”t care what division a school may be in and he is prepared to red-shirt his freshman season and become a five-year student..

“I just want to go to a good school that has a good football program and plays good football,” he says.

From now until June, King will be a member of the Trojan basketball team, then compete as a sprinter during track season. He will not double up and play on the Lower Lake baseball team as he did his junior season.

While he has the kind of looks that makes young girls coo like pigeons in a church belfry, he says he is not dating anyone just yet.

“She”d have to walk on water,” King says with a grin.

Denis Brunk laughs when he hears that. “Tammy taught him that,” he says.

“He can run faster than anyone on your team,” a reporter says to Gaddy, who replied, ” ? Or any other team.”

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