While many seniors remain unsure on where they will attending next year for college, junior Nate Stember has already made his choice. After a long recruitment process, Stember verbally committed to play Division I golf at the University of Oregon in September after receiving offers from multiple Division I schools.

The University of Oregon golf team won the 2016 NCAA men’s golf national championship and only narrowly lost in 2017 to the Oklahoma Sooners. Stember looks to carry on this winning tradition.

“I chose to commit to Oregon because it’s close to home, something I knew I wanted to do for college. Also, the ultimate goal is to win a national championship and going to Oregon I will be given the opportunity to make the dream a reality,” Stember says.

According to those close to Stember, he doesn’t let his feats on the golf course get to his head.

“If I didn’t know Nate well I’d probably have no idea about everything he’s doing outside of the classroom,” says longtime friend junior Elliot Balmer. “He is nice to everyone and doesn’t boast about his success.”

Stember’s humble nature also carries over to the golf course, teammates say.

Lincoln golfer junior Benjamin Brandenburger says, “Nate is everything I look for in a teammate. As he is obviously a tremendous golfer, he never rubs it in our faces that he is better than us. Instead, he helps us with the little things, what we can do better. Right now, we all share the same goal and that’s winning a state championship.”

As Stember looks to the future, he will have a friendly face playing alongside him at Oregon. Jesuit High School junior Austin Carnese committed to Oregon just weeks before Stember.

“Not going to lie, after I committed to Oregon I was lobbying hard for Nate to come join me. He’s a good friend of mine and a great player. I’m excited to see what we can do in college,” says Carnese.

That feeling Carnese has about Stember seems to be reciprocated.

“It’s definitely going to be nice to have the friendly face of a longtime friend around, but don’t get me wrong, that’s not the only reason I chose to commit,” Stember says. “I honestly feel that Oregon is the perfect fit for me and that it will be a great mix of both academics and athletics.”