BLOOMINGTON - On the surface, life could not have been better. Josh Brent was a 6-foot-3, 305-pound high school senior with big-time college football recruiters salivating over his services.

He was rated the ninth-best defensive tackle in the nation, and the No. 5 recruit in Illinois overall. Ohio State coach Jim Tressel walked through the front door of his school for a visit. Illinois coach Ron Zook did the same.

Others came and went last fall, enamored with Brent's size, strength and quick feet. He was a two-way starter on a Central Catholic team that would go 9-2 and reach the second round of the Class 4A playoffs.

Brent was off and running toward his selection as Pantagraph Male Athlete of the Year. He had the world by the tail, right?

In reality, he was troubled and confused. He worried about his mother, LaTosha Brent, who had become disabled a few months earlier and could no longer work. The bills piled up. Rent on their apartment could not be paid. The big man on campus could soon be homeless.

The recruiters kept coming, calling, sending him text messages. His uncle, Roland Brent, said the texts exceeded 1,000 one month. Meanwhile, Josh Brent was supposed to be dominating anyone who lined up across from him. He was supposed to put everything aside once the whistle blew.

"At times, it was very hard to juggle all of it," Brent said. "Not many people actually know what was going on besides people who are close to me. I tried to keep myself busy as much as possible so I wouldn't have to think about it."

Still, there was no escaping the reality his mother had a calcium deposit in her hip and neurological damage in her legs, leaving her unable to walk. What would she do? Where would they live? Where would he go to college?

In December, the answers began to come. LaTosha Brent moved to Freeport to live with Josh's grandmother. Josh was invited to move in with Isy Hoomanawanui, a Saints' assistant coach whose son, Michael, was a star at Central the year before and Brent's closest friend. Roland Brent would have taken him in, but with six children ranging from 1 to 15 years old, there wasn't much extra room.

"I'd always told Josh if he needed any help, he could count on me and Michael," Isy Hoomanawanui said. "When his mom moved because of her medical condition, it was a no-brainer (to take him in)."

On Dec. 26, a few days after turning off his cell phone, Brent orally committed to Illinois.

"The weight of worrying about my mom was lifted off of me, and the whole recruiting process was over," he said. "I was pretty happy."

Brent went on to earn first-team all-Corn Belt Conference honors in basketball, starting at center for a 25-4 team. He had received all-state and All-America recognition in football, and in the spring, placed seventh in the shot put at the Class A State Meet. He was a shoo-in for Athlete of the Year.

But again, getting there was not always easy.

"At times I think it was very hard to be my friend," Brent said. "With the recruiting process and my mom and trying to focus on sports, there were times I was just completely frustrated.

"You want your mom to be there, and you look around and she's not. But you know she wanted to be, she just couldn't be. I was kind of used to it growing up. She was always working, so she wasn't able to make it to all of my games."

LaTosha Brent was 16 and unmarried when she gave birth to Josh in California. When he was 5, mother and son moved to Bloomington, where LaTosha Brent had family.

"We moved here because of personal problems between my mom and one of her boyfriends … to get away from an abusive relationship," Josh Brent said. "We sort of fled away."

It has been difficult for Brent to hide ever since. He was always big for his age, and ultimately, big for any age.

Roland Brent, LaTosha's younger brother, quickly became his father figure. Shortly after Josh arrived in Bloomington, they had what Roland described as "like a father-son moment."

"I said, 'If you listen to what I say and do what I tell you to do, you'll be successful,'" Roland Brent said. "I told him, 'I know the mistakes I made. I can have you benefit from my mistakes. If you are willing to discipline yourself and sacrifice yourself, you'll have whatever you want.' Even though he was only 5 years old, he was listening. I could tell he was listening."

Josh Brent considers Isy Hoomanawanui a father figure as well. When introducing Hoomanawanui to someone, he often says, "He's kind of like my dad."

Brent's real father lives in California, and met his son for the first time prior to Josh's freshman year at Central.

"My mother's aunt had died, and they lived in the same town," Brent said. "I talked to him. But I've never seen him since then.

"It's hard. You wonder why someone wouldn't want to be part of their child's life. But my mom always used to tell me, 'He's the one missing out. You're not missing out on anything.' She always tried to stay positive about it. My uncle was always there for me. It wasn't that I grew up without a father figure … just without one in the house."

As a result, Brent had more freedom than most as an adolescent. His mother often was at work, and he had no siblings.

There was no one for him to look after, no one looking up to him.

"That was even more incentive to do what I wanted," Brent said.

After attending Bloomington Junior High, where he helped the basketball team to a 47-1 record over two years and a Class 7AA state title, Brent talked to his uncle about where to attend high school.

They decided Central Catholic was the best choice.

"I think Central Catholic was something I needed. That discipline and structure was needed at the time. I don't know if everybody understands that," Brent said. "At Bloomington, for me there's a little bit too much freedom. Early on, I probably would have got myself into a lot of trouble and possibly been one of those shoulda, coulda, woulda stories. I didn't want to be one of those."

Roland Brent saw Central as an opportunity for Josh to prepare himself for college.

"I said, 'You won't know any people (at Central), so you'll have to form new relationships. That's what you'll have to do in college,' " Roland said. "Like with Isy, there are relationships he formed there that will last a lifetime. It worked for both Central and Josh."

Ironically, football was not a priority for Brent when he arrived at Central. He had played one year and part of another in youth football leagues, but did not go out as a freshman.

Track was his first love. Roland Brent got him involved in the HEROHS track club in fourth grade, and by junior high age he had placed fifth in the nationals in the shot put.

He also had a passion for basketball, but did not embrace football until after his junior season at Central. The letters and calls began to flood in from major colleges.

"I sort of realized how good I could be," Brent said. "It made me want to become better. My sophomore and junior years, it wasn't necessarily that I didn't like the game as much as I didn't see what other people saw in me. Once I did, I had to take advantage of it and capitalize on it."

Brent has joined Michael Hoomanawanui, a sophomore tight end, on the Illinois football team. Brent began summer school and weightlifting/conditioning workouts in Champaign on June 11.

The 2006 Class A state shot put champion, he also plans to give track and field a try his freshman year. Brent is confident he can handle the workload. He feels stronger than a year ago, and not just physically.

"Going through all of this … God forbid, I don't think I'll ever go through anything like this again," Brent said. "I think I've adjusted pretty well since I've been there (in Champaign). For some people, it's been really hard to adjust. For me, after going through this past year, to a certain extent it's fun. It's hard work, but I'd rather go through this than what I was going through earlier.

"It's been a long, hard road. But it's starting to pave out and everything is sort of coming together."