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Two short years ago, Joe Rankin was going nowhere.

Now a freshly minted graduate of Seneca Valley High, there was nothing at the time that could have predicted how far Rankin would come. His penchant for trouble had him at the now-defunct Mark Twain School in Rockville, an alternative placement program for students with social or emotional difficulties.

Even when he came to Seneca Valley in 10th grade, Rankin could not get right: getting into fights, kicked off the basketball team and, in his words, "being a hothead."

That Joe Rankin does not exist anymore.

The new Joe Rankin has it together. He is going somewhere now, to join the University of Louisville (Ky.) football team in less than a week. But his success on the gridiron only scratches the surface of his evolution.

He is more than a football player. He is a role model.

"I just want to be successful, and I want to do it the right way," said Rankin, a 2007 and '08 All-Gazette first-team defensive back. "I know a lot of people not doing so well, cats I used to be with every day in jail for the rest of their life or wherever. I don't want to go back there."

To understand the full arc of his 180-degree turn, start by looking at his progression off the field. The reason Rankin does not yet own a Division I scholarship — though he had an official offer from the U.S. Military Academy — is his early academic performance. Before his junior year, his grades were not up to NCAA standards.

Thanks in large part to his relationship with Pro Power, a Washington-area mentoring program founded by Mark Smith in 2006, Rankin became a model student. During the 2007-08 school year, he made the honor roll in all four marking periods, including a 4.0 grade-point average in the third.

"Joe is Pro Power," said Smith, a former teacher at Mark Twain. "He's such a part of my family; I've known him since he was about 12. You're not going to find a better success story."

Football has been the catalyst. Rankin had not played a down until his junior year, and even with his athletic ability — he ran a 4.39-second 40-yard dash at a Villanova (Pa.) University camp last spring — success took time. According to Rankin, "my relationship with my coaches wasn't that good," and he almost got thrown off the team after verbal confrontations with Screaming Eagle coaches.

But before long, he was calling them family. He became Gang Green's heart and soul, picking off seven passes as a junior, returning three for touchdowns. As a senior, he led the team in rushing and kick return yards in addition to his defensive back duties, driving the Eagles to an undefeated regular season and state-semifinal appearance.

Several schools took notice, including Ohio and Akron, and, West Point, which was the only school to offer Rankin a scholarship last June. But he "fell in love with Louisville" after attending its football camp in July.

"The light switch really went on when Georgia came to see me in the summertime," he said, "but the first time I went to see Louisville, I just claimed it. I told my mom, ‘I'm going to Louisville,' the second I came back."

As of last week, Rankin still had "a couple minor things" to clear up with the NCAA Initial-Eligibility Clearinghouse. According to both he and Seneca Valley head coach Fred Kim, it's a formality. He would be expected to report in August, but would prefer to join the team July 6, the first day of the team's summer workouts.

"I want to go now to get adapted to the team, the environment, to take classes," he said. "I mean, when I go there, I want to turn it up. I've got to work as hard as I can for my supporters."

That's been a small part of his message to kids at various camps over the past month. Two weeks ago, he spoke at Seneca Valley's youth camp on the value of responsible decision-making. From June 24-27, he worked Pro Power's summer football camp at Kennedy, giving personal coaching to hopeful players while also getting tips himself from NFL liaison Shawn Springs, a 1993 Springbrook alumnus and current New England Patriot.

"That's why I'm here," Springs said while speaking to camp attendees Wednesday. "You guys can make it. I'm working with my man Joe here; hopefully I can retire in about two years and he can take my spot."

But Rankin has perspective. He is OK with wherever life takes him, so long as he can make people proud.

People like his 9-year-old brother, Elijah, who his mother put up for adoption at an early age because she could not take care of him financially. Rankin had not seen Elijah in years, until he came to watch the Eagles' Oct. 31 game against Churchill, when big brother clinched victory with a 100-yard interception return for a touchdown.

Rankin's younger brother serves as his conscience, a reminder that he is now someone to whom people in his life look up.

"I can't tell the future," he said. "I don't know if I'm going to go to the NFL or go up to Louisville and be an all-star. But this is our Seneca Valley motto: Give it all you've got, and that's all you can do. …

"When I go to college, I want to get some kind of background in sociology because I want to talk to people, help people. God has a plan for me, and from here on out, I'm making all the right decisions."