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Brad Banks is running several hours late, and the television crew waiting to film a sound bite with the Iowa quarterback is growing impatient.

Finally, word comes that Banks is on his way. He enters the room at the Hayden Fry Football Complex and immediately disarms everyone with his brilliant smile and easygoing manner.

A member of the TV crew hands him his No. 7 jersey, which he puts on before being interviewed and taken through a series of poses that will be shown during the national telecast of Thursday’s Orange Bowl game between Iowa and USC.

Keeping appointments usually isn’t a problem for Banks, but these are hectic days for the unassuming senior. Demands for his time have put a strain on him, even if he doesn’t like to admit it.

“I just wanted to go out and have a great year,” he says. “All this other stuff just came with it. I’m enjoying it.”

Some have their doubts. The day after Banks returned from the Heisman Trophy ceremony in New York, where he was runner-up to USC quarterback Carson Palmer, he was so tired he could barely keep his eyes open, an Iowa official said.

Yet, you’ll rarely hear Banks complain. It’s not part of his makeup.

Asked if he feels pressure in his role as leader of the nation’s third-ranked team, he stifles a laugh.

“I don’t worry about pressure,” he says.

Banks’ background has helped prepare him for the spotlight.

There was pressure in being the youngest son of Charles Banks, a farm-labor contractor who reared Brad on a heavy dose of discipline amid the sugar-cane fields of Belle Glade, Fla.

There was pressure in being the starting quarterback as a sophomore at Glade Central High, a coaching move that upset several teammates because Banks replaced a more experienced senior.

There was pressure in flunking out of Central Florida as a freshman and realizing he might have blown his best chance to play Division I football.

“It just made me tougher,” Banks said. “I’m glad I went through it. God has been with me all the way.”

Banks’ emergence this season -- his first as a starter at Iowa -- is the kind of rags-to-riches tale that attracts attention. In leading the Hawkeyes to an 11-1 record, he answered skeptics who didn’t think he could play quarterback at the major college level.

“It’s got to be one of the all-time great stories in college football,” Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz said.

Three years ago, Banks was a wide receiver at Hinds Community College in Raymond, Miss. He switched positions the next season and passed for more than 2,000 yards in leading Hinds to an 11-1 record, but few four-year schools recruited him as a quarterback. North Carolina State wanted him to play receiver.

Iowa took a chance by signing him and has reaped the rewards. Banks is second in the nation in passing efficiency with a rating of 166.1, having thrown for 2,369 yards and a Big Ten Conference-best 25 touchdowns, with only four interceptions. He also is a threat to run, with 387 yards and five touchdowns rushing.

“We really weren’t looking for a JC quarterback that year, but he was the best guy on our board,” Ferentz said. “When we met him, we just fell in love with him.”

Charles Banks asked only one favor from the Iowa coaches who recruited his son: “Give him a chance.”

Brad Banks speaks of his 60-year-old father with a combination of admiration and frustration. He lets out a sigh when recalling what his father repeatedly told him.

“He always said, ‘One day, you’re going to thank me for all this.’ I was like, ‘Man, get out of here.’ [But] I thank him all the time now.”

It wasn’t always like that.

“Because, growing up, he wouldn’t let me do anything,” Banks said. “I couldn’t go places other kids could go. I had to be in at a certain time.”

With most of his older siblings already on their own, Banks spent a lot of time alone at home. Among his hobbies was chasing rabbits in the sugar-cane fields of Belle Glade, a small town where 28% of the families live below the national poverty line.

“Home, chores, just doing nothing,” Banks said of his childhood. “The only thing I’d do around the house is tear up stuff. I’d make basketball goals out of paper plates in my room, just play in there all day.”

Charles Banks and his wife, Vida, have 12 children from previous marriages. Brad is six years younger than his nearest sibling. The older boys were good athletes, and it wasn’t long before Brad was tearing up peewee football fields.

“Brad got the ball and he would run from one end of the field to the other,” Vida Banks told the Des Moines Register. “He had both teams chasing him.”

He displayed enough talent as a high school sophomore to become the varsity quarterback at Glade Central. After some early struggles, he led his team to the playoffs as a junior and to the state championship game as a senior.

Central Florida was among the few universities that offered scholarships to Banks, who had trouble getting qualifying scores on his college entrance exams.

He sat out his freshman season as a redshirt, watching senior Daunte Culpepper direct the Central Florida offense. Banks remains close to Culpepper, quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings, and they frequently talk on the phone.

“He taught me how to be a person, how to treat people,” Banks said. “He took me under his wing. He treats me like a little brother.”

Having a successful mentor wasn’t enough to keep Banks from straying. Plagued by homesickness, he spent more time making the three-hour drive from the Central Florida campus in Orlando to Belle Glade than he did going to class.

Academic problems forced him to drop out.

Given a second chance at Hinds, Banks became more dedicated in the classroom and slowly resurrected his football career.

Once at Iowa, he quickly seized his opportunity. When another quarterback transferred last season, it opened a spot for Banks as the backup to senior Kyle McCann. Banks completed 60% of his passes for 582 yards in a limited role.

“We used Brad as a changeup pitcher, bringing him in here and there to change the tempo of the game,” Ferentz said. “We gave him a chance to learn.

“We always had a great feeling about Brad. He’s a guy who’s improved with the opportunity he’s had out there, be it at practice or in a game.”

Banks began this season with a starting job and a good feeling about the team.

“I knew coming into this year from two-a-days that it was going to be a great year,” he said. “Everybody was ready. These guys love football. To be around guys like that makes everything more easy for you.”

After Iowa’s third game, however, Banks wasn’t considered the best quarterback in the state. He was outplayed by Iowa State’s Seneca Wallace in a 36-31 loss to the Cyclones, in which Banks lost two fumbles within a five-minute span.

He redeemed himself two games later, passing for 261 yards and four touchdowns in a 42-35 overtime victory at Penn State. Banks completed a six-yard pass play to his cousin, wide receiver C.J. Jones, for the winning touchdown.

Banks came through again the next week against visiting Purdue. He drove Iowa 87 yards for the game’s final touchdown, a seven-yard, fourth-down pass play to tight end Dallas Clark with 1:07 left in a 31-28 victory.

If the nation wasn’t already aware of Banks and the Hawkeyes, a 34-9 victory at then-No. 8 Michigan on Oct. 26 did the trick. Banks completed 18 of 29 passes for 222 yards and two touchdowns as Iowa handed the Wolverines their worst home loss since 1967 on its way to an 8-0 Big Ten record. Through the ups and downs, Banks never wavered in his quiet confidence.

“He’s very steady,” Ferentz said. “He keeps the same demeanor about him all the time -- win, lose or draw. I think that’s a great trait for a leader to have. He keeps the team stable and focused.”

A career in the NFL could be a longshot for the undersized Banks. Although listed at 6 feet 1, he’s actually 5-11. Still, he’s hoping for a shot.

If that doesn’t materialize, Banks said, he would like to work with children, perhaps as a teacher and coach.

“I love kids,” he said.

In the meantime, Banks is enjoying being a big kid himself. With his final college game set in Miami, an hour’s drive from Belle Glade, he is looking forward to playing before a large contingent of family and friends. It will be the culmination of a whirlwind season for Banks, one that has included a slew of awards and the kind of attention that can make a young man’s head spin.

“It hasn’t sunk in yet,” he said.

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

All of a Sudden

A look at Brad Banks’ statistics in 2002:

PASSING

*--* PA PC INT YDS TD 258 155 4 2,369 25

*--*

RUSHING

*--* CARRIES YDS TD 73 387 5

*--*

HONORS

* Associated Press college football player of the year

* Davey O’Brien Award (top quarterback)

* Big Ten Conference offensive player of the year

* Chicago Tribune Silver Football Award (Big Ten most valuable player)

* Runner-up for Heisman Trophy