For months – years in some circles – two questions have surrounded Bangor High School three-sport star Tommy Waterman and his future plans.

Where will he go to college? What sport will he play?

On Wednesday, Waterman ended the wait and answered those questions.

The University of Maine.

Basketball.

The 5-foot-10 point guard, quarterback and shortstop, one of the winningest athletes in Maine schoolboy history, announced that he has verbally committed to stay close to home and play for the Black Bears of coach John Giannini.

Basketball’s fall signing period for high school seniors begins Nov. 12, and Giannini can’t comment on recruits until a signed National Letter of Intent is received by UMaine.

Waterman was a third-team NEWS All-Maine basketball selection as a junior, averaging 10.0 points and 4.0 rebounds per contest. He was the Penobscot Valley Conference baseball Player of the Year as a junior, and has rushed for 765 yards on 66 carries in six games and has thrown six TD passes so far in this football season.

Waterman said he was impressed with Giannini’s honesty and decided he wanted to play close to home.

Waterman will sit out his freshman year as a redshirt and play for four years after that.

“I like the atmosphere up there, and being close to home and having people around here to be able to come and watch me still [is important],” Waterman said.

According to Waterman’s father, Neil Waterman, the heady point guard proved himself to Division I coaches at the national AAU hoop tourney in July.

“He always said he was going to play basketball or baseball,” Neil Waterman said. “I think after the Orlando trip he came back realizing he could play at another level.”

Waterman averaged 18 points for the Maine squad that made it into the championship round, playing against some of the best players in the country. Another player on that team, Rickey White of Mount Ararat in Topsham, has also committed to Maine.

Waterman’s father said he was recruited by Holy Cross, Bucknell, New Hampshire and Hartford, in addition to Maine in basketball; Massachusetts and Maine in football; and Maine in baseball.

Playing baseball is still an option at Maine, Neil Waterman said, adding that his son will be receiving a scholarship to play basketball.

Waterman played one year of freshman football, but jumped right to varsity as a freshman on the baseball and basketball teams.

Since his arrival at Bangor, the Rams teams he has been a part of have won 89 percent of the games they’ve played, compiling a sparkling 146-19 record.

Included in those wins are three straight Class A state baseball titles, and state Class A basketball crowns during his freshman and sophomore years.

Bangor basketball coach Roger Reed said he expects Waterman to contribute to the Black Bears.

“To me, you don’t measure him by his stature,” Reed said. “The intangibles he has, he has a big heart and is a great kid to coach.”

Reed points at the Eastern Maine title game last March, when the Rams were defeated by Mt. Blue of Farmington, as an example of what Waterman can do.

“We’re down nine points with 30 seconds left, and somehow Tommy still had the winning shot in the air at the buzzer,” he said.

Waterman said he’s glad he made the decision so he can pay more attention to the task at hand – attending Bangor and leading the undefeated Rams football team.

“I wanted to get it done early so I could concentrate on all the other sports without having coaches talk to me and call during the season,” he said. “Instead of having that burden on your back, [let’s] just get it over with.”

But though Waterman was getting two or three calls from coaches a week and receiving plenty of mail, Bangor football coach Gabby Price said he saw little evidence of distraction.

“Tommy’s more mature than most adults,” Price said. “I don’t think he could do any more for the football team than he’s doing right now. I never worried about him. He always makes the right decisions.”

Neil Waterman said he knew the impact Giannini’s presentation had on his son when the Watermans were traveling back from another campus visit.

“We were driving home [from Holy Cross] and his comment was, `Gee, I really like coach Giannini,’ ” Neil Waterman said.

The Tommy Waterman File

High school highlights

– Oct. 10, 1997 – In just the latest week of football heroics for the senior quarterback, Waterman rushes for 147 yards on 13 carries as the Rams trounce Oxford Hills, 35-0.

– June 14, 1997 – The junior shortstop went three-for-three, scored twice, drove in a run and stole a base as the Rams won their fourth straight Class A baseball crown, 8-1 over Sanford at Mansfield Stadium.

– April 12, 1997 – Named to the Bangor Daily News All-Maine third team.

– March 8, 1997 – Waterman scores 24 points but just misses a 3-pointer at the buzzer in overtime as the Rams lose 72-69 in the Eastern Maine Class A championship game. It’s the first hoop state title game Waterman misses in high school.

– June 15, 1996 – Sophomore Waterman flares a two-out RBI single to right field that drives in the winning run in Bangor’s 2-1 win over Biddeford, the Rams third straight state title.

– March 16, 1996 – The guard scores seven points and handles the point as the Rams top Westbrook 46-43 and earn their second straight `A’ title.

– Nov. 18, 1995 – Waterman completes 10 of 20 passes for 137 yards in Bangor’s 32-8 state title loss to South Portland.

– Nov. 3, 1995 – The sophomore quarterback sprints 69 yards for a fourth-quarter TD as the Rams earn a 25-12 playoff win over Waterville.

– June 17, 1995 – In what would turn into a 1-0 triumph in the Rams’ second straight state title, the freshman second baseman stabbed a line drive and turned a bases-loaded double play in the third to end a threat.

– March 18, 1995 – The freshman guard doesn’t miss a shot as the Rams cap an undefeated season with a 52-41 win over Bonny Eagle in the Class A title game. His eight points come on two field goals and four free throws.