[2] Born and raised in Indianapolis, Indiana, Prestel graduated from its Sacred Heart High School (now Roncalli) in 1955.
He ventured west to play college football for head coach Skip Stahley at the University of Idaho in Moscow,[3] where he started for the Vandals in the Pacific Coast Conference (PCC) alongside future notable pros Jerry Kramer, Wayne Walker, and Jim Norton.
[4][5][6] Prestel was a two-sport star athlete for the Vandals, where he also lettered in basketball as a 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) center for head coach Harlan Hodges, and made honorable mention in the PCC for the 1958–59 season.
[1] Selected by the Browns in the sixth round of the 1959 NFL draft (70th overall), Prestel chose to remain in college; he had missed most of the 1957 season to return to Indianapolis, where his mother was terminally ill.[7][8] He was granted another year of eligibility and played the 1959 season at Idaho as a fifth-year senior, and was elected captain by his Vandal teammates.
[12] Prestel played in the College All-Star Game at Soldier Field in August 1960, against the defending NFL champion Baltimore Colts.