Scheuerman was born in Moline, Illinois and grew up in Rock Island, one of the Quad Cities. He was born to Milton Scheuerman and Lois Anderson. He had one younger brother Thomas. After a strong high school basketball career at Rock Island High School, Scheuerman chose to play college basketball for coach Bucky O'Connor at Iowa. There, he was started for some of the most successful teams in program history, winning two Big Ten Conference titles and advancing to the national Final Four in 1955 and 1956. The starting unit for these teams were known as the "Fabulous Five" as they started as a unit from their sophomore to their senior seasons.
