Oklahoma signee Ashton Sanders made up his thoughts when he was only a sophomore in highschool. Greatness awaited, and he would meet it head on.
Eighty kilos lighter.
Sanders was a 350-pound defensive deal with his first yr of varsity soccer at Cathedral High School in Los Angeles. By his junior yr, he had dropped to 340 – however that wasn’t shut to the place he needed to be.
“My main thing,” Sanders mentioned, “was I didn’t want to go to college weighing 340 pounds.”
So Sanders reduce sugar fully out of his food regimen. Now he’s round 275. When he strikes, he strikes with expediency, and he arrives with function.
What Sanders did – make a life-changing choice, possibly even a life-saving choice – at 17 years outdated just isn’t frequent in highschool soccer.
“I don’t think it’s common in America,” mentioned OU defensive coordinator Ted Roof. “Look at our country. I think it’s very uncommon. To me, that’s what I think separates him … that’s why I have a lot of respect for him because he did make that decision because he wasn’t happy where he was. Instead of talking about it, he did something about it. That’s a wonderful thing.
“At one point, I think he was 350 pounds. He decided that wasn’t a good weight for him and he needed to do something about it because he wasn’t playing like he wanted to. And he did. You talk about some respect for a guy who can make a decision like that. It’s tough. Think about how many sizes of clothes that is, right? He probably had to buy him a whole new set of clothes 80 pounds later. That says a whole lot about his commitment to me.”
That choice, that sacrifice, that dedication has paid off. Sanders received a scholarship to Oklahoma, grew to become ESPN’s No. 25-rated defensive lineman within the nation, helped his group to a 10-3 document in 2022, graduated highschool a semester early, earned a spot within the U.S. Army All-American Game final week in Frisco, TX, and is already practising with the Sooners in Orlando, FL, forward of their Cheez-It Bowl showdown with Florida State.
Ashton Sanders
Ashton Sanders through Twitter
“Ashton Sanders,” mentioned OU coach Brent Venables, “has got a great story.”
Sanders had been recruited by Wisconsin, Washington, Cal, Arizona State and others however mentioned he by no means believed a real blueblood like Oklahoma would ever attain out.
“I didn’t think I was gonna get one of my dream schools,” Sanders instructed AllSooners this week. “Nor did I think I was gonna get a legit offer from a school that played big-time football and to be coached by a great coach.”
Sanders mentioned he wasn’t careworn over recruiting. Rather, he was simply targeted on being the perfect participant he could possibly be, on being the perfect teammate he could possibly be, and on profitable a championship. Cathedral fell brief, however whereas he was caring for his enterprise, soccer took a flip.
OU line of defense coach Todd Bates reached out, and Sanders’ perspective on school soccer modified.
“It was a blessing, honestly,” he mentioned. “I would say they came at the right time. … Once they called, that was my sign from God telling me to always believe and always keep pushing.”
Bates provided a scholarship on Oct. 31, and Sanders took his official go to to Norman on Nov. 19 – for the Oklahoma State recreation. He dedicated to the Sooners that Sunday, with out hesitation.
“My experience was chill – literally and mentally,” Sanders mentioned. “Because it was cold. That was my first time ever to take an official visit and ever being at a college game and seeing fans like that. It really was a great experience. To know that every game, for a home game, is like that – it wowed me. Because it was exactly what I wanted. I wanted the big scenes. I wanted to be a part of it.”
Sanders’ recruiting host that weekend was junior defensive finish Reggie Grimes. That helped. Grimes has grow to be fairly the host.
“I love it,” Grimes mentioned. “It’s time to connect with a group of guys that you want to come here. I had Ashton Sanders, and he committed here, so it’s a chance to connect with some of the guys who were going to be in our locker room next year. I had Taylor Wein a few weeks ago – he’s a kid from Nashville, from my area. So you’ve got guys who you’re reconnecting with as far as it’s concerned for me. I love it.
“I’ll tell them how it is. I have nothing to hide from anyone, you know what I mean? We want you here. If they’re putting you with me, that means we want you here. So, take you out, have a good time, and kinda going to show you why Oklahoma is Oklahoma, why we are the way that we are.”
Grimes will likely be a senior when Sanders is a freshman, however Sanders mentioned he seems like he has a pal for all times.
Ashton Sanders
Ashton Sanders through Twitter
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“He’s one person I know I can call if I’m ever not understanding the scheme,” Sanders mentioned. “Like, I texted him and said, ‘Help me with the scheme a little bit,’ and he was like, ‘For sure’ – once I signed, he would help me out and we would sit down and talk about it, and he would also send me the stuff. So he’s a great guy.”
But the only strongest connection Sanders made was together with his new place coach.
It appears Sanders and Todd Bates share a love of poetry.
“That’s one thing that I connected with him with, because I write poems,” Sanders mentioned.
Sanders’ poetry writing started when he took a summer season English class. His trainer, Ms. Pennington, rapidly received his consideration.
“I used to hate English,” Sanders mentioned. “But when I had her in summer school to get ahead, she taught me a whole bunch of it and I really just got hooked in. I mean, I was already writing poems, and I was always one of the best writers in class, and she told me I was horrible. But me being the kind of person I am, I was like, ‘Oh, I’m horrible? No I’m not. OK, now I’m fixin’ to learn.’ ”
Sanders mentioned he writes poetry “mainly to get by, or sometimes I write down my feelings. It’s just my personal therapy. … Also, I like to challenge myself. The hardest thing for me to write right now is a sonnet. I still haven’t understood the rhyme scheme.”
When he and Bates met, the dialog turned to poetry.
“I’m reading his poetry,” Sanders mentioned. “I told him he should be a published writer, and he said he is, he wrote his own book at one point. And that’s just stuff you don’t hear from every coach. Like, being recruited, you hear a lot of the same things from every coach.”
In the temporary time they’ve recognized one another, their relationship has deepened profoundly.
“I can say that not once has coach Bates lied to me,” Sanders mentioned. “Every single thing has been true. I know that because of the way his wife holds him and talks about him. And also, one night my mom overheard Coach Bates praying for me. That touched me. Like, very deep. Because I don’t know of another coach that has done that for me.
“Just a great man, a great person, a great disciple. He’s a great father, too. He’s someone that I know, after my NCAA career is over and I get married, he will officially be at my wedding. That’s the type of guy he is.”
Sanders will likely be in Orlando subsequent week practising with the group. He gained’t get to play within the recreation itself per NCAA guidelines, however he’ll be flashing his abilities – and his 275-pound body – for his new coaches.
“Really excellent athlete,” Venables mentioned. “”He’s an even bigger man … tremendously agile with nice toes.”
“He’s so versatile,” mentioned Roof. “You look at what happened with his play on tape, he’s really, really explosive as far as getting off the ball. He can play a lot of different techniques for us. The main thing we want to do is attack and get vertical off the ball from the defensive line. He can do that. He’s really, really twitchy and explosive.”
All that from slicing out sugar.
It’s simply actually, all I did was no added sugar,” Sanders mentioned. “ … Mine was sugar. Every single second of the day, I’m asking for candy, and that’s what weighed me down.
“It’s not just pick a diet, it’s delete something that you’ve been having all your life a lot of servings of. And once you delete it, you’ll see a dramatic change.”
Now that he’s misplaced the burden, he’s wanting ahead to moving into Jerry Schmidt’s notorious winter exercises and placing on the nice weight – the muscle.
“Oh, I’m gonna put on some weight. Yeah,” Sanders mentioned. “I wanted to go in as a young pup and have them build me up.”
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