Last season Arizona State defensive lineman BJ Green talked about wanting to earn a scholarship to lessen the financial burden on his parents. He traveled from his home in Georgia to play for ASU because his godfather Greg Ellis knew defensive line coach Robert Rodriguez and trusted him.
All Green ended up doing as a true freshman walk-on was leading the team in sacks and contributing in an area the team had been decimated in by injuries and other defections.
Well, Green’s leap of faith turned out just as he had hoped it would. He has been put on scholarship by head coach Herm Edwards, as has been running back George Hart III.
“It couldn’t happen for two better guys,” Edwards said. “We tell a lot of walkons that come here they will have the chance to earn a scholarship and I think that’s important. It is good that when you’re trying to encourage guys to come here as walk-ons you can show them that is something we have always done.”
Green, a 6-foot, 260-pounder, appeared in 12 games and managed eight tackles, five sacks, and a quarterback hurry. Two of those sacks came in ASU’s 20-13 loss to Wisconsin in the Las Vegas Bowl.
Rodriguez was pleased to see his player rewarded.
The NCAA recently changed a rule that allows a team to give more than 25 scholarships per cycle as long as a school stays under the 85-scholarship limit. That will help teams reload in an era when they’re going to lose more players to the transfer portal than they’ll sign.
“I’m so pleased that Coach Herm (Edwards) made that decision even before that rule was changed,” Rodriguez said. “He (Green) is very deserving. It also sends a good message to the other guys that if you take care of your business we’ll take over you.”
Green said he didn’t get to tell his parents the good news. They actually told him. His father had gotten word from Rodriguez because they needed some paperwork signed.
He was pleased with his performance and was hoping that would be the deciding factor.
“I really didn’t want to make any assumptions. I just wanted to let my play do the talking,” he said. “I’m really happy that it did happen though. It’s a blessing. I’m happy for my parents too. It’s one less thing to worry about.”
Hart, a 5-foot-10, 205-pounder, got the good news from his position coach Shaun Aguano. The sophomore said he had an inkling that might be coming because of the work he had put in during the off-season, but the moment was still a big one.
Hart made cameo appearances in 12 games and totaled 19 yards on 10 carries. He made a case for more playing time with a solid spring.
“I thought maybe but you never really know,” said Hart, a native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. “It really feels great that the coaching staff has that belief in me. That (a scholarship) was a goal of mine since I got here and I really worked at getting bigger, faster and stronger.”
There is an open competition at running back with Rachaad White departing for the NFL and DeaMonte “Chip” Trayanum transferring to Ohio State.
The Sun Devils have rewarded walk-ons in the past with wide receiver Giovanni Sanders who saw his status move from non-scholarship to scholarship last season. Starting fullback Case Hatch came to the program as a walk-on as well.
Edwards says he wishes he could give that kind of news to more of his walk-ons.
“You look for a lot of things in deciding that, guys that have that work ethic. Guys that are doing their due diligence. Guys that are good teammates.”
Reach the reporter at Michelle.Gardner@gannett.com or 602 444-4783. Follow her on Twitter @MGardnerSports.
Subscribe to azcentral.com today.
Commentaires
Enregistrer un commentaire