Freshman Deji Olatoye once had a promising career in football. It just wasn’t American football.
Instead, Olatoye excelled at fútbol, better known as soccer in these parts of the world.
Olatoye began playing soccer when he was three years old. During his ascent to stardom, he was named team captain for his leadership, won four state championships and was named most valuable player in a couple of soccer tournaments. He also had two opportunities to play on teams that traveled to Europe.
Olatoye played soccer up until his freshman year of high school, until one day he and his family moved. The relocation to a new home helped spur him to American football.
“I was born in Cleveland, raised in Cleveland,” Olatoye said. “In the ninth grade, I moved from Cleveland to Columbus, Ohio. The Columbus soccer team I played for wasn’t good. I don’t really want to play for a sub-par team. So, I decided to try out some new waters to see what I could do.”
When Olatoye began playing football, the transition to the gridiron couldn’t have come smoother, thanks to his soccer skills.
Olatoye had good footwork playing cornerback, because he said playing soccer is maneuvering around people with your feet and not just running with your body.
“I noticed it sophomore year when I started because there are people that played corner pretty much all their life,” Olatoye said. “When I came in, I had better footwork than a lot of them and it was like a natural thing for me. I assumed it was soccer because that was the only sport I played.”
Then, by his second scrimmage, he mixed in some physicality with his finesse — Muhammad Ali style.
“I saw a kid come across the middle and I just blindsided him,” Olatoye said. “I was like, ‘Wow, he’s really in pain now.’ After that, I just knew I had to be careful, but make them big hits to get noticed.”
Olatoye finished his three-year high school career with just three interceptions, but Olatoye said by his senior year, opponents game-planned around him to avoid throwing him the ball.
Olatoye signed his letter of intent in February and arrived at Colorado at an eye-popping 6-foot-2-inch with a 6-foot-8-inch wingspan. However, he weighs in at a skinny 185 pounds.
At the first practice of fall camp, Olatoye nabbed two interceptions in a practice open to the public.
“When this guy’s got a bald-eagle wingspan out there and I’m trying to get by him, he can just reach out there and grab it,” said 5-foot-11-inch wide receiver Scotty McKnight. “I mean, the first day I was out there, I was like, ‘Dude, who’s this kid?’ He’s turning heads right away making picks, and playing press well.”
Depending on which Web site is visited, Olatoye wasn’t highly recruited. According to Scout.com, Olatoye is a three-star prospect while Rivals.com had him as a two-star prospect.
The lack of a spotlight might be a blessing in disguise for CU because last year’s freshman sensation, running back Rodney “Speedy” Stewart, was also an under-recruited player out of Ohio.
Plus, his fellow position-mates already see Olatoye as a player dripping with potential.
“Man, he has a lot of upside, a lot of upside,” cornerback Cha’pelle Brown said. “By the time he leaves here, I think he’s going to be a real, real good corner.”
Contact CU Independent Sports Editor Cheng Sio at Cheng.Sio@colorado.edu.
