Right-wing media personality and provocateur Charlie Kirk was assassinated Wednesday on a college campus in Utah. As of right now, authorities…
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MORGANTOWN — On its first visit to Colorado in any sport, West Virginia found Boulder to be a lovely place to visit.
Before the Cincinnati Reds determine what they’ll do, they must figure out who they are.
MORGANTOWN, W.Va – West Virginia’s football team features 10 new scholarship transfers from other four-year colleges this season, and all of them figure to play prominent roles for the Mountaineers in 2022.
One of those is Rashad Ajayi, a 5-foot-11, 182-pound fifth-year cornerback who comes to WVU after spending the previous four seasons at Colorado State.
A native of Atlanta, Georgia, Ajayi started 35 of the Rams’ 40 games since arriving in Fort Collins as a true freshman in 2018. When CSU went through a coaching change this past offseason, though, with Jay Norvell replacing Steve Addazio, the veteran defensive back went looking for a new school in which to spend his final year of college eligibility.
“It was difficult to leave,” said Ajayi of his transfer from Colorado State. “I had built a lot of friendships and trust with my teammates, but they had a coaching change, and they felt they needed a new guy to do what I had been doing there to do.
“Coming here to find a new place for my last year was challenging, but it’s been a good turnaround for me. I love the people here. I love my new teammates. I’ve already built a lot of great relationships, and my coaches have been great.”
Ajayi didn’t spend much time in the transfer portal, as only a couple of weeks elapsed from the time he decided to leave Colorado State to his commitment to West Virginia.
“I entered the portal in May and Coach ShaDon (Brown, WVU’s cornerback coach) gave me a call like the same day I entered the portal and wanted me to get out here and get a visit,” remembered Ajayi, who was pursued by others after announcing his transfer but swiftly narrowed his choices to West Virginia and California. “Coach ShaDon seemed very genuine over the phone, so I wanted to come out here and see it in person. I liked what I saw. It was a quick decision.”
Ajayi had 77 tackles, 17 passes defensed and one interception in his Colorado State career, but despite all that, Ajayi admits he’s still going through an adjustment period as he adapts to West Virginia’s defensive scheme, which is different from the one he played at CSU.
“I would not say it’s been a hard adjustment, but it has been challenging,” explained Ajayi. “At Colorado State, we played a lot of man coverage. I’d say I was in press man 80 to 90% of the time. Coming here, we play off more (in zone), so I have to look at more things, more keys.
“That’s the biggest adjustment I’ve had to make, learning this new defense and getting comfortable with it. I wouldn’t say it is difficult, just new.”
The Mountaineers need Ajayi to adapt quickly. He’s very much in the mix to start at cornerback for his new team in 2022, and no matter what, he’s definitely going to see regular action.
West Virginia’s corners also do some crosstraining to play safety, if necessary.
“Right now I’m playing strictly corner, but I’m always open to playing whatever position they need me to play,” said Ajayi, whose duties at Colorado State all came at cornerback. “I’m actually playing dime some, but corner is the main thing I’m playing.”
It’s been a winding road for Ajayi, whose travels have taken him from Langston Hughes High School in Atlanta to Colorado State, where the Rams were 11-29 in his time there, and now to West Virginia.
“I always saw myself playing at a Power 5 school,” he stated. “I never received an offer from West Virginia out of high school, but it was always a place of interest for me, especially growing up watching Tavon Austin play.
“I wondered what it would be like playing at that school at that level,” Ajayi concluded.
Now he’s getting that chance.
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Something interesting just happened in Colorado.
