‘It was a romantic story.’ UK freshman grew up without football but fell for it hard.
University of Kentucky linebacker Sam Anaele was among the six mid-year enrollees who met with media on Wednesday. He was the only one dressed appropriately for a snowstorm, were one to arrive.
It was a little bit above freezing in Lexington and there was a light drizzle in the area, but it was a par-for-the-course day in a Kentucky February. For Anaele — a native of Nigeria who went to high school in Deerfield Beach, Fla., where Wednesday’s low was 72 degrees — cold weather is still an almost other-worldly experience.
Hence the thick winter coat and insulated toboggan, both adorned with UK imagery, that decorated his 6-foot-4 frame inside UK’s recruiting room at Kroger Field.
“The weather is something I have to get used to,” Anaele said with a grin. “I am getting used to it, but over time I will. Maybe I’ll go around jogging in shorts, but right now I have to be suited up so I don’t get cold.”
It might take him longer to get accustomed to lower temperatures than it did football, which is not the sport he envisioned playing at the Division I level. Anaele arrived in the States with the intent to pursue basketball stardom, but football quickly captivated him and erased his hardwood dreams.
“It was all love at first sight,” Anaele said. “It was a romantic story.”
Football wasn’t completely foreign to him growing up, but soccer and basketball commanded more attention in his home country. The ability for individuals to excel at their own crafts within a team concept depending on their specific talents and body make-ups appealed to Anaele, and he realized there was a greater opportunity to grow, mentally and physically, on the turf.
It also just looked more fun.
“I’m not gonna lie, the running around,” Anaele said with a laugh when asked about what first caught his eye about football.
Anaele, a four-star recruit, was originally committed to Miami, whose campus is about an hour south of Deerfield Beach, but de-committed soon after a visit to Kentucky last June. He got to spend time with Josh Allen during one of his visits; getting to ask questions of Allen, a two-star recruit out of high school who last year was selected with the No. 7 overall pick in the NFL Draft, played into his decision to flip to the Wildcats but wasn’t the decisive factor.
“If you remove the Josh Allen factor from it, I still would have come here because it feels like home, to be very honest, besides from football,” Anaele said. “The education is great, fantastic, and the coaches are awesome.”
The only thing missing is the sunshine.
Bandwagons
Anaele still enjoys playing recreational basketball and grew up a fan of the Miami Heat. Then the Cleveland Cavaliers. Now the Los Angeles Lakers.
“I’m a LeBron bandwagon fan, I don’t care,” he said with a laugh.
Before you cast aspersions, consider the NFL team to which he’s pledged his allegiance: the Cleveland Browns.
“Don’t judge me,” he said, still laughing. “I think it’s kind of sentimental for me ‘cause they have a bunch of Nigerians on the team and people from Nigerian descent.”
Work ethic
UK signed three receivers in its 2020 recruiting class but only Kalil Branham enrolled for the spring semester. He felt like having a head start was necessary to see whether or not he’s able to compete at a high level with receivers that are already in the program.
That level of work ethic isn’t surprising from Branham, who regularly documents his workout sessions on social media. He manages to find time for some other hobbies — baking and playing the piano — while making sure he never leaves a catching session without bringing down at least 100 balls.
It’s easier to put his work in at UK than it was with the JUGS machine in Columbus, Ohio.
“It’s the greatest thing in the world,” Branham said. “I don’t have to set anything up, it’s right there. I just go in there and it’s right there, just get it over with real quick, just like that.”
Sleep
D’Eryk Jackson, an inside linebacker, was Kentucky’s only signee out of Georgia in the 2020 recruiting class. He was a big Bulldogs fan as a child, “but I’m in Kentucky now,” he said with a laugh.
Jackson is still getting used to the early workouts he’s undertaking at UK, as well as the ample free time afforded to him and his teammates as college athletes compared to the lack thereof as high school students.
“After my workout I can go to my dorm and sleep for like three hours,” Jackson said. “I’ve never slept so much.”
