‘A nerd who was born athletic’ is a key to Kentucky football’s 2025 aspirations
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Transfer David Gusta anchors Kentucky’s retooled 2025 defensive line.
- Gusta chose UK over top programs after ranking as a top transfer portal lineman.
- Off-field hobbies and family support fuel Gusta’s transition to SEC football life.
David Gusta comes from San Bernardino, California. The new Kentucky Wildcats defensive lineman played his first three seasons of college football for Washington State in the Pacific Northwest.
That time on the Left Coast did nothing to prepare the 6-foot-3, 317-pound Gusta for what he faced on Wednesday: practicing football in the soupy humidity of a Kentucky summer.
“I felt like I was breathing through a straw,” Gusta said Friday at UK’s annual preseason media day.
On a Wildcats football roster that features a whopping 50 newcomers, few are as important to Kentucky’s hopes of bouncing back from last season’s 4-8 slog as is Gusta.
A year ago, as a junior at Washington State, Gusta earned the fourth-highest pass rush grade of any interior defensive lineman in the country from Pro Football Focus.
Gusta finished 2024 with 21 tackles, a sack, three pass breakups and a robust 22 quarterback hurries for WSU.
When he decided to enter his name into the portal, On3 evaluated him as the second-best defensive lineman available via transfer.
It was widely seen as a coup for UK when Gusta chose the Wildcats for his senior season over interest from Texas A&M, Michigan, Alabama, Oklahoma and Auburn, among others.
On Monday, when he met with the media for a preseason news conference, UK coach Mark Stoops raved about Gusta’s prowess in the bench press.
“I mean, he did 225 (pounds), 38 times,” Stoops said. “He is physically what you want — very twitchy and very disruptive inside.”
Veteran Kentucky offensive lineman Jager Burton said Gusta is “not just power, he’s ‘power speed.’ We’ve been having some battles already in camp. He’s a really good player.”
With longtime UK defensive line stalwarts such as Octavious Oxendine, Tre’vonn Rybka and Deone Walker having moved on, Gusta figures to be the anchor of a reconstructed Wildcats D-line.
“I have never played at a SEC school yet, so I’m excited for it,” Gusta said. “I’m not really too worried about it.”
For UK backers facing the task of learning a roster with so many new faces, let me suggest Gusta as a fun place to start.
While I have not seen the scientific polling, I feel confident in asserting that there is not an abundance of linemen in major college football whose off-the-field passion is collecting figurines from Japanese anime.
“I’ve been doing it since I was a little kid,” Gusta said.
Since April, Gusta has been a married man.
As a freshman at Washington State, Gusta first encountered Angie Sandell. “I thought she was beautiful,” Gusta said. “So I texted her.”
The two first met in a Domino’s Pizza parking lot in Pullman, Washington. “Every anniversary, we go get a Domino’s (pizza),” Gusta said.
Good naturedly, Gusta reported that, on occasion, his non-football passions come into conflict.
“I went to Japan, spent maybe a little too much on (figurines). My wife was not very happy,” he said.
In addition to his spouse, Gusta has a brother who has accompanied him to Lexington. Devon Gusta, a junior defensive back, transferred to UK from the University of California Davis.
For a guy who had spent his life on the West Coast, having a family support group with him as he makes the adjustment to life in the upper South has been big, Gusta said.
“I’m not sure I would be able to do this without (Devon),” Gusta said. “I grew up a West Coast kid. I grew up east of L.A. Coming out here (to Kentucky), everything is completely different.”
How so?
“The weather is different,” Gusta said. “I heard cicadas for the first time. I freaked out.”
Occasionally, Gusta said the toil of playing football in the trenches interferes with his desire to broaden his interests.
“Last year, I tried to learn the piano,” Gusta said. “It was not happening. Like, my fingers don’t bend the way that I want them to bend (any)more.”
Gusta said being a man of varied interests helps him on the football field.
“I am more of a nerd who was born athletic,” he said. “People talk about pressure (in football). Well, after I’m done, I literally, like, go home and paint my figurines. And then I play Scrabble with my grandma.
“When you have something like a hobby or something to keep you grounded, it definitely makes joy through football easier.”
Gusta can help Kentucky fans regain their joy through football if he can contribute to a turnaround season for the Wildcats.
In that context, the Big Blue Nation might take some encouragement in how Gusta acquired his nickname: “Bone.”
At Washington State, Gusta was so physical in practices, some teammates had to seek medical attention.
“I ended up getting a few teammates hurt,” Gusta said. “So (the nickname “Bone”) has sort of carried over.”
