BOCA RATON, Fla. -- It's not every day a recruit that's never played a down of football has multiple scholarship offers, but junior defensive end Kayode Oladele isn't the normal college prospect.
He arrived in the United States from Nigeria about nine months ago. He attends ATAP Academy in Miami, but the school doesn't have sports.
Miami Edison defensive coordinator Vic Evans said Oladele is allowed to play at Edison because it's the nearest school to offer sports.
Oladele, 6-5, 236 pounds, was one of the more impressive prospects who participated in Arkansas' satellite camp hosted by Florida Atlantic University on Monday. He was focused on basketball, but Evans was able to persuade him to give football a try.
"We told him realistically you're not going to be a center and get scholarships, but you could be phenomenal as a high school defensive end or linebacker," Evans said.
He started working out with the team in February.
"Temple was first to offer and did so without seeing him," Evans said. "They basically offered from word-of-mouth."
The Owls and others were able to see Oladele's athleticism during spring practice. He has added offers from Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Bowling Green, Florida Atlantic and others.
"When I first told him about football, he thought I was talking about soccer," Evans said.
Oladele's size was noticeable during drills Monday, but he still faces big obstacles. Learning the techniques of playing defensive end presents a challenge, but he's getting better at it.
"It's been pretty good. It's not really hard for me because I played basketball and I'm into sports, so learning different techniques of another sport isn't really hard," Oladele said.
Evans said Oladele is motivated to do well, saying he wants to return to Nigeria to move his family here.
Best days ahead
Junior Jashaun Corbin, 5-11, 188, of Melbourne (Fla.) Holy Trinity Episcopal, had his mind set on playing receiver last season, but he was moved to running back after one game and is glad he did.
He rushed for 1,955 yards in 10 games and was another standout at Monday's camp. He now has the attention of college coaches.
"The second game we moved him to tailback and at half he had 227 [yards]," Holy Trinity Episcopal Coach Nate Hooks said. "I said, 'You're not a receiver anymore.' "
Corbin recently received a scholarship offer from Tennessee after performing well at one of its camps. He also has offers from Kentucky, Toledo, Middle Tennessee and others, receiving an offer from Florida Atlantic after the camp.
He's embracing the attention from coaches, but he hopes to see an offer from Arkansas soon.
"I know their running backs are pretty good, and they have a good year every year," Corbin said.
Hooks said Corbin's best days are ahead of him.
"He's explosive, and one of the best things about him is he's extremely young," Hooks said. "He's only 15. He'll turn 16 once school starts."
Good, bad of camps
There's been a lot of discussion about the pros and cons of satellite camps. For middle linebacker Diego Fagot of Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) Calvary Christian, who participated in Arkansas' satellite camp, it's a mixed bag.
"The good thing is there's a lot more college scouts looking at you," Fagot said. "That really helps a lot. The downfall is there's so many guys, how can you look at each one individually. So you really have to stick out and be that leader of the linebackers or wide receivers and so forth."
Fagot, 6-3, 235, 4.76 seconds in the 40-yard dash, is home-schooled. He has 20 scholarship offers from from schools such as Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Tulane, Central Florida and Southern Miss.
He spoke with Coach Bret Bielema during a break and said they talked about life and other personal issues.
Fagot recorded 122 tackles, 2 sacks, 3 forced fumbles and returned an interception for a touchdown as a junior. He believes there are more positives than negatives in being home-schooled.
"I've actually finished all of my high school credits, so I'm getting college credits right now," Fagot said. "It really helps academically and spiritually and, of course, my football game."
He hopes to add an offer from Arkansas to his list.
"It would mean a lot," Fagot said. "It would be an act of God; just getting the chance to play in the SEC would be awesome. Not many kids get to do that."
Email Richard Davenport at
rdavenport@arkansasonline.com
Sports on 06/17/2016