April 22, 2008

Lincoln, NE (UWIRE) -- It's been a long road for Larry Asante. It has been a road filled with confusion, but also with opportunity. A road of heartbreak, but also of celebration.

Asante will be entering his junior year as a safety for the Nebraska football team, and he'll be the first to tell you he couldn't be happier about the road he's on now.

It started back in Virginia, where Asante grew up loving the sport he now plays. He played football all through high school and was getting looks from schools like Virginia Tech and Clemson. He was planning on being a Virginia Tech Hokie.

Then an unfortunate life change occurred. Right before Asante's senior year of high school, his parents, Paul and Jewell Asante, separated. The separation caused Asante to join a whole new high school for his senior year, which meant a whole new group of teammates on the football field.

Hayfield High School in Alexandria, Va., was his new school. The head football coach went by the name of Billy Pugh, and this coach couldn't have been happier about the surprise acquisition of Asante.

"When he first transferred, he came up and introduced himself to me," Pugh said. "He was and still is just the nicest kid in the world. You can't explain it, but what I could explain was that he didn't let that situation at home affect him."

Asante moved in with his dad in Alexandria, which brought him to Hayfield. While there, Asante posed a threat on both sides of the ball and earned all-league honors as a running back in the AAA Patriot Division.

Pugh knew Asante had what it took to compete at the next level, but there was a slight hold on anything he could do because Asante hadn't achieved at least a minimum score on the ACT, which is required by most colleges for admittance.

The situation pushed into late April, and scholarship opportunities and full-ride offers to major universities started to disappear. He began to realize his dreams had officially been put on hold, if not demolished.

"It made me a stronger person I think," Asante said. "I was in a situation I didn't want to be in, but I learned to adapt to that situation, and that made me a better person. I think it made me a stronger person ..."

Asante didn't quit. Although his hopes of a major university had passed him by after high school, he continued to fight for the dream by accepting a full-ride scholarship to Coffeyville Community College in Coffeyville, Kan.

Then-head coach and current Coffeyville Athletic Director Jeff Leiker decided to redshirt Asante freshman year to save a year of eligibility for him to seek bigger things. Leiker said it was a decision that became harder as Asante's stay in Coffeyville continued, mainly because Asante almost didn't make the team the following season.

After his redshirt season, Asante was in a heated competition with two other guys for a linebacker spot. Leiker said it was a decision he had planned on making, but he said Asante basically made it for him.

"He was the one consistent player that kept popping up every day," Leiker said. "One kid got poked in the eye and had bad vision, while another couldn't get over some bad knees. Even without that, Larry was showing that he wanted to be here."

Asante made the team and went on to be one of the most highly regarded junior college prospects in the country. He collected 76 tackles that year, 11 of them being for a loss. He even added three blocked kicks and an interception to the resume, and it was a season that earned him a spot on the All-Jayhawk League team with an honorable-mention for the JUCO All-America team.

Ironically enough, it was a year that didn't need to happen. News came across that Asante's test scores from the far end of his high school career actually came through as a passing grade; he got a 24. Nobody found out about the results until late June after Asante's redshirt season, which had severely limited his options.

Although he could have made the jump a year earlier, Asante said he isn't too upset with how things have worked out.

"I could have gone to Clemson that summer," Asante said. "I wasn't so sure of where I wanted to go, though. I talked to my folks, and that's why I went back and played my second season at Coffeyville. Now, I'm (at Nebraska) and couldn't be happier."

Asante's dream of playing for a big name program came true after his breakout second season with Coffeyville. Asante chose the Huskers over several teams, including Clemson, Kansas State and even his original choice, Virginia Tech.

When news started spreading about Asante's move, everybody who was close to him was thrilled. Pugh, who has been coaching at Hayfield for 13 years, played a large role in Asante's decision to go to Lincoln, and it was without Asante knowing it for awhile.

"The coaching staff called me and told me to talk to him," Pugh said. "I'm just tickled pink that he's there, and I was elated when I found out. He contacted me in the summer about some potential things, and I told him he needed to consider playing there."

A year has passed since Asante came to Nebraska, and for Asante and others, it was a year they would like to forget. In the final year of the Bill Callahan era, the Huskers went 5-7 and Asante played on what turned out to be the second-worst defense in the country.

Mental errors, missed plays, confusion and team disruptions filled the year for several Huskers including Asante. Anybody and everybody was pointing fingers, Asante included.

It was a year Asante would much rather forget than remember.

"I think last year, fans collectively saw us not play defense," Asante said. "There were a lot of individuals out there on the field. Guys that were supposed to be leaders turned their backs on the younger guys. My role this year is different; I'm one of the older guys. Last year was just a lot of confusion on the field, and that led to the frustration. It affected my play, and it affected a lot of my teammates, too."

"I didn't talk to him until after the season," Pugh said. "I watched the USC game, and I remember one play where the running back juked him out of his shoes. The thing is, though, he will go heads and tails above and beyond to be successful. He's playing a new position, and as you go to the higher ranks he's been moved up. He's a go-getter kind of kid."

Asante said he plans to assume a leadership role this year for the 2008 Huskers. He said leadership was almost non-existent last year, and that something like that can't happen this year, or else the results will be the same.

The results will start coming in starting August 30, when the Huskers take on Western Michigan for the season-opener in Lincoln. Asante said it's important for him to get his head on straight and forget about last year. He said it wouldn't be a surprise if that's what everyone is trying to do.

It's hard to tell what the 2008 season will bring for the Big Red, but it's a season where Asante knows he has to shine. The trouble from the past is gone, and only the future is ahead for the junior. And according to him, the future might also require looking up.

"To me personally, I think what struggled last year was my relationship to God," Asante said. "That's how I got through last year. My personal relationship with God got me through last year, and I will need that to carry me through this year."

(C) 2008 Daily Nebraskan via UWIRE