Academics at Cal could be key in pursuit of 2023 DE Collins Acheampong
Collins Acheampong is one of the most intriguing 2023 recruits in the West, and Cal is one of his newest options.
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In over a decade of doing this, I don't know that I've ever come across a story as interesting as Collins Acheampong and his quest to play college football. He has not played football since his freshman season, but he has become one of the highly-targeted recruits on the West Coast. Most of that is based on his potential since his sample size is very small. There is definitely a lot to work with as he was the "who is that?" guy at the Under Armour NEXT camp last weekend. He is around 6-foot-7 and came the United States a few years ago to play basketball. His coaches urged him to play football with the hope that he would become acclimated to team sports that way, and he ended up really liking the game. The last two years have given him the opportunity to learn the game more, but he still has a lot of development left. Some schools want him at tight end, but he is a more natural pass rusher.
Cal likes him on defense, so it certainly fits. One thing that has his attention is the education he would get at Cal. He isn't going to play football this season because he wants to stay at his current school, Fairmont Prep, which doesn't have a football program any more. It's a high academic prep school, and academics mean that much to him that he has no plan to leave the school even if it means missing out on his senior football season.
He's an interesting prospect with a ton of upside, and Cal is one of the newest schools in the mix. Oregon, USC, UCLA and LSU are some of his other offers on the table right now.
“They’ve been really nice. I’ve been talking with everyone from the head coach all the way down. It’s a great academic school. My prep school I’m at, Fairmont Prep, is a college prep school. It has a lot of smart kids there, and smart kids go to smart places. You hear of all the high academic schools, and that already intrigued me coming to America. Now knowing all these schools and hearing all these schools it’s like, ‘OK, Cal is a great academic school, and oh they have a football program, too.’ So, everything just falls into place from there.”
