Asani Redwood still struggles sometimes to even believe the position that he finds himself in now.
The redshirt sophomore defensive lineman didn’t even play football until his junior season at Collins Hill High School in Georgia and now is seeing snaps on the West Virginia front.
“Yes, it's still surreal to me now. Because my dad always talks about it every time, like, did you really expect this to happen? Or could you, could you write this down? Because if somebody told you, like earlier in the years, that, hey, you go play football at West Virginia with a full scholarship, right?” Redwood said. “And would you believe it? You know, and to this day, sometimes I still don't believe it, that's why I put my all into it.”
Redwood was raised in Kingston, Jamaica with his mother and didn’t come to the States until he was almost 16 years old to live with his father after receiving his visa. But that meant living behind his mother and younger brother, which made it difficult for him to adjust.
“It was very hard for me the first couple months,” he said.
So, in order to bridge that gap Redwood wanted to try his hand at sports. While communication was difficult at times, due to his accent, he was able to find his voice in competition.
“So I went from being very antisocial, not talking to anybody, because it was frustrating to repeat yourself five times, you know, to being that guy that everyone can lean on,” he said.
He stood just 5-foot-11, 190-pounds, and with his background in soccer felt that football could be a possibility for him but not on the defensive line. No, Redwood wanted to try to be a placekicker.
But because he arrived in the summer, Redwood didn’t play football that first year and instead participated on the wrestling team. Redwood experienced a growth spurt during that time shooting up to 6-foot-2, 210-pounds, and the offensive line coach at the school doubled as the wrestling coach. That led him back to the game of football where he was slotted on the defensive line.
At first, Redwood considered giving up on the game two weeks into his journey into football because he was so far behind his peers with no experience on the field and constantly asking questions or seeking guidance. But his father encouraged him to see the year through so he decided to stick with it.
Redwood even started the season on the junior varsity team until an opening moved him up to the varsity level where he initially struggled and recalls being put on the ground several times.
But with the support of his coaches, he got better and better before things took a massive turn down the stretch of his junior season in the playoffs and then particularly during his senior year. That’s when he fell in love with the game and started to see that play out in the games as a pass rusher for his team.
Redwood would finish his junior season with 54 tackles, 14 of them for loss, and 4.5 sacks but set the school record during his senior year with 17 sacks and earned 7A all-state honors. That led to his first offer from East Tennessee State and more would follow.
“My senior year was when I blossomed and started playing well and getting some sacks,” he said.
That is also where defensive coordinator Jordan Lesley learned of him and came out to watch him play after his head coach Lenny Gregory had previously tipped him off to his rising talents during COVID.
“And I watched him, and nobody really knew about him at that point. So he had a sack and a half that night, one right in front of us,” Lesley said.
That would lead to a scholarship offer and the Mountaineers were able to sign him during the early period before word got out and more people were able to see him play and allow his recruitment to stretch into February.
Now, Redwood is firmly in the mix on the West Virginia defensive line and has played a total of 112 snaps across the first four games. He has shown flashes of that potential that drew Lesley and the rest of the coaching staff to him in the first place but still has plenty of room for growth.
"You know, and to this day, sometimes I still don't believe it, that's why I put my all into it, and I try to make my dad proud, and I try to show Coach Brown, like, I appreciate the opportunity he gave me," Redwood said.
The defensive lineman is plenty athletic due to his background in other sports but is still finding his way in the weight room as injuries have derailed the opportunity for a full off-season to focus on his strength and conditioning. That means there is plenty of meat left on the bone.
“The athleticism has always showed up, showed up big time in the bowl game. Now we're playing catch up with the strength of his lower body and his upper body. And so again, I think his best football is ahead of him,” Lesley said.
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