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BYU offensive lineman Austin Leausa, left, gets in some work during practice Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024. The well-traveled Leausa is contending for a starting position on the Cougars’ offensive line. | Jaren Wilkey, BYU Photo
In this day and age of the transfer portal, a lot of college football players have moved around during their careers.
But few have had the same journey as new BYU offensive lineman Austin Leausa, who is battling with Sonny Makasini to earn the starting right guard spot for the opener on Aug. 31 against Southern Illinois.
“My story is pretty crazy, but pretty cool, too,” Leausa said at BYU’s Photo Day last week.
As a three-sport star at West Jordan High, Leausa always wanted to play football for BYU — his father’s favorite school — or Utah State, where his cousin AJ Pataiali’i played.
But when it was time for the massive offensive lineman, who also played rugby and baseball for the Jaguars, to sign with a college before his church mission to the Philippines, the only scholarship offers he had were from Southern Utah and Utah Tech of the Football Championship Subdivision.
So the 6-foot-5, 305-pound Leausa (pronounced: LAY-uh-oo-suh) went to SUU, played four games for the Thunderbirds in the 2021 spring season (COVID-19 moved the 2020 FCS season to the spring) and seven games for SUU in the 2021 fall season.
During that year, Leausa got married, had baby daughter Nicena with his wife, Ginger Lei, and was so overwhelmed by all his new responsibilities that he decided to quit playing college football.
“I thought it was time to hang up the cleats,” he said.
But after talking to a few coaches who were at other schools and had recruited him back in 2017, he put his name in the transfer portal. This time, Utah State jumped at the chance to get him, and Leausa became an Aggie in 2022.
“My career…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/inside-offensive-lineman-austin-leausa-030000441.html
Author : Deseret News
Publish date : 2024-08-18 03:00:00
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