Justin Salum follows dream to Arizona

As long as Justin Salum remembers, he's been a Wildcat.

It started when Justin was less than one year old, watching his uncle Donnie Salum play football for the Wildcats in the late 80's.

The elder Salum is one of the most successful walk-ons in school history, as he joined the team with no scholarship in 1988 but worked his way through the lineup and led Dick Tomey's squad in tackles with 113 in 1989.

Donnie not only helped lead Arizona to a 15-8 record while in Tucson, but he made the most of the opportunity that he was given, being honored with the co-Wildcat of the Year award in 1989 (along with Darryll Lewis) and also getting selected with the 250th pick of the 1990 NFL Draft by the Atlanta Falcons.

For Justin, watching Donnie play for the Wildcats started what has become a lifelong love affair with the U of A.

"I've loved Arizona as long as I can remember," Justin said. "Really, my whole life. I have pictures of me when I was a little baby with Donnie in his U of A uniform right after games. He has me in his arms with us both looking at the camera smiling."

"He's always been a Wildcat," Donnie added. "He's been an adamant Wildcat his whole life."

As a talented football player growing up in Phoenix, the 6-foot-1, 205-pound running back with legit 4.4 40-yard dash speed always looked like he had the potential to earn a scholarship to Arizona.

However, after being touted as one of the nation's best high school prospects entering his junior season at Tempe Corona Del Sol in 2005, he's gone through a tumultuous couple of years, but never letting go of his dream of being a Wildcat.

Before his junior season, among the schools recruiting Salum were Miami, Notre Dame, California and Oregon, to go along with the obvious interest from the UA.

In his second game of the season, Salum had over 120 yards in the first half against Gilbert. He was given the ball on 4th and 12 on a draw play. Unfortunately, the 35 yards he gained on the play isn't what he remembers most.

"I made a couple cuts and I took off," Salum said. "A guy had an angle on me so I could keep running straight and pick up about 10 more yards or I could cut back and score a touchdown.

"I tried to cut back but he clipped me; he barely got me. I flew in the air, landed on my ankle and didn't think anything was wrong when I got up. I got taped up, went back out in the second half and the first play, I got hit and my ankle popped again."

It turned out that Salum tore a couple ligaments in his ankle, effectively ending his junior season, which is considered the most important for getting recruited.

Following Salum's junior year, his mother took a job in Ocotillo and instead of making the 25-minute drive to Corona Del Sol and back everyday, he decided to transfer to nearby state power Chandler Hamilton.

Reports out of preseason practices had Salum as one of the team's most impressive players and in the team scrimmage leading up to the opener against Red Mountain, he had 12 carries for over 80 yards.

In the first game, Salum was on the field to block pretty much every play, but despite the rest of the team's running backs not getting it done on the field, he wasn't given much of a shot.

Hamilton fullback Covaughn Deboskie had eight carries for 12 yards, while Tony Sims took nine carries for 23 yards. Salum was given two carries and rushed for seven yards in Hamilton's 21-7 win.

While Salum was getting plenty of playing time, he was used as a blocking tailback. He was told that he'd get more carries the next week, but in a blowout 49-7 win he touched the ball just one time, rushing for 13 yards.

The third game of the season was against Washington High School in the Kirk Herbstreit Classic in Massillon (Ohio). Again, Salum was told he'd get more carries and in the second quarter he finally got a handoff, which he took down the sideline for 54 yards.

"I didn't touch the ball after that," Salum said.

Hamilton ended up losing the game 35-26, in what was one of the most high profile contests that the state of Arizona has seen in several years.

At that point, it was becoming increasingly obvious to Salum and his family that Hamilton had no plans of giving him legitimate playing time that season and he started considering his options.

By Hamilton's next game, a 39-14 win over Marcos de Niza, Salum realized that it would be best to attempt to play somewhere else. Salum was given three carries in his final game at Hamilton and ran for 37 yards with a score.

Following the Marcos de Niza game, Justin and his father, Billy, moved to Arvada (Colo.) and Justin enrolled in Arvada West High School.

Looking back on everything that happened at Hamilton, Justin feels that the reason he never got a legitimate chance had nothing at all to do with his ability as a football player and that he had no choice but to go somewhere else.

"It was a hard decision but if I stayed there, I didn't want to not get an opportunity for college," he said. "I was fighting for my future and I think it was the best decision.

"I couldn't tell you why (I didn't get the ball), but probably politics. A lot of schools don't like transfers coming in and being a big part of the team right away. The parents get mad. I've heard a couple reasons but I try to not think about it or talk about it; it's in the past."

Donnie doesn't like talking about Hamilton any more than Justin does and just says that the decision to play there in the first place "was a mistake."

What wasn't a mistake was Justin's transfer to 5A Arvada West, where he was immediately a star. In four games, Salum averaged 11 yards per carry, 15 yards per catch, 38 yards per kick return and scored eight touchdowns on 37 touches – one touchdown per every 4.6 touches.

Salum put up all of those statistics despite it being his only legitimate action in two seasons of high school football.

"It was one of the best moves of my life," Justin said. "The coaches and the whole school were great to me. The first day of school I'll never forget, I had 20 players around me just asking me questions. It was so awesome.

"The season went great; we turned it around and made the playoffs. I still talk with the guys I met there. It was a great time, a great experience and one of the best moves I ever made."

It took a while for a highlight reel of Salum's season to be put together and by the time it got to most schools, their 2007 recruiting classes were almost completed. Arizona had already taken Joseph Reese and Nicolas Grigsby, so the UA didn't have room for anyone else in a class that the Wildcats didn't have many scholarships to give in the first place.

However, Air Force and Fresno State saw the video and immediately offered Salum a scholarship.

Salum eventually accepted the Air Force offer and in the fall he enrolled in the Academy's prep school. According to the prep school's website, future cadets enroll there to "academically, physically and militarily" prepare themselves for the Academy.

Those on the football team take it a step further by playing every weekend against some of the best junior college programs in the country.

During the preseason, Salum suffered a high-ankle sprain that sidelined him through the first three weeks of the season. He slowly worked his way back in and by the end of the year he had rushed the ball 60 times for 400 yards – over 6.6 YPC - and five touchdowns, to go with seven receptions for 130 yards and a TD.

While Salum got it done on the field, he struggled adapting to everything he went through off of it.

"It was very difficult," he said. "I put up with a lot of things that I didn't want to, even though that's part of the military and I understand that. I thought we were treated like we were five years old. I understood that it would be structured and tough, but I just wanted to have more freedom and live my life the way I wanted to."

While he was struggling off the field at Air Force, he kept track of what was happening at his favorite school.

"Air Force doesn't know this, but every week I'd check up on the U of A," Salum said. "I realized they need some help at running back."

Despite Justin and his family consistently being told by Air Force coaches that he was considered a cornerstone to the future of the program, Justin decided it would be best to leave at the end of the semester, head back home, train daily with Donnie and consider his future plans.

Donnie, who had a reputation for being just as intimidating off the field as he was on it in college, grew up around the Air Force and says that it's not something he would have considered trying to put himself through as a teenager.

"I wouldn't have even tried it," Donnie said.

So it was back to square one for Justin, who planned on enrolling at a local junior college and trying to figure out if he could still get a scholarship at another school.

"The plan was that I was going to go to Mesa Community College, get a couple classes out of the way and work out with Donnie," said Justin.

While at MCC, the family would send out Justin's film and once again see what schools would be interested. However, Justin and Donnie started to talk seriously about walking on to Arizona for the spring semester so he could participate in spring ball.

With not much proven depth at running back, it would be tough for Justin to find another big conference school with that kind of opportunity for playing time. On top of that, Arizona remained his dream school.

Justin wasn't sure if he'd be allowed to walk on anywhere but about a week ago, a phone call from his father helped his dream come true.

"I was driving to work out and my dad called me and we talked about why it would be best for me to just go to the U of A for the next semester," Justin said. "I don't know what he said but something just clicked and at that second I made the decision to go to Arizona this semester."

Justin got to the gym and told Donnie the news. Donnie has worked feverishly to get Justin to Arizona ever since he was a little kid and Justin says he'll never forget Donnie's reaction to the news.

"Donnie was ecstatic," Justin said. "He loves U of A football with all his heart and so do I. He just wanted what was best for me and was going to support me regardless. But once I made the decision for the U of A, it was the third happiest I've ever seen him.

"First was his kids being born, second was when he got married and third was my decision to go to the U of A."

Donnie, too, won't forget Justin making the decision to attend Arizona.

"It means a lot to me," Donnie said. "This was about him. I just want him to be happy but it means a lot to me. I told him he had to pave his way for the rest of the Salum's. I'm just really happy that he is so happy. Now he needs to go in, work harder than he's ever worked, show what he can do and prove himself."

"When he came into the weight room and told me everything his dad had said, Justin wanted to go down to the U of A right then. He didn't want to wait; he just wanted to go right then."

"It was a dream come true for both of us," Justin said.

Justin and Donnie spoke with UA assistant Tim Kish, who has known the Salum's well since he's been in Tucson, as well as head coach Mike Stoops, who made sure that everything that needed to happen happened to get Justin settled before the semester started.

Justin enters Arizona with all of his college eligibilty intact, so he'll be a true freshman with the option to redshirt in 2008.

While Justin is fulfilling his lifelong goal in attending Arizona, the UA is picking up a player that will compete for playing time at a position of need.

"He's a great athlete," Donnie said. "He's raw but has tremendous upside. Really, he just wants to be a Wildcat, he always has. I feel bad for him for everything he's gone through but it's all been worth it for him. They're getting a great kid, just a great young man and someone that really wants to be there."

For Justin, there's never been a point where he didn't believe in the future of the UA program and can't wait for his first day of school.

"I'm just so happy to be a part of it," Justin said. "It means the world to me. It's been a dream of mine my whole life and it's something I've always worked hard for.

"I want to be at the U of A when we turn it around and get to the next level. I want to be an impact player by the time we reach the top.

"All the blood, sweat and tears to get to the U of A have finally paid off. There's so much more work to do in the years to come, but I'm so happy that I'll finally play for Arizona.

"This is a dream come true."

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