Yondjouen finds his fit across the globe in Arizona
Belgium is not the first place that comes to mind when you think about a football recruiting hotbed. It's not, but every now and then an international player will jump on the radar of college programs throughout United States. Arizona is one of the programs that hasn't been afraid to take a chance on a prospect who still has some developing to do and is still learning the game.
Former Arizona offensive lineman Gerhard de Beer famously made the move over from South Africa where he was a track athlete, and he just signed with the Green Bay Packers this week. So as outlandish as the idea can be sometimes it does have the potential to bring results.
Kevin Sumlin's staff is hoping the potential Belgian defensive end Sylvain Yondjouen displays on film and in limited opportunities to play the game will translate when he arrives to Tucson next year.
The 6-foot-4 prospect had offers from schools such as Colorado, Virginia, UMass, Temple and Western Michigan among others. Saturday, however, he decided it was time to end the recruiting process and pick one of the schools he was able to visit this season.
The Wildcats will be his next team and he will move from Europe to Tucson, Arizona to play out his college career. Yondjouen made the long trip from Belgium during the season and after visiting Temple recently his decision became clear.
"When you are on campus, you feel like being in another world," the new Arizona commit said about his trip out to Tucson. "I wanted to feel comfortable with the football staff and players. I need to feel like a family with the people around me and that's the feeling I had with the coaches and players I met.
"And also see that the whole city is behind the Wildcats at the games, it's awesome."
Arizona is looking to continue to upgrade its size along the defensive line and Yondjouen has that covered. He will eventually need to pack on some more pounds, but his 6-foot-4 frame is certainly a good starting point for Brian Johnson and the strength and conditioning staff. UA has cleaned up with defensive lineman over the last week with junior college prospects Myles Tapusoa and Trevon Mason joining the class after Yondjouen committed Saturday.
Defensive line coach Iona Uiagalelei is starting to build some depth up front, so taking on a player like Yondjouen who will benefit from coaching in the US and may need some extra time to polish his game is perfectly fine. The potential outweighs the risk in this scenario and getting a chance to know and build a relationship with the staff has been an important part of the process.
"I met most of the coaches and the staff and I felt really appreciated," he said. "... [They were] very open and extremely enthusiastic about me and my interest in their team. It’s important for me to feel I can talk very openly with them. I’ll be very far from home and I need to feel at home with them also."
From Yondjouen's perspective there will be no plan of a learning curve. He's hopeful he will be prepared enough to contribute right away for the Wildcats. As of now he doesn't know exactly where he will be on the field when he arrives on campus, but he has put his trust in the coaches that whatever position eventually is settled on will benefit him.
"I feel very confident about the defense, but we haven’t talked too much about that yet," he said. "They have plans for me to develop my skills and abilities in the first weeks I’ll be there. Their objective is that I am ready to play in August."
Making the transition from playing football in Belgium and Europe is something Yondjouen knows will be no easy task. He is aware of the work to come, but he's happy to be taking the opportunity head on as well.
"I am really excited about Arizona because it’s a great state and it will be such a climate change for me," he said. "I love challenges. I live for challenges. Why choose the easy way?"