Deciding to switch from basketball to football has earned Kamaal Seymour a Division I scholarship to Rutgers.
He put on the pads for the first time ever this season after an ankle injury kept him off the team the year prior. It brought out a different side of the Grand Street Campus junior. Wolves coach Bruce Eugene knew Seymour had the size — at 6-foot-6 and 267 pounds — to be a dominant football player when he recruited him in the hallways. Eugene just wasn’t sure if Seymour, who began playing basketball at Grand Street as a freshman, had the necessary toughness.
“For him, it was just seeing if he was a kid that loves contact and could be a nasty d-lineman, or was he just a 6-foot-6 softie?” Eugene said. “Once we saw the aggression, the toughness he played with, as coaches we said, ‘Wow, this kid has a chance.’ ”
Eugene said At training camp they threw double and triple teams at him to see how much he could handle. The coach said he withstood it all. The performance even surprised Seymour.
“I think it was something that was always there, but that side of me I really didn’t use,” he said. “It was always there, but I didn’t show it. I didn’t always know it was there. It really is about aggression. When I got on the football field, that side of me came out.”
His highlight film from just 10 games — along with his 91 average — attracted numerous colleges to Seymour, including Maryland, UConn, Syracuse and Rutgers.
It was Rutgers, and coach Kyle Flood, that forged the best connection with Seymour after he watched a spring practice two weeks ago. He likes the university’s closeness to home, its academics, and the attitude around the team.
“The players were excited to be at practice,” Seymour said. “It just made my very enthusiastic about it.”
Eugene describes Seymour as diamond-in-the-rough-type kid, who is only getting better. Playing basketball helped with his leg strength, but he is still learning techniques on using his hands properly and staying lower as he tries to push though the offensive line. Seymour made 44 tackles and recorded two sacks last season to help Grand Street to a 6–4 record.
“Every game he was a force because he is one of those kids when you come in you go, ‘OK, we got to block No. 44.’ ” Eugene said. “Even if he didn’t make the play, it was always allowing somebody else to make a play because everybody was worried about blocking him.”
Seymour said it all hasn’t sunk in yet. He went from football newbie to scholarship player in less than a year. Others schools will likely continue to recruit him, by Seymour said he feels comfortable with Rutgers.
“The day after coach Flood offered me the scholarship, that night I slept,” Seymour said. “I woke up and thought I was dreaming.”
