Canadian receiver Ajou Ajou has transferred from Clemson Tigers to the University of South Florida Bulls, announcing the move on Twitter.
You can't stop a beast who's starving for a better life. My mother worked to hard for me not to be great.???????? #itsoverwit #dontplaywitmybread pic.twitter.com/AO3JYHZBns
— A2 (@AjouAjou17) December 15, 2021
The 19-year-old appeared in four games with the Tigers in 2021, recording six receptions for 73 yards. The numbers were slightly better than his freshman year in 2020 during which he made two catches for 41 yards and one touchdown.
Ajou starred on the football field, basketball court and in track and field for Harry Ainlay Composite High School in Edmonton until he decided to relocate for his senior season at Clearwater Academy International. He finished the 2019 Florida high school season with 39 receptions for 686 yards and seven touchdowns, averaging 17.6 yards per reception.
Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney has developed a number of first-round NFL draft picks arriving at Clemson in 2009, including DeAndre Hopkins, Sammy Watkins and Mike Williams. He had extremely high hopes for Ajou, though the Canadian receiver will now look to achieve success with the Bulls.
“O Canada. We have gone international. Ajou Ajou, man I was so happy for him. That was pretty cool to see him take a screen and go 30-something yards just knees and elbows flying all over the field. He was just so relentless to get to the end zone,” Swinney said in October 2020 following Ajou’s first career touchdown.
“He’s going to be an unbelievable player. He’s this uber talented guy, but he knows that he has so much to learn, and he’s not afraid of that. He’s not embarrassed by that, he’s not too cool for school. He is a very unique guy, really not have had a guy like him. I’ve never really had a guy like Ajou.”
USF competes in the American Athletic Conference (AAC), which is also home to Memphis, Tulsa, Temple, SMU, Central Florida, and Cincinnati among others. The school’s alumni includes three-time Pro Bowl defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul, future Canadian Football Hall of Fame slotback S.J. Green, and current CFL all-star Deatrick Nichols.
