MANSFIELD, Ohio — Tyrell Ajian turned 16 last week.
A belated birthday present arrived Tuesday morning when the University of Michigan offered a scholarship to Madison’s blue-chip football recruit.
“It’s all kind of unreal,” said the mild-mannered Ajian, who already had D1 offers from Miami of Ohio and the University of Toledo. “I’ve been dreaming about this my whole life.”
The 6-foot-1, 185-pound Ajian was a two-way star for the Rams last fall, but is being recruited as a defensive back. He had 60 tackles, five interceptions and two fumble recoveries for the Rams, who advanced to the Division III playoffs.
“On the phone today Michigan said, ‘We think he is the best sophomore we’ve seen,’ ” said Madison coach Jamie Masi, who took over for Sean Conway late last month. “Tyrell has taken it all in stride. He’s so grounded already. This is a kid who, as a freshman when he had an injury, was the first guy to offer to film practice and fill up water bottles.
“After he got the offer, he went back into the lunch room, got in line, got his food and didn’t say a word to anybody. When he sat down, I walked over and told the guys he was sitting with that Michigan just offered him a full ride.”
Tuesday’s offer came on the heels of a trying couple of months for Ajian, who had 24 catches for 428 yards and averaged nearly 10 yards a carry on offense last fall. He missed the second half of the basketball season after breaking his foot in a win over Mount Vernon in mid-January. The Rams were 8-3 at the time of Ajian’s injury and finished the year 12-11. Ajian was averaging a team-high 16.5 points a game.
“The injury was difficult on Tyrell,” said his mother, Nikki. “He was antsy to get back out there for his teammates. It was definitely hard on him because he wanted to be there for those seniors.”
Ajian picked up his first offer from Toledo in late December. Miami of Ohio offered three days later.
“When those guys came through from Toledo and Miami, they said, ‘We’re not going to get this guy. He’s that good,’ ” Masi said. “They offered him a full ride because they wanted to be the first to do it, but they said he was going to get plenty more.”
One program Ajian has recently heard from is Ohio State. The national-champion Buckeyes invited him down for a visit on April 7.
“I’m going to practice and sit in on the player meetings,” Ajian said. “I’m looking forward to it.”
No matter which program Ajian commits to, Masi said that school is getting a steal.
“He’s deserving. He gets all A’s and B’s in the classroom,” Masi said. “If you saw him walking down the hallway, you wouldn’t think he is the star football and basketball player because he doesn’t attract that attention to himself. He’s a very modest, humble kid.”
