CHAMPAIGN, Ill. _ Oluwole Betiku Jr. took a bumpy 16-hour bus ride from his home in Lagos, Nigeria, through roadblocks and down rutted streets, to a sports camp he had heard about in passing.
Hundreds of boys from every corner of the country had made their way to the town of Uyo, hoping to impress scouts enough to earn a ticket to play sports at an American high school.
Coaches initially instructed the boys to divide themselves into two groups: football or basketball. After a weeklong camp of intense workouts and drills, scouts would identify the young men with the most potential.
Betiku, who enjoyed playing pickup basketball, thought hoops was his route. Then he watched the majority of boys _ seemingly hundreds measuring at least 6-foot-7 _ stride over to the basketball group. Only 50 basketball players would be taken. Far fewer boys lined up for football.
Betiku conducted a quick risk-reward calculation.
"I'm like, 'They're definitely taking 48 tall guys,' " Betiku told the Tribune. "They weren't interested in 6-3 basketball players. They were looking for Dikembe Mutombo types. I thought about my chances and said: 'You know what? I'll just pick football.'"
Never mind that he had never put on a helmet and knew virtually nothing about the rules.
But this is Betiku: He ponders. He considers the long haul. He invests in himself.
His deliberate introspection and patience led "Wole" from the bustling Nigerian capital of 20 million people to become a five-star high school recruit in California, then a seldom-used outside linebacker at USC and now the nation's co-leader in sacks as an Illinois defensive end.
Heading into Saturday night's home game against Nebraska, Betiku has six sacks in three games and also leads the nation with 7{ tackles for a loss for the Illini (2-1).
"Wole has been outstanding with his play," Illinois coach Lovie Smith said. "He's a physical guy. I'm anxious to see him take another step. The sky's the limit for him."
As a boy, Betiku believed it was too. But how would he leave Nigeria? How would he make it? What does making it even look like?
His father, a former amateur boxer and soccer player, is a mechanic who built Betiku's first weight set out of car flywheels and gear parts. He encouraged Wole _ against his cautious mother's wishes _ to play street soccer with other kids to refine his athleticism.
While he didn't play organized sports, competing and working out became important outlets.
"I don't think there's anyone who's gotten more eviction letters than my family," Betiku said. "We had to move to really remote areas in Lagos where the roads are so bad and are flooded. It was really sad. Training and lifting weights was my way to not think about that a lot. I started playing basketball and thinking about a chance to come to the U.S. in any way I can."
At 16, before obtaining a visa and immigrating, he created a highlight video of himself in Lagos to showcase his abilities. The video shows him, already brawny, sprinting and working on footwork on a dirt field as scrawny kids watch. He repeatedly jumps onto a waist-high concrete wall and does squats and bench presses with his homemade weights.
He didn't know much about football or America _ but he knew it could lead to a new path.
