From wrestling to engineering to walk-on fullback, Adam Prentice’s journey to USC
A college wrestler, a Division III linebacker and an engineer walk into a football meeting room — they’re all Adam Prentice.
Or rather, they’re all paths Prentice, now a fullback with South Carolina football, could have taken as a senior at Clovis High School in California in 2015. In an age of specialization, the burly three-sport athlete did just about everything well, from playing both linebacker and running back for the Cougars, to putting up a 4.0 GPA in the classroom, to his volunteer work outside of it.
But all of that didn’t add up to much in the way of big-time college football offers. Division III Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, in New York, was interested in him, both for his defensive play and his academic profile as a engineering student. More locally, Cal Poly had offered him a scholarship in wrestling. And after that, most schools either weren’t interested or were just impatient, his high school coach Rich Hammond said.
“’Hey, other schools, this is where I’m at with wrestling right now — I got a chance to win the state and that’s going to come first,’” Hammond said of Prentice’s message to schools during his senior year. “’When I finish that, I’ll come out and tour your school and look,’ and some people weren’t willing to wait.”
One school that was willing was Colorado State, with new head coach Mike Bobo in search of a fullback. A mutual coaching friend suggested to Hammond that Prentice would be well-suited to play that role, despite never taking it on in high school.
Prentice liked the idea. At 6-foot, 236 pounds, he was stuck a little bit in “nowhere land,” as Hammond put it — not quite fast enough to play running back, not quite big enough to play linebacker at a Division I program. The way he saw it, fullback was the best of both worlds.
“At that point I was excited,” Prentice said. “I mean, that was my first Division I attention, and to me, the fullback is the equivalent of playing linebacker on the offensive side of the ball — it’s a physical position and, you know, a chance to still get the ball and make some plays and so I was really excited.”
Bobo waited until Prentice was done wrestling — he finished second in the state — and then it became official: He would walk on at Colorado State.
“He didn’t let anybody ever influence him in terms of you need to do one or do this or do another,” Hammond said. “He did things to be well-rounded. He was a young person of conviction, believed in himself and believed in the things that have been instilled in him by his parents and wasn’t going to be swayed by his peers or even his coaches saying you should this or you should do that.”
At CSU, Prentice quickly thrived, earning a scholarship by his second year on campus, twice being named a captain and rooming with a quarterback named Collin Hill. The two held each other accountable and worked together, even as they both suffered knee injuries, and Prentice earned a degree in civil engineering. Hammond, himself an engineering major, still likes to talking thermodynamics and other specialized topics with his former player, even if Prentice can’t quite explain the concepts to the average sports reporter.
“I say one thing, and it’s like I got to explain the 50 steps before that just to explain the one thing,” Prentice laughed.
And when Bobo was fired and landed across the country as South Carolina’s new offensive coordinator this past offseason, Prentice decided to follow him — and go even further down the engineering path with master’s degree in structural engineering. Hill came along as well and quickly earned headlines as he took over the Gamecocks’ starting QB job, while Prentice, befitting his throwback role at a rarely seen position, was quieter.
That is, until this past week, when Prentice took home South Carolina’s offensive player of the week honors for his performance in a 30-22 upset over No. 15 Auburn. Fullbacks so rarely play any role whatsoever in modern offenses that one might be forgiven for thinking Prentice would take some time to bask in the accomplishment.
As it turned out, he didn’t tell Hammond or his own mother at first, Hammond said.
“I thought (Shi Smith) and a lot of other guys had a really good game,” Prentice said, acknowledging he was a little surprised when coach Will Muschamp told him. “But I mean, I welcome that honor.”
In addition to completing his blocks and opening up lanes, Prentice also picked up his first reception of the year against Auburn, a 10-yard gain that made an outsized impression on his teammates.
“He caught the ball out of the backfield and all I hear is ‘Boom!’ I was like, ‘Bro, jeez, Adam just ran through that man.’ That was it right there for me,” redshirt sophomore running back Deshaun Fenwick said.
“There was a huge, big ole clap, like with the pads,” Hill said. “... You hear the boom, but then the crowd kind of got into it too, so it’s pretty cool.”
That kind of contact is nothing new for a squarely built, fearless guy like Prentice.
“He does not back down from anybody. He is not intimidated by anybody,” Hammond said.
This story was originally published October 22, 2020 at 11:55 AM with the headline "From wrestling to engineering to walk-on fullback, Adam Prentice’s journey to USC."
