ASU football transfer Xavier Guillory carries on with thoughts of his father
It isn't unusual for football coaches to call on professors for help when it comes to landing high school prospects. Current Arizona State offensive coordinator Beau Baldwin often did that in his days at Eastern Washington.
One he often called upon was psychology professor Raphael Guillory, who also participated in the occasional pickup basketball games with members of the coaching staff.
Football, and life, has a way of coming full circle and that certainly appears to be the case. Now Baldwin is looking to work his offensive magic for the Sun Devils in Tempe and one of the players on whom he will be relying is Guillory's son Xavier, a red-shirt junior who transferred to ASU from Idaho State.
It is indeed a small world.
Raphael Guillory passed away due to colon cancer in November of 2020. He was just 49. Xavier's middle name is Raphael, after his father, to whom he gives credit for his work ethic.
"He was a football fan and he went above and beyond, out of his way to help us in recruiting so he would meet with recruits within the academic side of things, helped there as well," said Baldwin, who worked at Eastern Washington in various capacities from 2003 to 2006, then again from 2008 to 2016. "He was an amazing man."
There were a lot of suitors for Xavier's services when he hit the transfer portal in late November. He put himself on the radar of Power 5 schools last season with 52 catches for 785 yards, which helped earn him second-team All-Big Sky Conference honors. Among the suitors were perennial Pac-12 title contender USC.
But ASU loomed as a frontrunner for a lot of reasons, not just because of Baldwin. Two members of new head coach Kenny Dillingham's staff came from Idaho State, special teams coordinator Charlie Ragle and defensive line coach Vince Amey, who were among Dillingham's first appointments.
Ragle had a common bond with his player that goes beyond the football field. He too had lost his father to cancer.
"It was a similar scenario to what he went through and it is ultimately why I did get into football," Ragle said. "It’s a cliché but it's about the camaraderie and the bond and lifetime experiences and memories. I hate to get all spiritual but I was put in that place at that time for him and I do feel like I was put there for a reason. We had absolutely heartfelt conversations about where he was at and what I thought he could do as well and built a bond from that. If there is anything I pride myself on it's building a relationship with players and I think they appreciate that."
Baldwin lobbied for his new head coach to go after Guillory, not just because of his past association with his father but because he had seen his potential firsthand. Last season Baldwin was the head coach at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo which lost to Idaho State 40-31. In that game, Guillory had five receptions for 120 yards, highlighted by a touchdown play that went for 71 yards.
"I was part of the recruiting process," Baldwin said. "We had just played against them, too, the year before so I had seen him on the field in person in games, both him and (Cameron) Skattebo (then at Sacramento State) for me were no brainers."
Xavier, who hails from Spokane, Washington, emerged as one of the team's top performers during spring drills. He adds to what was already a stellar receiving core which features red-shirt junior Elijhah Badger and fifth-year senior Giovanni Sanders, both of whom had breakout seasons in 2022. Junior tight end Jalin Conyers looms instrumental in the receiving game as well.
In addition to Guillory, ASU also landed another transfer in the position group who will contribute in Melquan Stovall from Colorado State.
Guillory, a 6-foot-2, 208-pounder, acknowledged that his past relationships with those coaches factored into his decision.
"That was a big part of the transition process because I knew coming in that they would know who I am as a person and as a player so it made the process way easier," he said. "The coaches here kind of knew what to expect from me and I knew what to expect from them. It made it easier just seeing them every day, kind of cool."
Guillory says his father will always be his biggest inspiration, along with his mother Gloria who will be a regular at ASU games in the coming season.
"Every day I think of him, especially on games days. If I get tired really, I remember he called me one day, not the best news about chemo," Xavier recalled. "He told me, `Every time you run around, every time you catch a ball I want you to do it for me." I said, `Ok.' So every time I get tired running, I think of that call. Every time I run or catch a ball I try and do it for him."
Naturally, Guillory would love to build on what he did last year for the Tigers but he stops short of targeting a certain of catches or receiving yards. His focus is on helping the program bounce back from its abysmal 3-9 showing last season.
He says if he focuses on the team, the numbers will be there in the end.
"Of course you want to do well, but I never set statistical goals because all that just comes with doing the right thing so if you focus on numbers and exterior factors it never seems to pan out but if you focus on the intrinsic stuff, showing up every day, working hard, the weight room, the film room, sleeping, all the extra work, that stuff will come. If you’re just chasing something you probably won’t achieve it. It will all come, the numbers the catches, really the best teams I’ve been part of no one cared about their stats."
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: ASU WR Xavier Guillory carries on with thoughts of his father
