Da'Jon Terry set to return to Kansas with OU football, realizing he's 'come a long way'
NORMAN — Long before he became a promising football prospect, Da'Jon Terry wanted to shine in a different field.
He grew up with dreams of being a nurse, but that dream required money. Money for college. Money for exams. Money for nursing school.
Money that Terry's family simply didn't have.
"We weren't very fortunate when I was younger," Terry said on Tuesday. "My mom said if I didn't get a scholarship, I wouldn't be able to go to college."
So Terry gave football a try prior to his senior year in high school.
The 6-foot-3, 320-pound prospect had somehow never shown an interest in the sport, but it was a way for him to get out of his small hometown of Meridian, Mississippi.
More: How Ethan Downs is cutting down on 'eye crimes' for OU football and increasing production
"My coach said this is a way to get a scholarship here," Terry said. "If you're good at it, you can take it a long way."
Football has taken Terry all the way to Norman, where he's a redshirt senior defensive lineman for the Sooners.
And when OU faces Kansas on the road at 11 a.m. Saturday, it'll be a full-circle moment for Terry. He spent the first two years of his college football career with the Jayhawks, who gave him the scholarship he desired coming out of high school.
"All the memories I have of Kansas are good," Terry said. "They have a good group of people there, from the city and stuff like that."
It didn't take long for Terry to pick up the sport during his senior year in high school.
He quickly rose the ranks and became a three-star prospect. He was rated by 247Sports as the No. 47 player in the state of Mississippi.
Terry's first scholarship offer came from none other than Kansas on Dec. 14, 2018. He was at Sonic Drive-In when he got the call from the Jayhawks' head coach at the time, Les Miles.
More: Can R Mason Thomas be an X-factor for OU football on defense? 'He’s starting to feel good'
"It was actually crazy," Terry said. "I was kind of shocked when they called and they offered me. I threw my food out the window. I was shocked. It was amazing."
Surprisingly, Terry never played against OU during his two seasons at Kansas.
He played the first two games of his freshman season in 2019 before redshirting for the year, which caused him to miss the Week 6 matchup with OU.
Terry then played in all but one game as a sophomore in 2020, and that game was against the Sooners. He had to sit it out because he tested positive for COVID-19 the day before the contest.
"I watched it from my dorm," Terry said of the 2020 game against OU. "You always want to be with your team and try to help them win. It was hard to sit at home and watch."
But Terry is available for Saturday's contest.
He has appeared in all seven of OU's games so far this season. He boasts 11 tackles (2.5 for loss) and one sack.
More: Big 12 football tiers: OU at top, Oklahoma State among conference championship contenders
It's a modest stat line for Terry, who spent the past two seasons at Tennessee. But he feels he's beginning to find his rhythm.
"I'm getting comfortable with the system and things like that, so that's a plus," Terry said. "I'm just trying to do everything I can to help my team win."
Terry will look to provide some depth for OU's defensive line on Saturday.
It'll be a game with some extra meaning for Terry, who has grown as a player since he first arrived at Lawrence, Kansas, in 2019.
"It helped me grow as a player," Terry said of his time at Kansas. "I feel like I've come a long way with my fundamentals and my knowledge of the game. ... Through the years, I've learned a lot about the game of football."
OU vs. Kansas
KICKOFF: 11 a.m. Saturday at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium in Lawrence (Fox)
More: How Dillon Gabriel's family is making every OU football game 'like a Thanksgiving'
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU football DL Da'Jon Terry thankful for his time with Kansas Jayhawks
