Speedway's Damola Ajani an in-state recruiting win for IU no one saw coming 3 years ago.

SPEEDWAY — Adedamola Ajani could barely speak two words of English as an incoming freshman at Speedway High School, let alone play football. In fact, he had little thought of playing the sport until coach Shane Clampitt, then the offensive coordinator, approached him with the idea.

“He came for a basketball workout,” Clampitt remembered. “I said, ‘Hey, do you play football?’ He said no and I said, ‘Well, here we do both.’”

Ajani, who he was 6-2 and 215 pounds at the time, was open to the idea — if he could convince his mother, Adeola. But even once he crossed that bridge, Ajani’s freshman football season was hardly anything to remember. Ajani had moved to Indianapolis with his mother, older sister and younger brother from Odessa, Texas, when he was in eighth grade. The family had immigrated from Nigeria to the football country of West Texas when Ajani was in seventh grade, but he had never played football until he came to Speedway.

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And playing football? There was not much playing going on his freshman year. Ajani suited up for the junior varsity team but never played. Not one snap in an actual game.

“I came to the first practice, and I was scared,” he said. “I didn’t want to practice. I was just on the sideline, looking at everybody. I was just thinking, ‘What can I do to get on the field?’ I never thought I’d even be good at all. I just wanted to play and have fun with my friends.”

That was a big part of Ajani’s reason for playing football at all: to make friends. But as freshman year turned to sophomore year and Ajani, who also played basketball and went out for track and field, became more comfortable with his surroundings and put in hours in the weight room, a different Damola Ajani started to emerge.

This version, all of 6-4 and 275 pounds with a 7-foot wingspan, signed with Indiana on Wednesday as part of new coach Curt Cignetti’s first recruiting class. But even Clampitt, who took over as head coach going into Ajani’s sophomore season at Speedway, can’t take credit for envisioning what the lineman would become.

“His sophomore year he started at right tackle on varsity,” Clampitt. “Just skipped JV and everything — right to varsity. We had a couple of coaches (Ryan Buster and Jeremy Parker) sitting there telling me, ‘Damola, he’s going to be Division I.’ I’m like, ‘No way.’ They were both like, ‘No, he’s going to be a D-1 prospect in a couple of years.’ I was still saying, ‘No way. If we get him to start every Friday night and play well, it will be a step in the right direction.’”

The more he played, the better Ajani became. He watched Hudl and picked up tips on YouTube for offensive line drills. “I would go in my backyard and work on my kick step,” he said, referring to pass blocking technique.

It was after his sophomore season, at the University of Indianapolis’ Mega Camp in June of 2022, that represented a major breakthrough for Ajani. That day did not start off great, however.

“Me and him were going out there,” Clampitt said with a laugh. “And he forgot his shoulder pads. So, we had to turn around go back and I’m yelling at him. I’m so mad. But he’s such a nice kid and his mom is the sweetest, nicest lady in the world. On the way there I’m telling him, ‘Just go and play well.’ Maybe you’ll get an offer but just keep your head down and get some work in.’”

Ajani called Clampitt later that evening and said he thought Ball State and Miami (Ohio) had offered him a scholarship. About a half hour later, Ball State assistant Kevin Lynch called Clampitt to confirm.

“Damola just his nose down and worked, to his credit,” Clampitt said. “His junior year, he got mean, too. He started putting people on their backs and getting pancakes.”

Ajani, who projects as an interior lineman in college, picked up several more offers, including several Mid-American Conference schools, Duke, Louisville, Marshall and West Virginia. He took an official visit to West Virginia in early June but committed to Indiana right after his trip. Offensive line coach Bob Bostad, who recruited Ajani while on Tom Allen’s staff, was retained by Cignetti.

After the coaching change, Ajani quickly reaffirmed his commitment.

“Obviously I had my options open,” he said. “If coach Bostad would have left, I might have thought about leaving or not. But since he stayed, I was like, ‘I’m definitely staying here.’”

Ajani’s mother, a nurse, was not all the way on board with her son playing football at first. Like many children in his native Nigeria, he grew up playing soccer and was introduced to basketball. But football was foreign to him and his mother.

“She didn’t want me to get hurt,” Ajani said. “She wanted me to play basketball. But after my recruitment started blowing up, she started liking it more. She came to my games and watched me play. She was still scared because of the physicality of it, but she likes it now.”

The journey to signing day is a bit different for Ajani, who admits he might have been swallowed up in a numbers’ game if he had come to a different school as a freshman. He was shy then, a new kid in a new school and still learning to speak English.

“I probably wouldn’t even be playing football if I didn’t come here,” Ajani said. “And I made a lot of friends.”

A win-win. And an in-state recruiting victory for Indiana that no one saw coming three years ago.

Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana football recruiting: Speedway OL Adedamola Ajani signs for IU