(Photo: Marina Williams/WCSN)
The first padded practice of any college football spring program is the first test to determine who is physically and mentally tough enough to play one of the world’s most violent sports. The practice is meant to — as the saying goes — “separate the men from the boys”. Technically, when Arizona State held its first padded practice Saturday morning, every player participating was already a legal adult aged 18 years or older.
All except one.
Tony-Louis Nkuba was an early spring enrollee for the Sun Devils joining them for spring camp. While padded practices are supposed to divide the older and stronger from the younger, the 17-year-old freshman defensive back was never fazed.
“I just never really let age be a factor,” Nkuba said. “I feel like everybody’s a player. At the end of the day, we all bleed the same.”
Despite beginning college sooner than most freshmen, football is still a new sport to Nkuba, who was born in Texas but early in his life moved to the Democratic Republic of Congo where football wasn’t his first sport until moving back to America in elementary school.
“I started playing football when I got to America,” Nkuba said. “When I was in [Democratic Republic of Congo] I was playing soccer. I came back over to Texas in fourth grade. I just played at recess and had friends that played football and got [familiarized] with it. I wasn’t very good but it was very fun.”
Adjusting to a new country and culture is hard enough. Adding on attempting to learn and excel in a completely new sport in the most competitive state for youth in the country is an even greater challenge. Nkuba found a way, the only way he knew how. Outwork everyone else.
“I felt like I was behind all my peers,” Nkuba said. “I always had to work to get to my spot. It was always a grind for me. I never got anything handed to me.”
Grind he did. By the end of his high school career, The former 247Sports three-star defensive back was ranked the No. 42 corner in the country in the 2023 composite rankings. He had a standout senior season in Lewisville recording 30 total tackles, seven pass breakups, and two interceptions, before joining ASU in the spring. While excelling at the high school level, Division I football allows far less margin of error.
“I can make mistakes in high school but still be more athletic than somebody else,” Nkuba said. “But over here, everybody is good so you got to be perfect.”
Nkuba’s natural gifts jump off the page and are easy to recognize. He still has ways to go to match the college level but he possesses a high athletic floor that his coaches notice while even showing early signs of leadership despite being the youngest player on the team.
“[Nkuba] is a young guy, he’s still learning,” ASU defensive coordinator Brian Ward said. “He’s been blessed with great length and size. He’s still a young guy so he’s going to continue to mature and develop. He’s a great communicator, he’s really smart, he’s really intelligent, (and) has a high football IQ. All these things we’re seeing”
Older teammates have noticed that Nkuba already possesses the necessary disposition to be a quality player at the college level. Experience will now be his greatest teacher.
“[Nkuba] is going to be good,” redshirt sophomore defensive back Javan Robinson said. “He’s attentive to the details. He’s asked a lot of questions and he’s just eager to get better. He’s still young so he hasn’t seen a lot. Just as far as when to do this or when not to do that. Just simple minor things that he’ll learn as time goes on.”
The attention to detail will be Nkuba’s main emphasis as he continues to compete on an advanced timetable and well above his age in Tempe.
“I feel like I’ve just got to be way more focused,” Nkuba said. “In high school, you can [mess around] a little bit but over here you have to be focused every play. It’s about being focused while you’re on the field.”
For Nkuba the obstacles always stacked up. Starting the sport late and having to catch up. Now he’s ahead of the game practicing at a Division 1 university before he can legally vote. Many may struggle under that kind of pressure, but for the former resident of the Democratic Republic of Congo, his work has earned him his spot in Tempe.
“I feel like I’m where I deserve to be,” Nkuba said. “You wouldn’t be here if you didn’t deserve it. I feel like I put the work in in high school to get where I’m at right now and I just want to elevate from here.”
He was asked about the proverbial “welcome to football moment” that many players inevitably have when they realize that they’ve gone up a significant level in competition from what they’re used to, forcing many to feel like they have to catch up to a higher level.
But Nkubu is still awaiting that moment.
“Welcome to College Moment?” Nkubu said with a smile beaming in confidence. “I ain’t got that yet.”
