#MIZCAMP17 Day 9 - Agbasimere Finds a Home on #DLineZOU

Agbasimere Finds a Home on #DLineZOU

From a young boy in Lagos, Nigeria with basketball dreams, to moving across the world and discovering the love for football during his senior year at Monteverde Academy in Florida, Franklin Agbasimere is no stranger to change. So when head coach Barry Odom asked the redshirt sophomore if he wanted to make the shift from linebacker to defensive end, Agbasimere jumped all over the opportunity, just as he's done his entire life.

Agbasimere grew up playing basketball and soccer in Nigeria. He wasn't even introduced to football until he had the chance to travel to America through the Ejike Ugboaja Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides scholarships to 300-350 Nigerian athletes every year. Agbasimere said the competition for the scholarships was intense, so he really focused on working hard in the classroom and exceeding his coaches expectations on the court in order to secure his future.

Once settled into his new home at Montverde Academy, Agbasimere continued pursuing basketball while also finding success in track and field where he competed in long jump, triple jump and sprints. His life and athletic career again took an unexpected turn when the head football coach at Montverde approached Agbasimere and asked if he'd like to join the team. One practice was all it took for his new coaches to see that Agbasimere had the raw potential to be a very special player on the defensive side of the ball. After only one full day in pads, Agbasimere earned the nickname that has stuck through the years. The young defensive end is known by his Mizzou coaches and teammates as Smash.

"It was the first day we had pads on in high school, we went out there and did a couple of running back and linebacker drills," Agbasimere said. "I hit the running back so hard that the ball flew out and our defensive end came up with the name. He said 'you smashed the heck out of him', and it just stuck."

Smash redshirted his freshman year at Mizzou and was able to find success last season and contribute on special teams. Now fully healthy and adjusted to the pace of SEC play, he is ready to get after opposing quarterbacks this fall at a new position.

"I go with the coaches flow. I trust the coaches. They know better because I'm still learning," Agbasimere said. "When they see something in me that I don't see in myself, they say 'we think you'll really be good at this, go give it a try', and I just give it 100 percent."

Since coming to Columbia a few years ago having only one year of football under his belt and weighing about 215 pounds, Agbasimere has put on more than 30 pounds of muscle and feels he has managed to get even faster off the edge since he started working with defensive line coach Brick Haley and learning the Tiger defense from an entirely new position.

"I'm feeling more comfortable by the day in my new position," Agbasimere said. "I'm learning the plays and I know what I'm doing. I'm not thinking too much and I'm playing to the whistle."

Utilizing his unique combination of strength and speed, Agbasimere hopes to carry on the tradition of highly skilled Mizzou defensive ends and contribute to a talented returning pass rush lineup in 2017.

Tiger fans can get their first look at Agbasimere as he joins a talented #DLineZOU unit at 11 a.m. on September 2^nd as Mizzou opens their regular season against Missouri State at Faurot Field.

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