Cornerback Gaines hitting reset button at AWC

Redshirt sophomore left Michigan State disappointed in playing time, role with team

The roster construction for a junior-college football team rarely falls in line with a standard operating procedure.

The freshmen who join a JuCo football program straight from high school are most likely to be players who were overlooked by Division I coaches or did not have the grades to meet NCAA require- ments. The transfers from D-I football often were dismissed from their teams.

Hence the title of Netflix’s original documentary series about JuCo football: “Last Chance U.”

Kaleel Gaines does not fall under these categories. Arizona West- ern’s sophomore cornerback left Michigan State on his own accord in June.

“I feel like it was (a decision) I had to make,” Gaines said. “I was going into my third year, and I felt

like I wouldn’t get the playing time I wanted. In the spring, they had me rotating at receiver and (defensive back), and I (didn’t) want to play receiver. I felt like they were going to try to end up putting me (at receiver) towards the regular season, so I just made the best move for me, and that was coming to a JuCo and trying to start over.”

Gaines made the decision to bet on himself. With two games left in the regular season for the No. 2 Matadors, who are poised to return to the NJCAA National Championship for the second straight season, it is still unclear whether hitting the reset button on his college football career will pay off for Gaines.

He has yet to receive an official offer from a Division I football program, but has had communication with Florida Atlantic, Hawaii, Kentucky, Middle Tennessee and BethuneCookman. And though time may appear to be waning for Gaines, it is common for a sophomore transfer, known as “bounce-backs,” to get D-I offers late in the season.

However it shakes out, Gaines remains at peace with his decision to walk away from the Spartans.

“It was depressing leaving,” Gaines said. “I wouldn’t say that being at Michigan State was bad all the time. I had some good times there, and I met some good people that I’m still friends with. The coaches weren’t bad people. … I just didn’t like the situation I was in.”

The pieces for Gaines’ eventual arrival in Yuma began to be placed during his recruitment out of high school in Frostproof, Fla., where he was an all-state second-team defensive back and a three-star recruit.

“They were telling me when I was coming out of high school that, as a true freshman, I could play right away,” Gaines said. “When I got there, that obviously didn’t happen. I tried to stick through the first two years.”

He was redshirted as a freshman in 2015 and barely saw the field last fall, despite his place as a second-team cornerback on the depth chart during fall camp.

During spring ball earlier this year, Michigan State began experimenting with Gaines as a wide receiver, a position he had not played since high school three years prior.

“It was confusing,” Gaines said. “The offensive playbook is kind of hard there, complex. Offense is pretty easy in high school. In college, it got more complex. I was trying to remember all the defensive stuff while learning the offense. I didn’t like the offense at all there.”

And that was the breaking point for him. A couple months later, he was headed for AWC, a move that was aided by Oregon State defensive tackle Craig Evans, who transferred from Michigan State to AWC in 2016.

Gaines began fall camp with the Matadors as a backup but worked his way to starter by the time the regular season began. In seven games, he is third on the team in tackles with 40, has two interceptions, a blocked kick and a teambest five pass breakups.

It’s likely some offers will come for Gaines within the next month, but it’s no certainty, and Gaines is eager to get back to D-I football.

“I really want to go closer to home, but I’ll just take any school that offers,” he said. “I’d probably commit on the spot.”