He paints, plays guitar — and sacks quarterbacks: Meet Illinois defensive end Oluwole Betiku Jr.
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Oluwole Betiku Jr. took a bumpy 16-hour bus ride from his home in Lagos, Nigeria, through roadblocks and down rutted streets, to a sports camp he had heard about in passing.
Hundreds of boys from every corner of the country had made their way to the town of Uyo, hoping to impress scouts enough to earn a ticket to play sports at an American high school.
Coaches initially instructed the boys to divide themselves into two groups: football or basketball. After a weeklong camp of intense workouts and drills, scouts would identify the young men with the most potential.
Betiku, who enjoyed playing pickup basketball, thought hoops was his route. Then he watched the majority of boys - seemingly hundreds measuring at least 6-foot-7 - stride over to the basketball group. Only 50 basketball players would be taken. Far fewer boys lined up for football.
Betiku conducted a quick risk-reward calculation.
"I'm like, 'They're definitely taking 48 tall guys,' " Betiku told the Tribune. "They weren't interested in 6-3 basketball players. They were looking for Dikembe
