No-star recruit. Zero FBS offers. And now three years later, perhaps the most coveted prospect in the NCAA transfer portal. Let BruceFeldmanCFB introduce you to Ajani Cornelius.
standout offensive lineman who made the Spartans’ 2000s all-decade team and is the O-line coach at Rhode Island, though, saw a gem. Wheeler had identified Cornelius when he was an assistant coach at Wagner early in the lineman’s career while recruiting other players from Stepinac, noting a big prospect who needed to change his body but could bend and thinking, “He might be a guy. There’s something there.
Cornelius signed with URI, and over the past three years, worked diligently to remake his body and refine his technique with Wheeler. In 2021, when the Rams faced Albany with gifted edge rusher Jared Verse , Cornelius, as a freshman, more than held his own. Verse matched up against both URI offensive tackles and was kept sack-less but did record three pressures. He had four TFLs and two sacks in his prior game against the Rams before Cornelius was in the lineup.
This fall, Cornelius shined again against big-time talent when URI played Pitt, which has one of the best D-lines in college football. Cornelius got to match up against the Panthers’ star defensive tackle on some run blocks and pass stunts, as well as against a group that leads the nation in sacks with 45.From that game, Wheeler flashed on the radar of many FBS programs looking for O-line help. Better still, Cornelius has three years of eligibility left to play two seasons. Cornelius didn’t realize his stock was rocketing up until his mom back home had called him.
“My mom was back at Stepinac and saw some of my former teammates and they were congratulating her. She didn’t know why,” Cornelius said. The players explained to his mom that Ajani — or A.J., as many of his friends call him — had received one of the highest O-line grades by PFF. “They sent her the link and then she sent it to me.”
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