Claude Mpouma played in his fifth football game.
Not his fifth football game of the season — the fifth football game of his life.
The 6-7, 300-pound junior helped anchor Phillips’ offensive line at left tackle and added a sack on defense in the Wildcats’ 35-6 victory Saturday over Bulls Prep at Rockne Stadium.
Eastern Illinois commit Davian Humphrey caught two touchdown passes and had a pick-six for Phillips (2-3, 2-1 Public League Red). But the center of attention for the Wildcats has been Mpouma, who has gone from never playing a snap before last month to having many of college football’s blue bloods courting him.
Alabama hoped to have him on campus for a game-day visit Saturday against Georgia, but Mpouma’s loyalty was to his new teammates.
He had offers from Kent State, Miami (Ohio) and Marshall before he played a down thanks to strong showings at summer camps. Now his offers include Illinois, Miami, Florida State, Michigan State and Minnesota, with more likely on the way.
Heady stuff for a kid who estimates he’d only seen three football games before he played in one? Not really. His backstory, like his recruiting journey, is unusual.
Mpouma grew up in Cameroon and moved to the United States before his freshman year, enrolling at Culver Academies in Indiana.
“I went there for basketball, didn’t really like it,” he said.
His guardian knew Paris Martin, who was then Phillips’ basketball coach. That led to Mpouma moving to Chicago last school year, when he started for the Wildcats’ Class 2A state champs.
Meanwhile, Ivan Simmons had moved over from Crane to take over the Phillips football program. He saw Mpouma on the basketball court and talked him into trying football.
It wasn’t always smooth sailing, even for a smart kid like Mpouma who speaks five languages.
“I didn’t know how to put my pads on the first day,” he said. “I put my jersey on first, then I put the shoulder pads on top of my jersey.”
He had doubts if football was right for him.
“It was really frustrating,” Mpouma said, “especially when we had the first game [a 50-0 defeat against Brother Rice]. After our first loss, I was like, ‘Am I really good at this? Do I really want to come back?’ And then I thought about it. I talked to my coaches, and they told me I was gonna be good. So I decided to come back for the second day.”
Simmons has been putting more on Mpouma’s plate each week as he ramps up his technique to match his physical gifts.
“We took baby steps with him,” Simmons said. “Just bit by bit each week to perfect some stuff and get better.”
Coach Tom Mannix of Bulls Prep (3-2, 1-2) saw Mpouma’s improvement while scouting the Wildcats.
“He’s somebody that stands out on film,” Mannix said. “A lot of the time, the biggest thing for guys who’ve never played before is they don’t understand the physicality of the game. But even on film, you see he’s got that ‘nasty’ in him you can’t necessarily teach.”