Football is a few months away from making Ajani Cornelius a rich man, but he's already started giving back.
In July Ajani, whose name means "he who wins the struggle" in Nigerian, returned to Wagner Park in Harlem as the featured guest and sponsor of his first annual "Back2School Jamboree." Students received bookbags, school supplies and some exciting surprises, including autographs, a clinic and a talk by the Oregon star, who has risen to become one of the premier offensive tackles in college football.
Cornelius got his start in the game playing for the Harlem Jets, a youth mentorship and sports program established by Jamel Wright in 2005. Wright grew up in the apartments across from the field where the Jets now practice. He started the program 19 years ago when his nine-year-old son wanted to play football. In the years since the Jets organization has expanded to include baseball, basketball, cheerleading and wrestling. Sports are the vehicle but growing in responsibility and creating opportunity is the purpose.
Cornelius enters his senior year as the anchor and leader on a unit that's become the leading candidate to win the Joe Moore Award, the top trophy for an offensive line starting five. Last season the Rhode Island transfer did not allow a sack in 512 pass snaps, earning a pass blocking grade of 85.3 from Pro Football Focus.
He's powerful, mobile and 6-5, 315 pounds, a devastating blocker with maturity and the social conscience to remember where he came from.
As he begins his second season with the Ducks his transformation to a leaner, stronger build has made him a coveted pro prospect and All-America candidate. Last season the NFL took 8 offensive tackles in the first round. For example, Taliese Fuaga went 14th to the New Orleans Saints. He signed a contract worth $17.3 million, with a signing bonus of $9.4 million.
Ajani's football journey took him from the Jets to Archbishop Stepinac High School in White Plains, New York. Although he was a starter on two state champion teams at Stepinac, he was a zero-star recruit with limited offers. Though he was big, he hadn't yet developed his body.
At that point he was about as far from football stardom as a 6-5, 325-pound prospective athlete can be.
In football they say you can't coach size. Big and a little blubbery, it was raw size that got young Cornelius out of Harlem.
Despite being at starter on two 3A Championship teams at Stepinac he wasn't highly recruited, a 0-star prospect with a limited offer list. Lumbering and a bit high in his stance, off-the-radar, he didn't attract much attention coming out of high school. He told Chris Hummer of 247Sports, “It’s how the [weight] was distributed and the makeup of my body.”
Originally he committed to Howard University, but Howard went through a coaching change. That brought Cornelius to the Rhode Island Rams.
He said to Hummer, “It made me work harder not being as recruited as heavily. And I put in the work to change my body and to be in the best shape I could possibly be to play the best football I can play.”
He's now 315 pounds, built differently, able to fire out of his stance and deliver a blow to an opponent.
After three years at RIU, Ajani entered the transfer portal. Within one day he had 17 offers, including the Oregon Ducks. That quickly grew to 24, making him one of the most sought-after prospects in college football among transfers.
After all the work in the gym and on his technique, Cornelius had made himself into a coveted commodity. He'd become explosive, leaner and stronger, starting 22 straight games for the Rams while attaining a PFF grade of 89.5.
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