the time he was little, but he was
truthfully just an average player when
he started school ball,” explained his
mom Telisha Feamster. “It was the
summer between his 10th and 11th
grade that a light came on. He started
working really hard and got better.”
your
sport
The hard work certainly paid off as
Feamster ended his high school career
ranked as the 90th best safety in the
country. A senior season that saw
him accumulate 31 tackles and three
interceptions, two of which he returned
for touchdowns, raised his profile
enough to gain offers from both UMass
and Temple, but that was it. No other
major Division I programs made an
offered him, including Duke.
“Brandon was always a smart kid, but
we knew he wasn’t a Duke kid then,”
explained his father Malik. “He is a
Duke student now, but he wasn’t in
high school.”
So what changed? His stats were always
there; the talent was in his blood. Yet
only Temple and UMass came calling
on signing day. Maybe it was because of
where he grew up, or that he was a late
bloomer – but replace both of those,
and the fact remains, Duke still never
would have called.
What changed was instead of taking
the predicted route of going to Temple
where both his father and uncle
played, the Feamsters knew what was
truly best for their son and pushed
him elsewhere. He would not attend
Temple or UMass, instead he headed
to Cheshire Academy, a preparatory
school in Connecticut.
“It wasn’t about what offers he received
or didn’t receive for football,” Malik
He would not attend
Temple or UMass. Instead,
he headed to Cheshire
Academy, a preparatory
school in Connecticut.
explained. “He was always a year
younger than those in his high school
class, the decision to send him to
Cheshire was about age, maturity and
academics.”
For those reading who are familiar
with athletes attending post-high
school preparatory schools, it is
likely an image marred by the idea
that people who take this route do
it solely with athletics in mind. And
while this stigma is founded on
some truth, Cheshire is not one of
those places.
“When we were looking at prep schools
we knew there were two kinds,” Malik
went on to say. “The kind we ended up
sending Brandon to where you actually
go to class and really truly prepare to
be a college student. And the ones we
call ‘factories’ where you go to play
without much emphasis on maturity
or academics.”
Impressed yet? In a world that seems
so completely focused on athletic
accomplishments alone – the Feamsters
saw the bigger picture for their son. A
picture Brandon himself was not yet
capable of grasping himself.
“He kicked and screamed the whole
way through, but what kid doesn’t,”
admitted Felisha.
Who could blame him really? While his
high school friends went off to college,
some even to play football, he was headed
to a school away from all of them to what
in his eyes would only delay the start of
his college football career.
“He struggled with it at times,” Malik
explained. “He understands now that it
Coach & Player Magazine • Spring 2017
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