Franklin High scholar tried football in 2024. Now, the Optimist All-Star is headed to Yale
Unless you’re looking down, glued to a cell phone, it’s unlikely that one can miss Aderian Adelabu.
In class and in the quad at Franklin High School in Elk Grove, Adelabu stands as the big man on campus, a towering figure at 6-foot-5 and a door frame-filling 310 pounds. He greets people with an assuring smile and a firm handshake, and he is an even larger presence as a scholar and campus leader.
Adelabu is also a sparkling example that it is never too late to try something new and that late bloomers do continue to bloom. He put a football helmet on his head and pulled on shoulder pads for the first time last summer, the dawn of his senior season, as he tackled a sport of which he watched but never participated.
Then everything clicked.
A Sacramento Bee All-Metro selection, Adelabu in July is headed to Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, where he wants to study medicine and where he will continue to navigate his way in the trenches. Adelabu never saw this coming, nor could he imagine getting an invitation to play in the 65th Optimist All-Star Football Classic, a charity contest to help fund Camp Ross Relles for children with physical disabilities and those who are socially or economically deprived.
Adelabu and his South All-Stars play the North All-Stars, 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Granite Bay High School. Adelabu will wear his Franklin helmet one final time, grateful for his teammates and coaches who helped show him the way.
“I’m still shocked by all of this,” Adelabu said. “When Yale called, it was such an amazing thing. I am just still so blown away. I wasn’t sure how I’d do in football. I remember trying to figure out all my equipment, and a coach said I looked like a little boy trying to figure out how to put on pants for the first time — lost.”
Adelabu figured things out. If he can master biology, calculus and chemistry, he could certainly figure out where pads go. But could he get his feet and hands and hips to all work in sync as a blocker on offense and a defensive stopper geared to get to the ball carrier?
It didn’t take long. Sometimes talent rises to the top in quick order. Coaches say he is just scratching the surface of how good he can become.
“Once I started to figure it out,” Adelabu said, “I started to dominate. I loved that. I’ve always been a big kid, and coaches and friends always wanted me to play football. I never had that urge, and then I got it. God moved me toward football. I had this sudden hunger, and as a natural competitor, I’m glad I did football. I used to play basketball but I was too physical and was in foul trouble. Football fits.”
He added, “It’s a one-on-one sport in the trenches. I love that. It’s such a competitive place. You have to have that special kind of love and physicality to be in the trenches, and that feeling of getting a pancake block is hard to describe.”
His strength, athleticism, work ethic and 4.4 grade point average with a boatload of Advanced Placement courses in subjects such as chemistry, calculus and biology caught the attention of the Ivy League, home of the ultimate scholar-athlete.
Adelabu was a power source stalwart for a resurgent Wildcats team, pushing opponents around on the offensive side and recording a team-high 8.5 sacks on defense. Franklin went 6-4 in 2024 under coach Joseph McCray, bettering the win total of the previous three years combined.
Adelabu’s reputation on his campus is sparkling, teachers, coaches and students say.
“I’ve had the pleasure of having several honors and AP classes with AD,” said Tyler Cody, a fellow senior who plays football and baseball and sports top grades. “I played two years of basketball with him, and most recently we both played our first year of football together. AD is a competitor who tried to win every rep in practice, made those around him better, and was an excellent leader throughout the season, despite it being his first year.”
Cody added: “There were some games this season that AD was so dominant, I thought his stats were a typo, but then once film got posted every other play seemed to be a pancake or sack for AD. At school, he’s friends with everyone, and if he’s not, he goes out of his way to get to know you. AD is one of the most positive people I know, and I’m certain that he’ll have a significant impact on and off the field at the collegiate level.”
Adelabu also has the attention of rival coaches.
“Oh, he looks the part,” said South assistant coach Josh Crabtree, who, as coach at Pleasant Grove, played Franklin football. “He once told me that he wanted to be a basketball player. Told the kid that at his size and ability, he’s a football player. Love that he’s doing this.”
But there was this matter of convincing his mother, Jennifer Brown, to let him block and tackle. She is a nurse at Kaiser and has seen her share of broken limbs and battered bodies.
“Mom did not want me playing football,” Adelabu said with a laugh. “It took her so long to finally be convinced to let me play. She’s a mom being a mom. But without football, I never would have gone to Yale. Football has opened up so many doors, and to have a degree from Yale can really help me.”
Trainer says sky is the limit
A defensive line/pass-rush coach based in Sacramento who works with athletes in high school, college and in the pros, Aaron Day has worked with Adelabu on technique for months.
He said of the lineman, “As long as he stays healthy, I feel comfortable saying he can be as great as he wants to be. All-American on the field and in the classroom, first-round pick, you name it.”
Day added, “AD is a great young man. I came across his film one day on (social media) and was wowed by his size, aggressiveness and finish on both sides of the ball. Always playing from snap to whistle. With his film and grades, it only took a single day of reaching out to Yale for the school to offer him.
“Training him is the easy part. He’s a hard worker, a great listener, quick learner and doesn’t have an ego. Having the basketball background helped. He moves extremely well for a 305-pound human.”
Hail to David Hale
He earned multiple Bee All-Metro honors as an All-Purpose player, meaning he did a little bit of everything and he was a scholar to boot, so it’s no wonder that David Hale is doing his share to help the South All-Stars.
The Elk Grove senior normally lines up at quarterback for John Heffernan, the Elk Grove coach who heads the South team. But Hale is playing receiver in this game and maybe some defense, too, as too few colleges run the flex-bone option rushing attack in which he specialized as a three-year starter for the Thundering Herd. The South will run a more traditional offense.
“He’s just a great leader, a great kid, the whole deal,” Heffernan said.
Passing and rush marvels
The South will surely air it out with Dallas Munn of Destiny Christian and Joaquin Graves-Mercado of Oak Ridge, both with Bee All-Metro pedigree for leading playoff teams, and the South has plenty of options in running the ball. Bee All-Metro backs on the roster include Armon Thorntona of Laguna Creek, Darius Moore of Sacramento High and Malakai Taione-Tauataina of Destiny Christian.
Thorntona powered his way to 1,094 yards and 21 touchdowns in just seven games for the Cardinals of the Delta League; Moore scooted for 1,152 yards and 11 touchdowns for the Dragons of the Monticello Empire League; and Taione-Tauataina sprinted for 1,361 yards and 15 scores for the Lions of the Metro League.
All of those runners led playoff teams.
Good hands group
South All-Star receivers include Jacob Beals of Pleasant Grove, Stephon Johnson of Burbank, Labradian Keyword of Sacramento, Alexander Gasca of Davis, Kayleb Girrard of Cosumnes Oaks, Matt Werpy of Vista del Lago and KJ Davis of Vanden, and some may get a lot of snaps on defense in the secondary.
Brothers Christian and Gabriel Coronado of Monterey Trail will play anything from quarterback to defensive line to linebacker.
Defense stands
D’Adrien Sanders rushed for 1,588 yards and 22 touchdowns for Delta League champion Monterey Trail in earning Bee All-Metro honors, but he may see most of his time in this game as a fast-closing safety.
The secondary also includes Polo Cooper of Elk Grove, Jaron Hodson of Folsom, Ryan Hickey of Oak Ridge, Ajani Keys of Sacramento, Ja’Marion Grace of Vanden and Lulien Grady of Laguna Creek.
The linebacking crew includes Bee All-Metro stoppers Maddox Ali of Pleasant Grove, Elijah Folau of Monterey Trail and Logan Hutton of Folsom with a boost from Jackson Taylor of Oak Ridge and Josh De La Cruz of Folsom.
DL wall
A mauler with power and a lot to play for on the defensive line is Tommy Pantega III, who reminds that he has pancaked and beat dudes up” in the trenches in 2024.
The defensive trenches also include Bee All-Metro grinders Kharter Turk of Oak Ridge, Jack Spero of Oak Ridge, Chase Dinaburg of Rio Americano, D.J. McDonald of Bradshaw Christian, and Tim Amons of Cosumnes Oaks and Alex Wallace of Rio Americano.
The 65th Optimist All-Star Classic
When: Saturday, 1:30 p.m.
Location: Granite Bay High School
Tickets: $10
How to purchase: GoFan.com or from South players