Craigman enjoys soph success

By JEFF CASPERSEN/The Daily Journal

Sometimes it's the shots in the dark that strike the bullseye. Such is the case for Mendocino College defensive end J.D. Craigman, who has unofficially committed to attending the University of Kentucky on a football scholarship.

Prior to the start of last school year, Craigman came to Mendocino College on a whim. He gave in to the urgings of Jackie Jenkins, a fellow Floridian who was enrolling at Mendo. Jenkins wanted his friend to join him.

"I took a short in the dark," said the 24-year-old Craigman, who took a couple of years off to work after graduating from high school. "I figured, 'What do I have to lose?'"

So Craigman left his family — including his 5-year-old daughter, Kayla — behind and enrolled at Mendocino College to continue his education and to play football, a sport he didn't even play in high school, and basketball.

The football part of the equation was slow in the making at first, but hard work and dedication have turned Craigman into one the state's top defensive linemen in his second season. With 12 sacks in six games this season, the Eagle has his eyes on the team sack record (22).

Amazingly enough, football isn't even Craigman's favorite sport. It's basketball. Outside of Pop Warner, he never even played organized football until coming to Mendocino College.

The lack of experience has done nothing to impede Craigman's gridiron growth. It's his size, athletic ability and the fact that he's a quick learner that have driven the defensive lineman who's listed at 6-foot-4, 255 pounds to the cusp of a Division I football career.

"I really think it's my athletic ability that saves me," he said. "When I make a mistake, I can use my speed to make up for it."

Mendocino College head coach Tom Gang echoed Craigman's sentiments.

"J.D.'s 6-4 and as strong as anything," he said. "Since he's been here, he's worked daily on getting bigger and stronger and faster. When he goes to the next level, he has a lot of work to do. He's a raw, untapped athlete."

Team success has accompanied Craigman's individual success. Mendocino is 3-3 after a tortuous preseason schedule and is set to begin its Bay Valley Conference schedule Saturday. The Eagles are favored to win the conference.

"We preach championships every team break," said Craigman. "That's our goal. We definitely want to do it for coach. We'll see if we can pull it off."

Team success is huge to Craigman, who credits his coaches and teammates for helping build his football IQ.

"(Teammate and linebacker) Frank Espy really put me under his wing and took the time out to show me football," Craigman explained. "The whole team has been great about it. Everyone helps and they never made fun of me for not knowing things. A.D. (Adrian Dunn) has been on my side whenever I have questions."

Dunn, also a lineman, has been Mendocino's other sack monster. He has 7.5 on the season and is getting looks from a handful of Division I programs.

The work ethic of Dunn, a Healdsburg High grad, has rubbed off on Craigman, who suffered through a rough freshman season.

"I think I got complacent (the first year)," said Craigman. "I learned I needed to be more aggressive, so I got more like A.D. I look at what he's doing and realized I can be aggressive and not get in trouble for it. There are no fouls. Last year, I wasn't used to getting banged around. Now I just go in there and play."

And so now Craigman stands on the brink of playing at a SEC school. He hopes the exposure that accompanies playing in one of college football's most prestigious conferences parlays into a chance at the next level.

"You get a couple of sacks against UF (Florida) and you might get some looks," said Craigman.

Anything seems possible for Craigman, who has all the physical gifts needed to succeed. How he continues his maturation process at Kentucky will determine his next step. The work ethic is definitely there.

"He's a tremendously coachable athlete," said Gang. "He'll do whatever you tell him to do. Kentucky believes they'll be able to produce something really good from him."

Jeff Caspersen can be reached at udjsports@pacific.net .