When Mount Carmel’s Claude Mpouma moved to the United States from Cameroon shortly before starting high school, he was excited to see how far he could go in basketball, a sport he had played back home.
But football? As far as Mpouma was concerned, that involved kicking a ball into a net.
He had played plenty of soccer growing up. When he decided to give American football a shot, however, he was completely unfamiliar with all of the basics.
“I didn’t even know how to put my jersey on,” Mpouma said. “I knew nothing about it at all. I had to learn everything.”
That was just last summer. Mpouma’s first season playing football came as a junior at Phillips, which he attended before transferring in January to Mount Carmel.
Less than a year later, Mpouma — rated by Rivals as a four-star offensive lineman recruit — committed to Nebraska.
He announced his decision Monday in front of friends and family at Mettle Fitness in Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood.
“I don’t even know what to say about it,” Mpouma said. “I woke up and I was like, ‘Wow, this is crazy.’ I thought I was just going to be a regular football player.
“I wasn’t ready for anything like this. I never imagined this would happen.”
Mpouma, who had over 30 Division I scholarship offers, narrowed his choices down to a final five that also included Ohio State, Michigan, Auburn and Florida before choosing the Cornhuskers.
“I feel good about Nebraska,” Mpouma said. “I feel like I’m home every time I go there. It’s a nice environment. I love the coaches. They’re great. In the end, it was like, ‘Why not Nebraska?’”
Mpouma’s size — he’s 6-foot-8 and 305 pounds — certainly attracted him to major college recruiters intrigued by a raw athlete who’s still learning the sport but showed an ability to adapt quickly last fall.
Mpouma also believes he’s just scratching the surface of his potential.
“I’ve got a lot of room to grow and a lot to learn still,” Mpouma said. “I’m excited to keep getting better. I think going to a great program like Nebraska and playing in the Big Ten is going to help make me a better football player.”
Phil Segroves, Mount Carmel’s athletic director and boys basketball coach, has witnessed Mpouma’s titanic rise in football while getting the chance to coach him on the basketball court.
Mpouma, who is set to make his Mount Carmel football debut this fall, was able to contribute to the Caravan’s sectional title run in basketball, playing over the final six weeks of the season.
“When he first got to Mount Carmel, he had to wait about a month before he was eligible to play,” Segroves said. “He cheered for his teammates louder than anybody on the bench. He was a great teammate.
“We couldn’t be prouder of him or happier for him. He has a certain sense of calmness about him that I think will help him a lot at the next level. He doesn’t get too high or too low.”
Mpouma has long had a passion for basketball, but when last summer rolled around, he was no longer sure he had a future in that sport. He became intrigued with football.
“I don’t want to say I was going nowhere with basketball, but I felt like I had nothing to lose anymore, so I started playing football,” he said.
Now, Mpouma has carved out a new path on the football field. Best of all, he’s having a blast.
“With football, I feel like I can be myself and not get in trouble for it,” he said. “I can push people around, grab people and throw them on the ground and not get in trouble.
“That’s just fun. I’m happy about that.”
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