Football players at Arizona State are seen highly because of how they are one of ASU’s premier sports programs. Arizona State's receivers are fairly well-known, at least among the program's fanatics. 

 

Some students arrive at the university of their choosing with NFL aspirations because of being highly touted in high school. Giovanni Sanders has a story that has the same aspiration but a different beginning. 

 

Starting out while he was younger Sanders was always interested in sports but does not remember how he became so involved with football. However, he says that “Sports were just always fun to me and not looked at as something that’s a job.”

 

Sanders, a walk-on, had a similar but tweaked schedule compared to a scholarship athlete. During the season Sanders would wake up around six to make it to his 6:30 lift session. Often he put in more work whether it was on the field or in the weight room to “catch up to everybody since I had a delayed start”. 

 

A walk-on requires a mind that is ten times stronger he says. Sanders mentioned that he would constantly ask himself what more things he needed to do to get a scholarship. Oftentimes he was “questioning if I really belonged here, or if I was a part of the team or just things like that about my worth.” 

 

Before coming to Arizona State, Sanders had previous stints at Riverside City College, a junior college in California, and Dixie State located in St. George Utah. 

 

Riverside City Community college, Sander’s first stop on his journey to ASU, allowed him to see the serious side of football. “At Riverside City College, I understood how serious football was. Being at a junior college, especially with the transfer portal being popular, makes you really work for yours,” Sanders said. This allowed him to grow drastically.  

 

The training was not the main thing that helped him grow while at RCC. “Being around a bunch of people from different backgrounds made me grateful for what I have and helped me show me how hard people work to make this happen. It helped me develop a mindset and a type of swagger so to say,” Sanders said. 

 

Sanders remembers his journey running through Riverside California because how being on a junior college team allowed him to create lifetime bonds with others. All with the common desire of getting out.

 

Dixie State helped Sanders further develop whom he was becoming not only as a player but also as a person. “Dixie State, helped me understand the basics of college football. As well as making bonds with some of my teammates that will never be lost. … I had a pretty good coach too but ultimately my time at Dixie helped me develop as a person,” Sanders recollects.

 

After spending time at Dixie State, Sanders decided to transfer after realizing it wasn’t the best place for him. His decision to enter the transfer portal was a gamble given he could always go to a junior college. 

 

Sanders decided to roll the dice and bet on himself by passing on some scholarship offers from smaller schools and waiting on a bigger school. This was quite the risk for Sanders as he had no school to call home and no major colleges were reaching out to him.

 

This was a challenging time for Sanders as he was “declining a few offers to gamble on myself and wait for a bigger school to take a chance on me.” He feels this was the biggest gamble he has taken because during this period he had no home and no colleges were reaching out to him. 

 

However, the risk paid off as he found a new home at Arizona State. It was difficult for him to gain a sense of being a part of the team because of how it seemed the team was not open to walk-ons developing into role players. Sanders said that being a walk-on meant that you were not working out or running with the team, or even getting the same amount of training time players on scholarship got. 

 

This meant that he had to practice with the backups. Being separated made it hard for Sanders to find his “group”. People with who he would hang out with and who were on the team also. “You’re looked past and forgotten about,” said Sanders about these circumstances. 

 

The transition was not only hard on the field, with him having to adapt to the speed of the game but also academically. Sanders recalls how his first semester at ASU was his worst ever. His teachers were not good, his tutor did not understand his math assignments, and the program did not provide him with many resources.

 

Regardless of all of the challenges, Sanders endured them. Coming into the team he was known as a kid who could make plays. However, he felt the coaching staff did not give him any respect or consideration. 

 

Most of the time the coaches would consider other people on the roster before Sanders. It was a struggle to have a relationship with anyone as he could not even get anybody to follow him back on social media. This is something seen by many teammates on the team today. 

 

He still worked hard every day, oftentimes harder than most, hoping he would receive a spot on the field from his work. “Being a walk-on, getting your coach's attention is one of the hardest things to do,” Sanders said. It came down to “if you make big plays day after day, you’ll create some buzz” referring to excitement from coaches. 

 

On May 4, 2021, Giovanni announced via Twitter that he had been put on scholarship, coincidentally taking place on his 21st birthday. In his tweet, he thanked everyone who had supported him. His hard work and perseverance had paid off. 

 

After being put on a scholarship Sanders felt like there was some real hype around him for the first time. Many coaches went out of their way to communicate with him, calling him by his first name, Giovanni. With gaining a scholarship he could feel the energy change towards how he was seen by his peers.

 

Now that Sanders is on scholarship he is able to spend the extra money to improve himself during times when he is not training with the team. Standards were set by himself and he felt that he would be going backward if he did not follow his own standards.

 

“Have to be perfect. No matter if it’s attendance, on the field, or on the meeting room, I feel as if I still face everyday struggles of being a walk-on,” said Sanders. There was a sense of pressure now that he has gotten his scholarship.  

 

Sander’s story shows resilience. A person that adapted to each thing thrown at him. Whether it was adversity or a football he caught each thing and ran on. Through dealing with adversity there were times when he needed an extra juke or spin. Eventually scoring in the end, leaving him with a scholarship.