SAN BERNARDINO — The plan. It was the plan that changed Asaad Chapman’s college plans. The plan he hadn’t planned on until James Griffin-Avant laid it all out in 3D living color for him.
The first-year San Bernardino Valley College football coach knew a gift when he saw one. And standing before him was a true gift missing only the ornate bow: a 6-foot-4, 190-pound cornerback with the speed of a gazelle and the wingspan of a pterodactyl. Gifts like this didn’t drop through the chimneys of moribund football programs like SBVC’s, programs that hadn’t won a football game in two years.
But there was Griffin-Avant in his office, staring at Chapman and his twin brother, Ahamad, barely concealing his glee when they announced they were transferring from Riverside City College to SBVC.
Yes, there’s trading a 30-minute commute for literally a five-minute one. But commute time—even in Southern California—took a back seat to the Plan. Griffin-Avant, meanwhile, managed to refrain from breaking out into a happy dance long enough to illustrate what he had in mind for the Chapman twins.
“He wasn’t talking about the football success and his success. He was talking about my plan on getting out of here,” Asaad Chapman said. “What was the plan after the season? Where am I going to be going after the season? The first day I came here, he showed me the plan. He was telling me this was going to happen, telling me, ‘You’re going to do this right, you’re going to do this and this is going to happen.’
“The love I felt when I came up here, I felt appreciated and welcomed here.”
Ahamad Chapman didn’t stay for long. The University of Texas at San Antonio snatched him up, separating the brothers for the first time in their football careers. But two years after starring at Cajon High School with his brother and one year removed from he and his brother making the Southern California Football Association finals with RCC, Asaad Chapman realized he needed to fly solo on this part of the journey.
He realized the Plan came with a growth component. A personal growth component that got Chapman’s head focused on getting his grades up, developing leadership skills he didn’t realize he had, and getting him to understand that taking plays off and relying on nothing but pure athleticism worked at Cajon High.
But at SBVC, it gets you beat for touchdowns.
Now, Chapman is a regular at study hall, which he credits for making the work easier than it had been. He’s a regular highlight reel for his teammates, who he mentors with after-practice drills and workouts.
And he’s a regular highlight reel on the field, where he’s racked up 27 tackles, an interception and two blocked kicks in five games. The Wolverines (4-3 overall, 1-1 in conference) travel to West LA College for an American-Pacific game Saturday at 1 p.m.
“When I came back, there were a lot of people I played with here, so me coming to this team pushed me out of my comfort zone. I know I needed this, the maturity and the leadership,” he said.
“You can tell when kids love what they do and every day I’m around him, I can tell he loves the game of football. He loves being a good teammate,” Griffin-Avant said. “In this generation, kids like this are hard to find, but this kid here is a light to me. Everything about him has been about Valley football and it’s a blessing to have him.”
Chapman also realized that flying solo leaves you room for solo discovery, a heretofore undiscovered gift Chapman enjoys every day—even as he sometimes finds himself at practice staring off at places he expects to see his twin.
“The first time I went a week without playing next to him took a toll. But I think I’m better now,” he said. “I miss him and wish I was playing with him, but we’ll catch up to each other for sure. I’m learning about myself more. The things I like to do that he doesn’t like. I like sitting in the house chilling out. I used to run around because he liked running around. I’m learning about myself more now. I have some more alone time and it’s never been like that.”
He’s not going to be alone for long. Because he lacked one class in high school, Chapman wasn’t able to take one of the numerous Division 1 scholarships offered to him. Griffin-Avant said that problem is gone, courtesy of Miami, Mississippi State, LSU and numerous other schools looking for defensive backs who play like they have a plan.
Because Chapman came home to follow his Plan.
“If I had gone D1 out of high school, there were small details I wouldn’t have been keyed in on,” he said. “… This is the time to lock in and understand everything won’t be handed to me. This allowed me to mature and get more discipline. I’m playing with my brain now, not just my athletic ability.”
All according to the Plan.
