Al Ashford Becomes Latest Cherry Creek to Boulder Target
Cherry Creek has quickly become the biggest high school football powerhouse in Colorado. For a while it was Valor Christian but over the last couple of years, that tide has switched to the school with a CU hall of famer as its head coach.
The Colorado Buffaloes currently have eight players that played for Cherry Creek on their roster, four walk-ons and four on scholarship. Jayle Stacks is expected to join the team in the summer as a scholarship player. And Chase Penry is already committed as a part of the 2021 class.
Those numbers are going to continue to grow. The Buffs are targeting at least two more Creek Bruins for the 2021 class and another one joined the mix on Monday.
Al Ashford III got the call from cornerbacks coach Demetrice Martin and was offered a scholarship.
“It was actually our third our third time talking, like in a call, and we just got on with just talking about ball and being strong and keeping our faith throughout this whole process with the Coronavirus and everything and staying positive,” Ashford said. “And then he told me they were going to offer me.”
After receiving the news, the three-star cornerback immediately called his head coach, Dave Logan.
“I was excited, man. It was just a blessing,” Ashford said. “You know my head coach Dave Logan is a CU grad. So as soon as that happened I called Coach Logan all excited and told him they just offered me. It was fun.”
After being in contact with the previous staff, it was Ashford who took the initiative to get in contact with the new staff. He reached out to Martin and congratulated him on the job and welcomed him to the state. From there, their relationship grew.
“He's a good dude,” Ashford said of his impressions of Martin. “What you see is what you're going to get with him., I'm definitely a juice guy, a high energy guy, me and him really just bounce off of each other. So he's a great coach and he has the credentials on the west coast and a lot of big places. So I really trust what he's saying.”
The 6-foot-1, 170-pounder really started to blossom during his junior season. He plays opposite of Myles Purchase, who is also garnering lots of Power-5 interest, but they are two completely different cornerbacks.
Ashford has all of the intangibles and it took him a little longer to understand the defense after transferring from Harrison High School last year. He’s got the length, the speed and the work ethic. He just has to put it together. And his defensive backs coach at Cherry Creek, Korey Askew, believes he will have a much better senior season than his junior season just because he will be way more comfortable in the defense.
Askew says there are a lot of things coaches will fall in love with about Ashford. But the one thing that stands out above the rest?
“He’s more natural ‘dog’ than anything,” Askew said.
That dog mentality seems to be contagious at Cherry Creek. Ashford said playing with those types of guys is what makes Colorado appealing as well.
“There's definitely been some mentors that have gone (to Colorado) and came from Cherry Creek and guys I look up to like Dimitri Stanley, Curtis Appleton, guys like that you know,” Ashford said. “And then of course Carson Lee coming from our team and playing with him to see his work ethic definitely intrigued me seeing that I could have like-minded guys around me.”
Ashford pointed to Jayle Stacks and Carson Lee as two guys he really looked up to during his first season with Cherry Creek.
“Him and I got along really well,” Ashford said of Stacks. “Same thing with Carson where I see those guys’ work ethic and how they come in, day in and day out with no complaining. They just got that grit to them, definitely a great trait to have. They're great people to be around.”
There’s still a long way to go with the recruiting process. But with one commitment already and at least three offers out there with the 2021 class and maybe more to come, how many Bruins can the CU coaching staff turn into Buffs?