Ahmed Hassanein had a long road before his first offer

This week Ahmed Hassanein picked up two Power Five offers from Duke and Kansas. At first it doesn’t seem like a big deal for a 6-foot-3, 270-pound player who runs well and has a bright future ahead of him.

But Hassanein didn’t take the normal path to get discovered by college recruiters.

At the age of five he moved from America to Egypt. He moved away from his older brother Cory to be with the rest of his family.

“I was having a family problems,” he said. “I was having family issues. A lot of family issues. I left here and I left my brother.”

He spent the next 10 years of his life growing up in Egypt. He got into boxing, CrossFit, and swimming. For a couple years he competed nationally and was ranked in CrossFit. It was something that came easy to him because of his athleticism.

“I ranked first in Egypt in CrossFit,” he said. “I was ranked 206th worldwide among everyone. But I was still having family problems and I told my dad I didn’t want to deal with this anymore. I told him send me to military school just to get away.”

That’s when his brother Cory entered his life again. The two hadn’t talked in 10 years. Cory was playing semi-pro football and his team was competing in Austria. That’s when the two re-connected.

“I had always dreamed about coaching him and knew the potential,” Cory said. “I knew he was an athlete and I knew he was doing his thing in Egypt, but when I was playing in Austria and visited in Egypt I saw the opportunity to help raise him and give him that transition. I did it and it worked out.”

Hassanein moved to California and attended Loara High School. That’s where his brother played high school football and currently coaches.

Football was a new sport for Hassanein. He started at wide receiver because he was lean and had the speed. But there was a problem.

“I couldn’t catch,” he said with a laugh. So, the next move was defensive line.

“When I first started, I would tackle everyone by grabbing their face mask,” Hassanein said. “I didn’t know anything about football. My brother told me just go tackle the guy who has the ball. I started dominating and I started tackling the ball carrier picking him up and throwing them to the ground.”

He was a fast learner. In his first season he was voted to the CIF first team. His second season he made All-CIF again and named the lineman of the year.

During his move back to the states he also learned to speak English. He relied at times on his sister who attended UCLA and a lot of Google translation. Now he speaks English well.

“I only spoke Arabic and I couldn’t understand anybody,” he said.

After other high school coaches saw him play, he got calls from gigger high school programs about playing for them.

“My brother told me to stay at Loara even though it is a smaller school,” Hassanein said. “He told me if I am good enough college coaches will find me. He said I will be able to communicate better with the coaches and people at Loara.”

His brother was spot on. The college coaches started calling and he picked up two offers this week from Kansas and Duke.

“I talked to Coach Uzo-Diribe from Kansas and he offered me,” he said. “I also got the offer from Duke and Northern Colorado. I also have good relationships with coaches from UCLA, Fresno State, and Colorado.

“Coach Diribe from Kansas told me he really likes how I'm aggressive I am. He likes how I get off and how fast I am. He likes that I'm strong and how I throw people.”

The recruiting is just getting started for Hassanein. He’s learning more about the process and will get advice from his brother, Cory. The move to California has worked out. He’s learned to speak good English and adjusted after spending 10 years in Egypt.

“It feels amazing,” he said. “It felt like I was nobody. Nobody will ever know but I went through a lot in Egypt. I have a younger brother who is proud of me and said he wants to be like me. My family in Egypt is really proud of me because a lot of people doubted me when I left because I couldn’t speak English and didn’t know anything about football.

Everything that I am doing, I am doing for my family.”