Tega Junior opens up about injury, Auburn

ELMORE –

It was only 14 weeks ago that Edgewood's Prince Tega Wanogho Junior laid on the hardwood floor, arms folded over his face and surrounded by paramedics.

Edgewood was playing basketball against East Memorial on Jan. 20. It was the end of the first quarter, and Junior sprinted out on a fast break in hopes of adding a last-second basket.

He jumped up, he came down. He stayed down.

"All I could think about was my career. It hadn't even started yet, and there I was on the floor," Junior said. "I felt like it was the end."

New to the country, Junior found his calling on the football field. He didn't know anything about the game when he moved from Nigeria last August. But by January, the four-star defensive end was on every college's radar.

He knew he'd play football, he just didn't know where. But lying under the basket in pain, nothing was certain.

"All I can remember is I screamed so loud, but nobody actually heard me. It hurt so bad," Junior said. "I was lying on the floor, and all I could think about it was my scholarships. It was going so fast, and it was like everything just crashed right there. All I could think about was, 'What if the schools don't want to give me a scholarship anymore?'"

Junior didn't have to worry about his future long. When he got to the hospital, his football coach Bobby Carr called him and said he'd been receiving calls from colleges, saying they would still honor their scholarship offers. It helped put his mind at ease while he prepared for surgery on his broken fibula and tibia in his left leg.

Even for something as serious as surgery, Junior's good-natured humor helped him through the complications the next day.

"My surgery was supposed to be at 7 a.m. the next day," Junior said. "I remember the doctor came in and was like,' I needed to see you because the rod we have is a little short. So we had to get a longer one.' That was pretty funny."

Junior had a rod put in his shin, along with a screw on each side of his knee and one at his ankle.

So much being thrown at him at once, Junior was planning to take all of his official visits and wait to decide on a school. But wheelchair and all, he said the injury is one reason why he chose Auburn on National Signing Day.

"After I broke my leg, the decision was pretty easy for me," Junior said. "I didn't want to go far away and then maybe something happens. Something could happen and my family might not be able to come, so that was my main reason. After that, the decision was very easy for me."

Since his surgery, Junior has ditched the crutches and packed on 18 pounds of muscle, tipping the scale at 268 pounds. He even had to move up to XXL shirts.

He started feeling like his old self again on prom night, for the most part.

"At prom I actually danced and stuff. It felt good, but the next day, I think it was a bad idea," Junior said. "It was fun while I was dancing, and the next day it was like, 'Man, I hurt so bad.' "

Junior's slowly returning to normal. He's recently been cleared for more intense workouts and got the screw in his ankle removed this week. He said he's on schedule and expects to be at 100 percent by year's end.

"You have to accept that there's some things you can't change, that's life," Junior said. "Things are going to happen, and that was my fate. So I just accepted that as my fate."

Junior's graduating from Edgewood on May 19, and is moving to Auburn on May 25. Finally getting back to normal, he's ready to move on to his next chapter on the Plains.

"Sometimes I'm like, 'I can't wait to go over there and do what I need to do, get stronger and learn the plays.' But sometimes I'm really nervous because it's not going to be easy," Junior said. "But then again, this is the path that I chose. This is my fate, so I just have to approach it and accept it. I can't wait."