The first official recruit of Marcus Freeman’s coaching career, junior college linebacker C.J. Malauulu, transferred to Kent State in 2011. Malauulu soon realized he drastically underestimated the seismic culture shift that comes with moving from Southern California to Northeast Ohio.
Malauulu showed up on a winter recruiting trip dressed in slippers and shorts, the wind chill welcoming him to a new world. When seeking a burrito after arriving, he was stunned when teammates directed him to Taco Bell. When Malauulu’s teammates held jam sessions, he’d play his ukulele while they strummed country tunes.
“From the culture that I come from, there’s a lot of brown people,” he said.