TROY – The bond between Trojan seniors Andre Flakes, John Johnson and Emanuel Thompson forged quickly when they arrived on Troy’s campus in 2014 – mainly because it had to.
The trio were the only true freshmen signees to arrive on campus directly from high school that year thanks to a signing class heavy on junior college transfers and a couple of grayshirts. Joining a team filled with older players spurred Flakes, Johnson and Thompson to form deep relationships expediently.
“It kinda boosted us,” Flakes said. “They were taking nothing but JUCOs, and we were high schoolers.