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Football: Shelton ‘back to having fun’ in third season at Wisconsin

Football%3A+Shelton+back+to+having+fun+in+third+season+at+Wisconsin
Erik Brown

Sojourn Shelton wasn’t having fun anymore.

In fact, the 2014 season wasn’t fun for him at all.

Last fall, the rising junior cornerback for the Wisconsin football team underwent what everyone had warned him about and what he had feared most: a sophomore slump.

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In preparation for the next season, Shelton is back to focusing on what made him fall in love with the game in the first place.

“I think I got away from that last year, and that’s what I’m back to doing now,” Shelton said. “Just back to having fun, understanding this is what I love to do and I’m happy to be out here.”

Shelton, a Fort Lauderdale, Florida native, broke out in a big way during his freshman season. Following the 2013 season, he earned Honorable Mention all-Big Ten honors from the conference’s media members after finishing third in the Big Ten with four interceptions.

His impressive first season landed him on the cover of Varsity Magazine last August with volleyball’s Lauren Carlini and men’s basketball’s Nigel Hayes, two other sophomore stars looking to repeat their success. The magazine’s title was “What’s Next.”

Expectations were high for Shelton (left) after a strong freshman season.

What was next for Carlini? Big Ten Player of the Year honors. What was next for Hayes? Being the third-leading scorer for the national runner-ups.

What was next for Shelton was less than ideal. Just as quickly  as he shone, he faded.

That fall season Shelton intercepted zero balls, got beat deep a few too many times and committed a slough of penalties.

“I just had a lot of things cluttering my mind last year,” Shelton said.

There was a lot of hype to live up to.

“Coming off a strong freshman year, hearing everybody say, ‘Sophomore slump this and that,'” Shelton said. “I think, more than anything, that I didn’t know how to handle that. You come in as a freshman and kind of have the season that I did have, you don’t know how to handle criticism.”

Shelton is the first to acknowledge the regression from his freshman campaign.

The lowest point for Shelton was the Bowling Green game on Sept. 20 last season, when he was beat over the top several times. He said that game was the worst game of his entire life.

“I had to sit there and that [criticism] and continue to improve,” Shelton said. “But Bowling Green was that game where I said, ‘Oh no, this isn’t what I imagined at all.’

“I’m happy I went through it. And I’m happy to be where I’m at now.”

The change in coaching staff has helped Shelton as well. Now, Shelton and the other cornerbacks are in the same meeting room as the safeties – something they didn’t do last last season – and it’s given him a renewed confidence this spring.

It also helps that the secondary is returning nearly every starter, as fifth-year seniors safety Michael Caputo and cornerback Darius Hillary are back and fifth-year senior Tanner McEvoy, who’s played in the secondary before, is expected to start at the other safety spot, Shelton said.

His defensive coordinator, Dave Aranda, said Shelton’s confidence is visible on the field, but stressed his currently high caliber of play must translate into the season and the big moment.

“This is three weeks of spring ball. At his position on this team, that doesn’t make a hill of beans right now, and he knows that,” Aranda said. “It’s a work in progress, but he has played really well, so I’m happy for him. There’s a confidence and a swagger coming back to him.”

The defense, and specifically Shelton, has been given the green light to make aggressive plays on the ball this spring.

“We’re taking risks, but we’re taking smarter risks and we know when to take them,” Shelton said. “We’re just making plays on the ball, which is great to see.”

Shelton brought up two plays: one on the road at Iowa and one at Northwestern, where he dropped potential interceptions. He said he hopes his aggressiveness will bring back trust in his abilities to allow him to make those plays on the ball.

When the secondary unit concluded its cool-down exercises after practice last Friday, its members shouted one word.

“Ballhawks!”

“Our whole motto is … overall is just about getting the football, attacking the football,” Shelton said.

Shelton’s contributions to the team may not solely be on the defensive side of the ball this upcoming season. At the end of practice, Shelton began fielding punts, something he did in high school. With the departure of Kenzel Doe, who returned punts for Wisconsin last season, Wisconsin is in the midst of finding a new punt returner.

“People haven’t seen what I can do with the ball in my hands,” Shelton said with a grin on his face.

Shelton’s step back last season opened his eyes to the broader life lessons football instills in young men.

“It’s going to teach how to handle when things aren’t going your way, how you keep continuing to press forward and do your job?” Shelton said. “I think that’s what my learning experience has been so far.”

If anything, Shelton plans on smiling a lot more this season.

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