The life of a walk-on college athlete is like being the best of the last kids picked for playground games. Not much is expected, but neither is much given. Walk-ons typically don’t enjoy the same amenities as scholarship athletes, and as unpaid competitors one might assume they feel less pressure to perform to the same standards as their more heavily-recruited teammates. That may be true in some cases, but walk-ons also have a powerful internal drive to succeed, based on the need to prove they belong. “Am I good enough?” That question fuels many who pay their own way. And when the answer is a resounding “yes, even better than good,” the walk-on’s story becomes something special. Adelaide Aquilla’s story is special. The Ohio State redshirt junior shot putter from Rocky River originally joined the Buckeyes as a recruited walk-on, meaning OSU weights coach Ashley Kovacs contacted her about coming to…
Continue Reading: Rob Oller: Ohio State shot putter Adelaide Aquilla went from walk-on to Tokyo Olympian
