Buhach Colony alum Shittu prepares for East-West Shrine game, NFL draft

Aziz Shittu didn’t get much of a winter break.

The Stanford star has made peace with it. When pursuing your dreams, sacrifices will occasionally have to be made.

It’s been a whirlwind of activity for the Buhach Colony alum since the Cardinal’s 45-16 thrashing of Iowa in the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day. Shittu shined in the game, recording 10 tackles, 3.5 for a loss and 1.5 sacks. He was named the Defensive MVP.

It was the conclusion of a final banner season at Stanford for Shittu. The senior defensive lineman was second on the team with 57 tackles. He had a team-high 14 tackles for a loss and had four sacks, earning him a spot on the Pac-12 first team. He’ll try to leave one final impression on the college game when he participates in Saturday’s East-West Shrine Game.

“It was awesome to go out like that,” Shittu said. “You kind of picture it in your head that night before. You visualize what you want to happen, then to actually have it play out just like you imagined is pretty amazing.

“All my family was there. I had 14 people in the crowd to experience it with me. Getting named the Defensive MVP was just kind of the icing on the cake.”

Shittu has been a busy man since the victory, hiring the Sun West Sports Agency and then heading to Southern California to train at the PSP Westlake Combine. He took off for St. Petersburg, Fla., last weekend to join the West team for the 91st edition of the Shrine Game.

“I’m really looking forward to the game. It’s just a great experience and another opportunity for the NFL teams to get some game film on me,” Shittu said. “I’m probably most looking forward to the hospital. I’m feeling really blessed with the opportunities I’ve been given in my life and I want to be able to uplift the spirits of some people going through some tough times, if only for a little while.

“I’m really just grateful to be healthy, especially coming off of last season. To get a full season of being healthy and to be able to go out and play football with my friends has made me really appreciate this last year.”

With the NFL draft approaching in April, Shittu hopes the good times keep coming.

In addition to the Shrine Game, the 6-foot-3, 283-pound lineman will have a Stanford pro day and hopes to garner an invitation from the NFL combine to attract the attention of NFL scouts. Shittu has thrived at both defensive end and defensive tackle while at Stanford, and is athletic enough he could probably be used as a pass rushing linebacker in the pros.

He said that versatility can be a blessing or a curse, depending on perspective.

“It’s great because I’ve shown I can play a number of different positions well, but at the same time I don’t necessarily have a position going into the draft,” Shittu said. “I’ve heard myself projected to go as high as the third round and as low as an undrafted free agent, so it’s kind of a big spectrum right now.

“It’s all part of the process. I just need to stay focused on keeping myself in shape and hopefully making the most of these opportunities as they come.”

State’s best

The Merced College football team never quite came together as the coaching staff had hoped in 2015, but the team had no shortage of individual talent.

Four of those players were named to the Region II All-California team. Included in the group was sophomore running back Josh Stevens, sophomore defensive end Justin Aguilar, freshman linebacker Troy Lowe and sophomore defensive back Devron Davis.

Stevens paced the MC run game with 1,153 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns. Aguilar was one of the state’s leaders in sacks with 15 and Lowe led the team with 111 tackles. Davis had 41 tackles, four interceptions, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.

Ready to win

The UC Merced men’s volleyball staff did their best to keep things in perspective when they recruited Daniel Sabzehzar three years ago.

The junior outside hitter said the first two years were about establishing roots and getting up to speed on the pace of the game. Year three was when the Bobcats hoped to start seeing some wins. That hasn’t gone to plan with UCM opening the season 0-5, but the competitiveness of the results has been encouraging.

With eight players at least 6-foot-3 or taller, every major statistical leader back except setter Scott Livesay and 10 players with at least a year’s college experience, the formula for success seems to be in place.

The Bobcats have 13 regular season matches left to start realizing that potential.

Finding his stroke

Freshman guard Anthony Nolen has proven a pretty consistent scorer since stepping on the Merced College campus.

He’s averaged 15.4 points per game for the season, but that might have just been the encore. Nolen has upped his game since early December, averaging 22.5 points per game in the four contests going into last weekend’s tilt with West Hills. Nolen has poured in games of 26, 26 and a career-high 27 during the stretch.

This story was originally published January 18, 2016 at 5:49 PM with the headline "Buhach Colony alum Shittu prepares for East-West Shrine game, NFL draft."