An autumn breeze blows across the Bill Kajikawa practice field, the sound of whistles and colliding shoulder pads filling the November air.
As the ASU football team begins the portion of its practice devoted to special teams, three teammates take a knee on the sideline.
The trio uses the few spare moments to catch their breath and chat.
While freshmen running back Ryan Bass and linebackers Shelly Lyons and Brandon Magee are in their first season of collegiate football, the three have been indulging in these water-break get-togethers for years.
Now adorned in maroon and gold, the three also shared the same colors at Centennial High School in Corona, Calif.
Lyons and Magee have little success hiding their excitement when discussing their progression from the Friday night lights in California to the sun-scorched gridiron of Sun Devil Stadium.
They played together for three seasons at Centennial High School in Corona, Calif.
“To make the transition to college and see [Magee and Bass] on the field is just crazy,” Lyons said.
The bond the two linebackers’ share is unmistakable, and Magee said it was always part of his plan to play at the next level with his teammates.
“I said, ‘If I’m going to college, I’m going wherever Shelly goes,’” Magee said. “Bass got an offer too, and we were like, ‘[ASU] is a good place.’”
The three started playing together on Centennial’s varsity team as sophomores.
They said life in Corona always revolved around football.
“It’s a football town,” Lyons said. “Our rival was two minutes down the road and Norco [High School], another rival, was five minutes away.”
The freshmen said being a part of the football team at Centennial was like belonging to a family, which would explain why the rapport shared by Lyons and Magee makes them seem like brothers.
Bass is far more reserved, but his actions on the field at Centennial spoke volumes.
The highly touted recruit ran for 7,096 yards and 117 touchdowns during his three-year varsity career.
For the Centennial triumvirate, the support they give each other has made adjusting to life away from home easier.
“It’s great having support from my friends,” Bass said of Lyons and Magee. “I’ve know them since I was 14 years old, so to play college football with them is great because we hang out all the time.”
While Bass has had the best single-game performance of the three, 56 yards on 10 carries in an Oct. 25 loss to Oregon, Lyons has been the most consistent.
Lyons has 24 tackles on the season, including six against Oregon State in ASU’s most recent game.
“He’s made great improvement,” ASU coach Dennis Erickson said of Lyons. “He played outside [linebacker] in high school, but now to move inside, sizewise and athletically, that’s what we want there.”
Magee has missed four games, due to an injured pectoral muscle, but he returned against OSU.
His attention to detail during his absence, though, never wavered. When he couldn’t practice, Magee would stand 30 yards behind the defense and mimic the actions of his defensive teammates during the play.
Junior linebacker Mike Nixon said it’s the pair’s dedication and athleticism that spells a bright future for Lyons and Magee.
“Both of them give us an aspect that we don’t really have with a burst off the edge when they’re in [the game],” Nixon said. “Once they learn the ins and outs of the defense, they’ll be a tough duo.”
The first-year Sun Devils concede that being three of a school-record 10 true freshmen to play this season has been an achievement. But the trio is not resting on their success.
Their goals are far too lofty for that.
“National [Champions],” Lyons and Magee proclaim in unison when asked about the future of their ASU careers.
“We are going to be No. 1 before we leave this school, guaranteed,” Magee continued.
Even the low-key Bass perks up at talk of future possibilities.
“I see all of us having great years next year,” Bass said. “I see a BCS championship by our junior year. We’ll see.”
With such verve, post-football careers as politicians seem all but certain for the players.
For a team that is 2-6, a two-year turnaround that lands ASU in the national title game may seem unlikely.
Whatever success the Sun Devils do encounter during the next three seasons, though, will likely be impacted by three friends from California.
Reach the reporter at nkosmide@asu.edu.
