Maddox Oquendo, the talented senior football star at Stone Memorial High School, has made his college choice official.
Oquendo, the son of Carlos and Melissa Oquendo, signed his national letter of intent to play football next fall at Tusculum University in Greeneville. The ceremony was held last week at the high school.
“I talked to some coaches at Murray State and Austin Peay,” said Oquendo. “I have had a lot of coaches follow me on Twitter, like from Vanderbilt and Tennessee Martin. But the schools I was mainly interested in were Hillsdale College in Michigan, Tusculum and Kentucky Wesleyan University.
“You want a school that doesn’t only fit what you like and what you’re about as well. But also, how much do they really want you and what’s their plan to use you. You know, some schools, they may talk to you, but they don’t really want you. My biggest thing was seeing if I could fit in with a school.”
Oquendo’s relationship with sports, football in particular, started several years ago in the youth leagues. The little, 5 feet, 7 inch speedster fell in love with the sport and found out it was something he could do well.
In high school with the Panthers, Oquendo shined in football and track. As a senior with Stone, he rushed for 1,483 yards and 11 touchdowns. He also had 28 catches for 458 yards and five touchdowns.
“I started going to college camps my freshman year. That’s when coaches will talk with you, but they’re not super involved with you,” Oquendo said. “They will usually tell you what they would like for you to work on.
“The conversations picked up my junior year. I was getting myself out there and promoting myself as my brand. I was just trying to get college coaches to talk with me.”
Oquendo said he was very impressed with the coaching staff at Tusculum, as well as the players. He liked their “determination and drive” to be a winning football program, and felt like he could be successful at TU. He also liked the small size of the campus and its sense of community.
And, Oquendo said, he was impressed with Tusculum’s cafeteria.
One of the top factors Oquendo used in making his decision to go to Tusculum was their business program.
“I like working for Wyndham as a sales rep and I plan to be taking over a sushi restaurant that my family is going to franchise and own,” Oquendo said. “So by the time I’m out of college, about five years from now, maybe six years, my goal is to use my master’s degree to get a job as a sales rep and then use that money to be able to take over one of the restaurants.”
The sushi restaurant Oquendo said his family would consider franchising is called Rock and Roll Sushi and his family is making plans to open in Cookeville. He said the company has approximately 70 locations around the East Coast and is very popular in Georgia, Florida and Alabama.
Now, in the month before he needs to report to campus for preseason football practice, Oquendo said he’s got a lot of work to do.
“I need to get stronger, faster and smarter,” Oquendo said. “I get on campus June 23rd and from there, they’re expecting the most out of me. They’re expecting the best out of me. They’re expecting me to know the playbook, to be able to implement that playbook on the field and to be able to be smart enough to know if I need to make an adjustment.
“Always improve, that’s what I need to do. There is always room for improvement, and I live by that. That’s the big thing for me. You just have to trust yourself.”
Oquendo said he will be going into fall practice with an open mindset, looking forward to doing whatever he can to help the Tusculum team.
“I have more of a flexible goal in a sense of I have to be patient,” Oquendo said. “Maybe I play my freshman year, maybe I don’t. I can’t get in my head too much about it because at the end of the day, I have to be patient. I have to be coachable.”