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Shawna Shanklin and her son, JaShon Waddy, were heading to a football camp at the University of Texas at Austin during a mid-summer morning.
The pair were driving from Angleton, a city of just under 20,000 people, located 44 miles south of Houston and over three hours away from the capital. Waddy was about to be a senior defensive back at the town’s high school, rated as a two-star athlete by 247 Sports and just starting to get attention from college coaches.
The Wildcats had a history of sending student-athletes to the next level, including fellow defensive backs Quentin Jammer and Quandre Diggs. The brothers graduated from Angleton’s secondary to join the Longhorns in Austin and were eventually drafted into the NFL. A strong performance at Texas’ camp might have put Waddy on a similar career path.
Except, he didn’t want to go.
Shanklin didn’t want to go, either. She hated driving in the rain and if the weather didn’t let up soon, the camp might be canceled. But she understood the opportunity her son had in front of him.
“What if they offer you?” Shanklin asked Waddy, who had just repeated his request to go home.
Waddy replied that he didn’t need any other offers.
“I want to verbally commit to Texas State,” he said.
Shanklin remembers Waddy telling her at the age of seven his dream was to get a scholarship, play college football and go pro. She was shocked he even knew what a scholarship was at the time. But he’s always loved football. He was introduced to the sport by his older cousin, O’Shaun Smallwood, and the two would play in Shanklin’s front yard almost every day after school.
Shanklin described her son as a quiet kid. As the only child of a single mother, he didn’t like attention — except his mom's. He would do anything — backflip off the roof his mom’s Chevrolet Geo Metro, score 15 touchdowns in a single season of little league football — as long as Shanklin was watching.
Photo submitted by Shawna Shanklin
So when Waddy said, out loud, that he wanted to join the Bobcats, she knew he was serious. He’d attended Texas State’s football camp and received an offer from former head coach Dennis Franchione just a few days earlier and was given a week to make a decision. He didn’t need a week, though. He was ready.
Shanklin turned the car around and returned to Angleton. Waddy made his commitment official on June 15, 2015 and signed a letter of intent on Feb. 3 the next year.
“Just coming out of high school, I wasn't highly recruited,” Waddy said. “I just felt like just the sense of being at home here. Just like out in the community and not even just on the football field, it just felt like a nice place to be. And I think it turned out pretty good for me.”
Waddy never played under Franchione, as Everett Withers was introduced as the Bobcats’ new head coach ahead of the 2016 season. Waddy played sparingly his freshman season, making 11 appearances and registering nine total tackles. The next year, he gained 15 pounds, became a starting cornerback and ranked fifth on the team with 55 stops.
Shanklin worried at first about being without her only child. But her concerns quickly shifted to being without a house.
The Brazos River flooded in consecutive summers, both times affecting Shanklin’s home. In 2017, Shanklin was forced to move away from the house she and Waddy grew up in.
“It would have been harder on me had I not been distracted by those things,” Shanklin said. “I love every time he comes home and I miss him. But it's just, with those things happening, I haven't had much time to really sit and think about, you know, how much I miss him.”
Waddy has since become a stalwart of the Bobcat defense. Withers moved him to safety during his junior season and he snared his first interception against Louisiana on Oct. 6, 2018. Under first-year head coach Jake Spavital this year, he’s picked off another two passes, tied with sophomore cornerback Jarron Morris for most on the team. The pair of DBs have a “good bet” going to see who will finish the season with more.
“As long as either one of us got the interception, I'm happy with that,” Morris said. “He helps out a lot. I really like when he's on my side because I know I can play more aggressive. You know, he's been here, he's been doing this. So when he’s there, I know we're good.”
The senior is also on pace to reach a career-high in tackles, ranking fifth on the team again with 53, and has helped the Texas State secondary become the fifth-most efficient passing defense in the Sun Belt.
Waddy credits a lot of his success this season to his chemistry with his teammates, but also to the new scheme defensive coordinator Zac Spavital and defensive backs coach Brett Dewhurst have them running. He said the coaches put the players in the positions they do best in. For Waddy, that means picking up the third wide receiver and shutting him down.
“I knew that he was gonna be one of our better DBs because he's athletic, can play man covers, can play zone, he's smart. You know, and I just was unsure about the tackling aspect, even though he made a lot of tackles last year,” Dewhurst said. “They've done a good job of handling all the adjustments and just taking the little things and the coaching. And Waddy, he always does his job and he looks at the stuff on tape and looks for tendencies and splits and all that. And so, they've done a good job and they've worked well together because they've played a lot of football together.”
Shanklin isn’t able to go to all of Waddy’s games, but she tries to keep up with everything he does. Anytime her son’s name pops up on social media, she’s usually there to like it.
Waddy said it’s a big motivation for him to play well. The better play he makes, the more likely she is to see it.
“Growing up, it was just me and her. We were basically — not on our own, but it was just us. And we had to just fight for each other,” Waddy said. “So I feel like she knows that she plays a big part in what I do every day. And I do most of what I do for her because I know it makes her proud. And just for her to be able to just see it on a daily basis of my work — because she's not out here watching me — so when she gets to read about it or hear even me tell a story … it really makes her day.”
Photo submitted by Shawna Shanklin
Waddy plays against Appalachian State on Saturday. He’ll play in his final game with Texas State on Nov. 30 at 11 a.m. at Coastal Carolina.
He’ll graduate this December with a bachelor’s degree in general studies, minoring in sociology, mass communication and business. But his goal is still the same as it was when he was seven. He wants to reach the NFL.
Shanklin doesn’t like to think about it too much. She knows it’ll be difficult for him to get there but doesn’t want to jinx it. But he’s told her, out loud, that’s what he wants to do.
She knows he’s serious.
“He's really dedicated and I think if he does get on a practice team or something, he'll work his way onto the team,” Shanklin said. “I just know that. If they give him a chance, I know he will. That's how that's how hard he works. How dedicated he is.”
