Walk-on to starting wide receiver: Giovanni Sanders moving up with ASU football

Giovanni Sanders believes in signs. So the 6-foot, 185-pound wide receiver knows Tempe is where he was meant to be.

Sanders arrived as a preferred walk-on but was still questioning if he had made the right move because he had passed up an actual scholarship offer from one smaller school. Then one day he was driving around with a friend and the two found themselves behind another car with a license plate from "Cali 2 AZ."

He took that as an affirmation that he was indeed where he was meant to be.

Sanders played for a year on the scout team, doing whatever he could to prove himself. In May of 2020, he was on a break at his favorite vacation spot on Encinitas beach celebrating his 21st birthday with his closest friends when he got word he was being put on scholarship.

"I couldn't stop smiling. They were smiling too. It was like a dream come true," he said, after the Sun Devils wrapped up practice Tuesday morning.

Sanders is one of six players on the current roster who came to the school as walk-ons. The others are fullback Case Hatch, running back George Hart, quarterback Trenton Bourguet, defensive lineman B.J. Green and defensive back Alijah Gammage.

Coach Herm Edwards says Sanders wasn't unlike the others.

“He was a guy that just wanted an opportunity and that’s what life’s about, giving an opportunity, and he took advantage of it," the coach said. "He’s really done a nice job. And he’s got some moxie to him. The game’s not too big for him."

Sanders' story is one of resiliency. He posted noteworthy statistics at Murrieta Mesa High School in the Inland Empire Region of Southern California, racking up 143 receptions for 2,388 yards and 30 touchdowns, along with 148 tackles and 14 interceptions.

He played on a team that reached the CIF Southern Section playoff semifinal where it lost to San Bernardino Cajon, then quarterbacked by Jayden Daniels with whom Sanders would later team at ASU.

Yet, Sanders drew little interest from major colleges. University of San Diego came calling, but he ended up going to Dixie State (now called Utah Tech) instead. He managed 19 receptions for 295 yards. Those modest numbers didn't do much to raise his stock.

So Sanders made a second stop, this one closer to home — Riverside Community College.

"I definitely felt people were sleeping on me. At that point there was nothing I could do but keep building on what I was doing before. I just tired to do everything I could do to put myself in the best position I could. Overall that was their perspective of me and I had a different perspective of me. I knew if I never stopped grinding, things would work out for me," he said.

He excelled at Riverside, making 59 catches for 854 yards and eight touchdowns for a team that went 13-0 and won a state championship. Still, no takers.

He admitted being puzzled at the lack of interest. Was it his size? Maybe he wasn't quite fast enough. It certainly wasn't an academic issue since he had always maintained a grade-point average of 3.0 or higher.

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Sanders wasn't sure what to do next. He was working at a  Stater Bros. bagging groceries and rounding up loose carts during the COVID pandemic, hoping for an opportunity somewhere.

He checked his phone one day after his shift to find multiple messages from his community college coach who knew then-ASU receivers coach Prentice Gill. That paved the way for Sanders' arrival in Tempe as a preferred walk-on. He was going to have to prove himself again but he felt up to the challenge.

"I told my parents I think it was an opportunity I had to take I was going to gamble on myself to come here," he said.

It may be early but Sanders appears on the verge of a breakthrough.  He caught three passes for 94 yards in ASU's 34-17 loss at Oklahoma State on Saturday. It marked the highest yardage total for an ASU receiver Since Ricky Pearsall had 132 yards last October against UCLA.

Sanders' longest catch went for 73 yards and set up a 1-yard run by Xazavian Valladay early in the third quarter that cut the Cowboys lead to 17-10.

"Once I saw that and (quarterback) Emory (Jones) put it in the air I knew it was pretty much playmaker on playmaker," he said. "I wish I could have kept going but it was  an unreal moment. Definitely my first big-time catch so it felt good."

With four receptions for 115 yards through two games, Sanders is second on the team in that department to Elijhah Badger. He's more grateful to be in the position he is in now because of the road he has traveled.

"It really makes me grateful for everything," he said. "Just from junior college to here. It really makes me grateful. A lot of people have rooted for me so I have a good support cast behind me but it makes me feel unreal. I wake up every day just thinking, Dang, one, two years ago I was in a different position but now I'm where I really want to be at. My dreams really came true."

Sanders showed some flashes of potential in the spring. He chalks up his progress to work on route running as well as dedication on the strength and conditioning part of the equation.

Edwards likes what he has seen.

"He made that one catch going in there and, you know, leaving his feet and you can trust him and the quarterback’s starting to trust him. He’s in the slot. He’s a nifty guy," Edwards said. "He can read coverage. He works his way open. He’s a really good football player and he’s earned a scholarship. There’s no doubt about it, and now, all of a sudden, the ball’s coming to him."

Wide receivers coach Bobby Wade, who replaced Gill, likes what he has seen too.

"I think what you're seeing is the opportunity presented. He's a person that in the off season has taken accountability as to what he needs to to to get better at," Wade said. "We've had a lot of talks about specific things he needed to work on and he took that personally and took that as a challenge. He put that work in during the offseason and what you're seeing is that opportunity presented. He's not skipping a beat when it comes to preparation and it is paying off.

Odds and ends

— Add starting corner back Ro Torrence to the growing injury list. Torrence was hurt Saturday. He left it briefly but returned and finished out the contest but did not practice Tuesday with his spot on the first team defense taken by Keon Markham. Gharin Stansbury (hamstring) has been out for the last month and while he did not participate in active drills he was dressed out for the first time.

Defensive end Michael Matus was at practice for the first time since having surgery for a torn ACL.

— Athletic director Ray Anderson was on hand at practice, which was held inside the Verde Dickey Dome.

Reach the reporter at Michelle.Gardner@gannett.com or 602 444-4783.  Follow her on Twitter @MGardnerSports.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Walk-on to starting WR: Giovanni Sanders moving up with ASU football