BOZEMAN — Few Bobcats are farther from home than Jahque Alleyne. When the safety transfer from Virginia Tech moved to Bozeman from Blacksburg, Virginia, Alleyne’s housing wasn’t quite ready.
For his first few weeks in the Gallatin Valley, Alleyne moved in with JoJo Henderson, the man Alleyne is now battling for a starting spot on the Bobcat defense against. The jockeying for position at free safety is one of the most highly contested position battles raging on at Montana State fall camp this month.
“I think I was probably the first guy he made a relationship with and we became friends,” Henderson said on Montana State’s media day on August 17. “It’s no secret we are battling, but I think it’s important to maintain a solid relationship. Just like last year, anyone can be called up at any time.”
Henderson, himself a former transfer who made stops at Lamar and Snow Junior College before landing at Montana State before last season, knows full well how circumstance can cost a player a spot in the span of a single snap.
During his first season with the Bobcats, Henderson started three of the first four games before a hyper extended knee bumped him to the sideline. He rehabbed to the point to be healthy enough to play in MSU’s second-to-last game at Northern Arizona but did not play in the season-finale against the Griz.
Instead, senior Khari Garcia held down MSU’s free safety spot next to Bryson McCabe during the second half of the season.
“It was very, very tough to go through an injury, especially so early in the season,” Henderson said. “I just tried to stay positive. I got healthy enough to be available the last couple games of the season but I wasn’t quite 100 percent. That was very tough to go through, especially my first year here trying to make a name for myself.”
Fast forward to fall camp on the Montana State campus this month. Henderson is certainly making a name for himself.
Despite the rapid improvements of redshirt freshman former walk-on Shawn Borges — MSU president Waded Cruzado and head coach Jeff Choate awarded the native Hawaiian with a scholarship on Monday night — and the addition of Alleyne, Henderson is still among the leading candidates to start at free safety for the Bobcats.
“JoJo is long and athletic, can cover ground,” Choate said. “Probably not as straight ahead fast but clearly is ahead because he knows the system. That’s the advantage right now.
“Que flashes at times and you see what he’s capable of. How is he able to take that next step once he’s able to work in the system? That’s going to be a really interesting battle to keep an eye on.”
Choate said following his injury last season, Henderson expressed frustration to the head coach about losing his spot in the lineup and the affect it had on his confidence. For most of 2018 however, Choate has seen Henderson meld into the fabric of the team.
“I can see over the course of the summer, he spent the time to get to know his teammates better,” Choate said. “He’s more comfortable in the locker room, around the guys.
“That helps him. He’s got to make a lot of calls back there. He has to be the quarterback of the defense in a lot of regards. Having a relationship with those guys, it takes awhile to develop and it’s helped him I think.”
While Henderson took an unorthodox path to Montana State — he initially chose Lamar out of high school over MSU before transferring back to Snow in his home state — Alleyne owns one of the most unique origin stories of any Bobcats.
Alleyne was born in the Bronx and grew up in Virginia Beach, Virginia, a notoriously tough community that is part of the Hampton Roads metro region, an area that has produced a glut of star athletes, including NBA Hall of Famer Allen Iverson, NFL Hall of Famers defensive end Bruce Smith and linebacker Lawrence Taylor and All-Pro NFL stars like quarterback Michael Vick, and cornerback DeAngelo Hall.
The 6-foot-1, 190-pounder was a three-star recruit in high school before choosing Virginia Tech. Alleyne played in 12 games a true freshman before serving a four-game suspension to begin last season.
“Que is a very mature young man,” Choate said. “You look at his journey to get here – washed out at Virginia Tech, had to go the junior college rout, came all the way to Montana, paid his own way to go to Gallatin Valley college to finish his AA, had to get a certain GPA. Had to get a job, take care of himself, wasn’t with the program at all.
“I think that speaks to his desire to have a second chance. And now that he’s been through that journey, he reflects on it in a very mature way. He’s a well-spoken guy who has perspective who is excited to be here and get a second chance. I think he’s got some good tools and as he learns the defense, he’s going to be even more valuable for us on the field.”
VA Tech transfer Alleyne brings humility, versatility to MSU secondary
Although Alleyne comes to MSU with pedigree and a penchant to prove himself after spending last semester earning his associate’s degree at Gallatin College, he did not enter fall camp with any predisposed entitlement.
“I don’t want to feel like a jerk. It’s never, ‘I’m from Virginia Tech, I should be starting,’ regardless of who you are. I’m not that type of person at all. I just want the guys to know that I can learn something from you and you can learn something from me.
“I’m the type of person who is humble. I don’t expect to come in here and immediately start. I expect to work and earn the job.”
Choate has mentioned the raging position battles at Sam linebacker between sophomores Balue Chapman and Jacob Hadley as well as the push for playing time in the offensive line group. And MSU has navigated a quarterback battle in which the lead seems to now belong to sophomore Troy Andersen following Saturday’s scrimmage. But the battle to start next to junior strong safety Brayden Konkol is one the Bobcat players have noticed.
“It’s a good battle,” Konkol said. “Both of those guys, I know the coaches and me, we are comfortable with both of them playing. It’s going to come down to who can be the most consistent. Both of them, they’ve got the athletic ability. They’ve got the brain for it. They just have to be consistent.”
“They both been having a good camp, so it’s going to be tough,” added MSU junior cornerback Damien Washington said. “One of them just has to take it, make those big plays and really say ‘This is my spot.’ They will get a chance if not in the scrimmage, then in the first game, a chance to say this is really my spot. I’m excited to see that.”
Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.
