Valley High grad making his mark in Utah

Justin M. Bowen

Stevenson Sylvester

By Case Keefer (contact)

Thursday, July 23, 2009 | 10 p.m.

For 15 minutes during the Mountain West Conference media day on Wednesday, Utah linebacker Stevenson Sylvester never stopped smiling.

It’s hard to believe this is the same 6-foot-2, 230-pound terror who has 182 tackles in his first three seasons as a Ute. It’s even harder to believe this is the same Stevenson Sylvester who four years ago received little attention from college recruiters as a 190-pound senior at Valley High.

“He came here a scrawny little twig,” Utah teammate and senior tackle Zane Beadles said. “Now look at him.”

Sylvester is one of only three players in the conference to be voted a unanimous choice for the 2009 Preseason All-Mountain West Team. He’s the undisputed leader of the Utes, who will go into the season as defending Mountain West and Allstate Sugar Bowl champions.

None of this surprises Utah coach Kyle Whittingham.

“After he had been in the program for a short period of time,” Whittingham said, “we knew he could be something special.”

The coaches might have known, but Sylvester wasn’t so sure. Sylvester said he was just happy to have made it to college. He didn’t expect to get on the field during his freshman season. Instead, he played in 10 games and made three starts.

After the season, Sylvester had a conversation with Whittingham that he will never forget. Whittingham told Sylvester that if he bulked up to 230 pounds, he would be an All-American candidate.

“I did not believe him,” Sylvester said. “I thought he was nuts. I was like, ‘whatever, man.’”

But Sylvester still listened. He spent more hours in the weight room. He reached his target weight.

Sure enough, Sylvester is an All-American candidate headed into this season. He’ll probably be selected in the 2010 NFL Draft. Turns out, Whittingham wasn’t crazy at all.

“I really believe everything the man says now,” Sylvester said. “Everything he’s told me has come true.”

Whittingham’s advice for Sylvester heading into this season was to become even more of a leader than he was last year. Sylvester’s teammates voted him a team captain last year — something Whittingham said was rare for juniors — and he’ll serve in that role again this season.

But Whittingham said Sylvester’s influence would be much more powerful this year with the graduation of quarterback Brian Johnson, who the team depended on in 2008.

So far, Sylvester has thrived in the role. To improve team camaraderie, he’s hosted team barbecues at his house this summer. Teammates are always welcome to come over, whether it’s for a quick video game or to relax after a tough work out.

“Obviously, I’m partial to Stevenson, but I can’t think of another linebacker I’d rather have in the country,” Beadles said. “He’s a great leader for our defense and our team. He tries to bring everyone together.”

Sylvester said his experiences at Valley helped him learn how to become a leader. He was an All-State linebacker, but only got a scholarship offer from Utah after one of his coaches pestered Utah defensive coordinator Kalani Fifita to give him a look.

“I had to do a lot of stuff my senior year when I look back on it,” Sylvester said. “I really didn’t expect to get a scholarship or nothing. I just went out there and had fun and the window of opportunity presented itself. I took that opportunity.”

One of the things that impressed the Utah coaching staff during Sylvester’s recruitment was his basketball ability. Whittingham said by watching Sylvester play basketball, he knew he was athletic enough to play college football.

It was just a matter of how determined he would be to listen to the coaching staff and progress at Utah. Now that Sylvester is entering his senior season, Whittingham couldn’t ask for more.

“He epitomizes what we’re all about. He loves the game. He has work ethic,” Whittingham said. “Shoot, he’s just been a tremendous asset to our team.”

No wonder Sylvester was so happy at media day. He said he had a lot to be proud of.

“Going into my senior year, graduating in December. Everything is going perfectly for me,” Sylvester said. “I didn’t expect it. I just took it one step at a time.”