JUCO defensive lineman 'felt at home' with Auburn

Quientrail Jamison-Travis barely had any offers coming out of high school.

A native of Minneapolis, Minnesota, Jamison-Travis originally planned to attend Iowa State, before deciding last-minute that the better fit would be the JUCO route. He ended up at Iowa Western Community College in Council Bluffs, Iowa, where he'd spend the next three seasons.

It was anything but easy.

"JUCO life is hard," Jamison-Travis said. "You gotta earn everything and really, you gotta work harder than others to play. Some JUCOs, you can just go there and play right away and not be developed, but Iowa Western, it was a good college for me, it was a good fit. They developed me into basically who I am today."

Jamison-Travis practically lived in the backfield of opposing offenses this season for the Reivers. He had 45 tackles, 13.5 tackles for loss and 8.5 sacks in 12 games. It was the type of season that drew the attention of several D-1 programs.

"They started recognizing me, started calling me and texting my phone on Twitter and everything like that," Jamison-Travis said. "The season we just played, they started really coming in and showing love and all that."

Auburn reached out somewhat late in his recruiting process, but the Tigers were sure to make up for the lost time.

"They were showing me more love than any school," Jamison-Travis said. "They were constantly checking up on me. I know other coaches are constantly checking, but they weren’t just blowing up my phone. Making me exhausted if you know what I mean. They were communicating at the right times and things like that. When I was on the phone with coaches at Auburn, I just felt at home."

Initially, it was former defensive line coach Jimmy Brumbaugh. When Jeremy Garrett arrived and assumed the same position under Hugh Freeze's new staff, the calls didn't stop.

In mid-December, close to decision time, Jamison-Travis had narrowed it down to two schools — Auburn and Penn State.

"I kinda broke it down like, am I going to fit in their program?" Jamison-Travis said. "I basically felt like I didn’t fit in Penn State’s program and how they run things. And Auburn, I like how they run things."

With a week until early signing day, Jamison-Travis decided to talk with some of his old coaches. He called up his high school head coach and his head coach from Iowa Western and delivered some news.

"I told them I don’t want to go to Penn State, I want to go to Auburn," Jamison-Travis said.