GBI Magazine

they put him back in, and he was hurt. But he gave us a better chance as scared as I was. "After that, that really motivated me to work really hard in the offseason." That meant working the camp circuit and throwing as often as he could to prepare for a junior year when Macarthy would be the starter. In a stunning upset to open the season, Merrillville beat Warren Central. And, surrounded by seniors on offense, Macarthy helped guide the team to a 12-2 record and regional championship, vaulting him into a national recruiting spotlight. Ultimately, Macarthy made a verbal commitment to Iowa. But then came the first of several "low points." Before surging onto the football scene, Macarthy was just a 15-year-old kid focused on girls and having fun, not academics. So when schools attracted by his football talent asked about GPA and test scores, Macarthy was shell-shocked. In his naivety, he hadn't considered those as a factor in gaining a scholarship. And he had only a 1.8 cumulative GPA as a junior. "I remember one night, my high school coach came to my house and sat down with my parents and said, 'Dolapo is not going to college if he doesn't get his grades up.' My parents just drilled me," Macarthy said. "At that point, I realized that I had to make a change." As a senior, Macarthy retook classes through Merrillville's alternative school after regular school was over. He took the SAT eight times and the ACT four. Ultimately, he graduated with a 3.0 GPA, he said. But, by that point, there were no offers left. Macarthy felt like he still was worthy of a scholarship. So, in an attempt to gain exposure, he headed to Hargrave Military Academy in Virginia, prompted by its pedigree and the fact he wouldn't lose eligibility. It didn't work. The program did not have the kind of structure or opportunity Macarthy hoped for, and he also had little contact with his family and grew homesick. After the season, when Macarthy walked into his coach's office, he was told there was nothing there for him. Macarthy still thought he could play, though, so he made only a pit stop in Merrillville before continuing on to Fort Scott Community College for the next se- mester in January. The junior college in Kansas was coming off an appearance in the NJCAA national championship game in 2009, and Macarthy was projected to start in the fall. But he "hated" it. So he left after one semester, discouraged and questioning again whether football was part of his future. Soon after, he spoke with his parents and said he was giving up football. He was going to enroll at the University of Illinois-Chicago with the goal of becoming a pharmacist. Deji Macarthy wasn't sold on the new game plan. Though Deji didn't want to admit it, he knew Dolapo was a better player than he was, and he couldn't accept talent being wasted. So Deji convinced Dolapo to come to Portland, where Deji was playing football at Portland State, and to walk on to the team. At his brother's urging, Dolapo obliged, packing up a bunch of clothes and bringing his car out in July 2010, just happy to be close to the brother he calls his "hero." But, then, another bump. "I applied to school, but I didn't get in. I was like, 'Seriously?!' " Dolapo Macarthy said. "I loved the place and would love to be there with my brother, even though it was Division I-AA, Big Sky Conference. (It was) just where I was and who I was with, I just wanted to be a part of something, after all the years of not being in school and after having all these offers and losing them. "I was blown away. I hit my lowest point again. I said, 'You know what? This really isn't for me.' It was the third rejection." And that was it: Macarthy definitely was going to Illinois-Chicago, where he was accepted to start school in the fall. Again, Deji objected, more vehemently than ever this time, refusing to speak with his brother for an extended period. Deji simply didn't get the reaction. It wasn't the way these brothers were, not Deji, not oldest brother Temidayo, who both kept playing football after multiple surgeries, transfers and coaching changes. "I was mad at him," Deji Macarthy said. "We're diehard (about) football. … We were just those type of people. I'm like no way my little brother is not that type Gold & Black IllustrateD • volume 23, issue 5

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