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34 IllustrateD volume 24, issue 4 f also played in games, and they're expected to be in the two-deep in 2014. "That right there caught my eye immediately," Ca- son said of the roster. "Most of the people I talk to, they just want to come in and redshirt and get an education. I would love to get an education, college is great, but I just want to be a contributor my first year. I want to get my name out there immediately. "My expectations are to come in, make sure in Au- gust I'm the most conditioned and I earn a spot be- fore the season. My goal is not to come in and make friends with the team. That's what most players do and that's a big mistake. You go in with friends and then you step back because you think that's their spot. So I just want to go in determined and do it." To an extent, Cason already has shown some de- termination. He was supposed to be proving his worth to the coaches on campus right now. With Hazell's prompting, Cason fully intended to enroll in January and took all the steps necessary to do it. That included quite a winter-break academic crunch, completing a full credit Calculus class in two weeks. A self-proclaimed math fan, there was some enjoyment to the challenge — and it helped to have a dad who's an engineer to offer some assistance — but it also meant putting in "unbelievable hours." "During the whole break, even on Christmas, I didn't have any time off. I was just working," Cason said. But when the scholarship didn't open up as expect- ed because a senior player didn't graduate on time, Cason was stuck. And craved being on the field more than ever. He'll spend his spring wisely, though, before en- rolling for Purdue's Maymester by heading to Chica- go to work with a personal trainer for a couple weeks and then bouncing to Arizona to train with an uncle who is a body builder. He expects to be in peak physical condition by the team's June workouts, gaining a step over his time away instead of losing one. "(Hazell) wants me to come in and play right away," Cason said. "He's told me me being there that extra month ahead of everyone else (in May) is going to give me an advantage, so hopefully I can get that spot for Western Michigan on the 30th of August (in the season opener)." But Cason isn't only intent on being set condition- ing-wise: He fully intends on making an impression with his skills. By the middle of his sophomore season in high school, Cason said he evolved in a lockdown corner- back with his "fluid hips, good speed, great size and pretty good feet." By the time Cason was an upper- classman, he played man coverage on one side of the field, allowing his teammates to play zone on the oth- er. Cason not only accepted that responsibility, he cherished it. Even if, ultimately, it had people ques- tioning whether he was truly worthy of a big-time scholarship offer. Cason simply wasn't getting balls thrown his way, he said. That only served to develop his mental toughness. And it also led him to push through a nagging knee injury as a senior: He wanted to prove he was bet- ter than Western Michigan, where he'd committed. So despite considering sitting for Game 3, he played. Brandon Roberts isn't worried about playing time as a true freshman: Like the rest of the defensive backs in his class, he's confident he'll earn it.