Tim Sullivan | Courier Journal

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Matt Stone, The C-J

Lukayus McNeil is still looking for the light. He is still looking for the opportunity that will change his life and reunite his family. He has made his way from homelessness to big-time college football – a road rarely traveled – but his eyes remain fixed on a horizon too far and too faint for clear visibility.

“I think that’s what’s really pushing me,” the University of Louisville offensive lineman said. “I still don’t see a light that I’ve made it yet.

“There’s been a turnaround. There’s definitely been a turnaround. But I can’t say I feel relieved and I’ve got stress off me now. ... I’ve got to figure out something fast.”

A redshirt junior due to graduate in December, McNeil will start the 2017 season Saturday night against Purdue in his hometown of Indianapolis with the urgency of a man who has spent much of his life straddling the edge of desperation. Drawn to football as a way to fill his days when he couldn’t be sure where he would sleep at night, McNeil sees it now as a tool to bring him back together with his mother and younger brother, and to distance himself from the days he lived “house-to-house, friend-to-friend, all over the place.”

If you're looking for a player for whom to root this fall, look no further than U of L's No. 72.

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Moved from tackle to guard to accommodate and tutor massive freshman Mekhi Becton, McNeil has started 21 games on a U of L offensive line that was deemed the team’s weak link last season (this despite the prolific production of Heisman Trophy quarterback Lamar Jackson).

Presumably, a graceful transition to a new position and proof of versatility would enhance the 320-pound lineman’s prospects of an NFL career. Clearly, McNeil yearns for a new challenge that pays a salary.

“I’m just living day by day,” he said. “I’m just going to keep doing what I can do and fighting. And hopefully, that day comes where a paycheck comes and I can get my mom and brother together and say it’s over with.’’

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McNeil’s time at Indianapolis’ Decatur Central High School was marked by upheaval and uncertainty. When his mother decided to move out of the school district and, later, out of the state, McNeil chose to stay behind and fend for himself and his brother, Isriel.

“I was starting to get into football more and starting to like it more and had people looking at me and things like that and I didn’t want to move from the school,” he said. “So I ended up moving into a friend’s house.”

He moved out to make room for his brother – “I had nowhere to go. I had no place to call home.’’ – and drifted from place to place, sleeping on friends’ couches or floors, sometimes wandering the streets after midnight in search of shelter, growing familiar with grown-ups wondering why his parents let him stay out so late.

“I ended up bouncing house-to-house for like half a year,” he said. “It was difficult. I kept my stuff with my brother. ... Every day after school I’d go get my clothes. I knew I couldn’t stay there, (but) I’d go get some clothes and find somewhere to stay and go to school the next day.”

School meant stability and structure and sports brought success. As a Decatur Central senior, McNeil averaged 14 points and 16 rebounds per game in basketball and became a state champion in the shot put. Though McNeil did not immediately recognize a career opportunity when Central football coach Justin Dixson recruited him as an offensive lineman, when that light finally came on, it was beacon-bright.

“At first, I didn’t know if I wanted to do it,” McNeil said of football. “I was just doing it because it was something to keep me off the streets. I knew I didn’t have nowhere to go after school. It would keep me a little longer, to keep me busy before I had to find somewhere to go, somewhere to sleep.”

These hours, it turned out, were well-spent. Playing both ways for Decatur Central, McNeil was voted an all-state selection by the Indiana Football Coaches Association as a senior. He chose Louisville over scholarship offers from such prominent brands as Oklahoma, Nebraska and Wisconsin, prizing the proximity to his brother and becoming one of the highest-rated offensive tackles U of L has recruited (No. 28 nationally by 247sports.com).

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He would also accept an attractive offer from Decatur Central defensive line coach Derrek Staton: reliable lodging.

“He noticed how I’d come in a little later and try to find rides, trying to find a place to stay,” McNeil said. “He asked me if I’d like to move in with him. I stayed with him from my junior year until my senior year.”

Lukayus McNeil continues to look for a more permanent home and for the light that tells him he has made it.