Ryan Dunleavy

Staff writer

PISCATAWAY - After making a delayed decision to pursue a college football career, Sandy Anya picked up the phone and dialed Rutgers.

Not a specific coach, not the football program, not even the athletic department.

Anya called the general information number listed on the Rutgers University website.

“If you want something, you just have to look for it,” Anya said. “I didn’t know who to contact. I called them and they put me through to the right person.”

The origins of Anya joining the football program out of Middlesex County College are almost as strange as the situation he is part of this spring.

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Rutgers only has two healthy scholarship cornerbacks – Blessuan Austin and Isaiah Wharton – in practice, with the redshirt junior Anya sliding into the No. 3 spot for the injured Jarius Adams.

“Honestly, I wasn’t really sure if I wanted to play football out of high school,” said Anya, a product of Franklin in Somerset County.

“I talked to my parents and they said, ‘Why don’t you take a year off and stay close to home, go to community college and after that see what you want to do?' I spent a year there and after that decided why not come to Rutgers?”

Actually, Anya said his parents, brother and sister encouraged him to pick up the phone.

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The message got to then-Rutgers recruiting coordinator Phil Galiano, who arranged for a Pro Day-style agility and drills tryout in September 2014. Anya joined the team as a walk-on around midseason after the long wait for approval from the NCAA Clearinghouse.

“I had just never been in a Big Ten, Division 1 facility before,” Anya said, “so I came in here and it was a surreal feeling. I was out of my mind. All I knew was work hard and in the end everything is going to work out for you. That’s all I did.”

In order for it to have a better chance of working out, Anya moved from wide receiver – where there are five game-tested upperclassmen – to cornerback in the offseason. Rutgers has not yet replenished depth from the dismissal last summer of four arrested cornerbacks.

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“I was nervous, but I knew I had the ability so I just kept my confidence up and I knew I’d be fine,” Anya said. “It’s definitely faster paced than I’ve ever played. But it starts to slow down when you understand what you have to do and what the coaches want from you.”

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The clean slate implemented by the new coaching staff was a blessing in disguise for Anya, who no longer was branded as a tryout. Plus, all defensive players are learning coach Chris Ash’s press-man quarters coverage scheme.

“It’s a lot simpler, I would say,” Anya said. “You just have to focus on one thing – the guy in front of you – tune everything out and that’s your job. You don’t have to think too much. You don’t have to make a lot of decisions.”

What Rutgers lacks in cornerback depth is somewhat offset by the return of last season’s two starters – Austin and Wharton.

“Because I was playing offense last year,” Anya said, “whenever I have a question about bait technique, press technique, what do I do when the ball is in the air, those guys are always helpful.”

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Playing cornerback affords the 5-foot-10, 188-pound Anya the opportunity to go 1-on-1 with former high school teammate Carlton Agudosi, one of Rutgers’ main deep ball receivers.

“A 6-foot-6 receiver should be intimidating, but, no, I knew him way before I was here. There is no intimidation for me,” Anya said. “It’s Franklin vs. Franklin. I want to get the best of him. He wants to get the best of me. I win some. He wins some. That’s just how it goes.”

Those battles can get a little chirpy, but Anya knows not to take Agudosi’s bait.

“With Carlton, knowing him from way back,” Anya said, “if he talks, you just have to let him talk and just stay focused on what you have to do.”

Rutgers is expected to add Michigan transfer Ross Taylor-Douglas, junior college transfer Kobe Marfo and true freshman Damon Hayes in time for training camp.

“With the new change, everything is new for everybody,” Anya said. “My confidence is up here and the coaches always tell me, ‘Sandy, keep going hard and doing what you are doing. That’s what I rely on.’”

The additions could bump Anya down the ladder, but he’s already proven he has the resourcefulness to fight his way onto the field.

“I love special teams,” Anya said. “Nothing is solidified. I’m just waiting for Coach Ash to give me the go-ahead. Wherever you ask me to line up, I’ll be there.”

Staff Writer Ryan Dunleavy: rdunleavy@gannettnj.com