:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/48704639/1074928.0.0.jpg)
Jake Lanksi is actually was actually an early enrollment. He signed his NLI back on December 28th of 2015. With the departure of four-year starter Austin Lopez, the Spartans were looking to add another kicker. Not only was early playing time surely a factor in his decision to join the Spartans team, there were two more things that went in to his decision.
The proximity in location to his grandfather and the sheer number of attempts that the Spartans attempted in the regular season were both factors. He had originally planned on heading to Southern Cal and becoming a walk-on for the Trojans, but an ACL tear threw his plans off course.
‘Coming out of high school, I had almost every West Coast school looking at me," Lanski said. "I remember having letters sitting in front of me from LSU, UNLV, Arizona, Colorado State, just a lot of schools. But i tore my ACL in an all-star game, a meaningless game on the opening kickoff. It took a year and a half, I had full reconstructive knee surgery, couldn't walk for three months. It was bad... I was probably going to walk-on at USC, but I tore my ACL about a month before I was going to make that decision."
As a mid-year transfer, Lanksi has already enrolled in the university and will compete for the starting job in spring practice.
Hometown
Ventura, California
High School
Ventura High School
Date of Commit
12/28/2015
List of Offers
San Jose State
Measurables'
5'11''/197lbs