Brandon Aiyuk was slumped up against a white wall 30 feet to the left of Arizona State’s locker room. His dark black hair with blonde tips, up in short dreads with a strand of gray pre-wrap holding it off his forehead, sat a few inches lower than its usual 6-foot-1 designation.

All of a sudden, his eyes widened. His facial expression was both disgust and shock as if someone just scooped a bug from the carpet and threw it in their mouth. In fact, there were no insects consumed, but rather a question posed.

Did you have any desire to play defensive back?

An emphatic “No,” shot out of Aiyuk’s mouth before the question even wrapped up.

“That was never an option,” he explained. “I like playing receiver. I like the ball in my hands.”

Coming out of Sierra College, a junior college near Sacramento, college programs were torn on Aiyuk. Some liked what they saw at Sierra, offering Aiyuk to continue his football career as a receiver. Others saw Aiyuk as a lengthy corner with speed. He played in the secondary in high school and, after all, tall, quick corners don’t grow on trees.

Initially, Alabama was at the forefront of schools hoping Aiyuk would flip to defense, offering the Rocklin, Calif. native as a defensive back following his freshman year at Sierra. He wasn’t interested. A year later, on National Signing Day in February 2018, the Crimson Tide came around, offering Aiyuk as a wide receiver.

Their inquiry was met with a snafu. Aiyuk wasn’t a recruit when Alabama’s offer came through, he was a signee -- his marked-up papers already sitting on some desk in Tempe.

“It was a weird situation,” Aiyuk recalled.

That it was. But ASU tight ends coach Donnie Yantis, who was Arizona State’s recruiting coordinator for much of Aiyuk’s time as a junior college prospect, said Monday the Devils never questioned where Aiyuk fit positionally.

Yantis understands Aiyuk’s situation and those like it can be uncomfortable. A staff may see a recruit shining at one position. The recruit himself may have his mindset on playing collegiately at another. Yantis said it’s up to the coaching staff to have that conversation, asking the player what position they want to play in college, then recruit them as such.

“Like for example, (Aiyuk) as a receiver, you have to recruit him as a receiver,” Yantis said. “For us, it was receiver and returner the whole time.”

Special teams coordinator Shawn Slocum led the recruiting efforts of Aiyuk along with offensive coordinator Rob Likens, who during Aiyuk’s sophomore season at Sierra, was the Devils wide receivers coach. To coaches and to Aiyuk, Slocum often brought up the Sun Devil senior’s return ability.

Recalling Aiyuk’s recruitment just over a year ago, Sierra offensive coordinator Daniel Diaz-Romero believed the Sun Devils were, first and foremost, interested in Aiyuk as a returner.

“I’m not really sure how it went,” Aiyuk admitted. “I just knew coach Slocum wanted a return guy. I just looked at it as an opportunity if I had to come in as a return guy then show what I can do as a receiver, that was fine. I just knew I wanted to play here.”

At Sierra, Diaz-Romero recalled, Aiyuk was an other-worldly returner. He averaged 38 yards as a kick returner and just over 22 yards as a punt returner, taking a combined three to the house. Without some penalties, Diaz-Romero admitted Aiyuk may have doubled his touchdown total.

“He told us from day 1, ‘Coach, I want to be a punt returner,’” Diaz-Romero said in 2018. “I just think you’ll find there are more guys that have that skill set that are willing to do a kick return. There are not many guys that are brave enough to want to do a punt return when there’s always that chance that you may get lit up.”

Now in his second season in Tempe, Aiyuk returns kicks and punts for the Sun Devils. He has yet to take a kick out of the end zone this season but has averaged 13 yards a return on his trio of punt returns. It’s easy to see why coaches want him there. Aiyuk hits the holes and runs into traffic with full-blown faith as if he expects to breakthrough.

Early last season, wide receivers coach Charlie Fisher noticed the same thing. Only it really caught his attention on offense. Some receivers tend to snatch the quick slip-screen pass and survey the field. Where to go next. What part of the field is open. Where are the blockers?

Aiyuk just goes.

“Just some guys have that natural ability to catch it and hit that crease with conviction and courage,” Fisher said. “Those two go hand-in-hand if you don’t have courage you can’t run up the tunnel.”

Aiyuk runs after the catch like a brave, intrepid horse jockey hugs the rail through a race. It’s dangerous. It’s scary. It’s hard to perfect. But, perhaps most importantly, if done well, its benefits are incredible.

In some of his first practices as a Sun Devil, it seemed Aiyuk was scoring on a 50-yard slip screen every other night. Against Oregon last November, the then-junior broke a tackle after the catch and took a fourth-quarter screen pass 25 yards into the end zone.

Fisher said Aiyuk is the best slip-screen runner he’s had since he coached seven-time Pro Bowler Torry Holt at North Carolina State in the late 90’s. “And I don’t throw that out there lightly,” Fisher said.

Aiyuk remembers watching Holt “a little bit” as one of the Rams top weapons throughout the 2000’s, but when Fisher made the comparison during a film session Aiyuk hopped on YouTube to see what his wide receivers coach saw two decades ago.

“He played every snap as fast as he could,” Aiyuk said of Holt.

If things go to plan, Aiyuk will be the newest receiver Fisher sends off to the NFL. Through two games in 2019, the Sun Devils’ No. 1 option has caught 8 passes for 238 yards and a 77-yard touchdown against Kent State.

Playing last season as the second option behind N’Keal Harry, who was drafted in the first round New England Patriots in April’s NFL Draft, Fisher admitted Aiyuk needed refinement. He needed to develop his route tree. He needed experience. He needed confidence. He needed to set himself up for a football future after ASU.

“I think he certainly has NFL Draft ability,” Fisher said.

Most around ASU believe the same thing. After all, this is the program running whole-heartedly with its NFL Model. During Monday’s practice, coach Herm Edwards approached Aiyuk and a few other players, telling them, “This is the game. This is the game they’re going to see you. We’re playing Michigan State. To play in the National Football League, these are the games you have to shine in.”

Asked if that notion -- that his NFL dreams could endure a major bump with a good game Saturday -- is nerve-wracking, Aiyuk dismissed it. If you handle your business in practice, he argued, it’ll work itself out on Saturdays.

He’s calm -- and nothing shows how far Aiyuk has come in the last year than that mindset.

Last year, Aiyuk used to wake up on game days at 4 a.m. He was hyped-up -- too hyped up. Fifteen hours before the 7 p.m. kick off, Aiyuk was in game mode -- jittery, eager to touch the grass. By the time he finally hit the field, he admitted, he was tired. A 4 a.m. wake up call and 15 hours of fretting about something will do that.

Now he’s prepared. He rises on Saturday at a more reasonable hour. He’ll grab breakfast then head back to the hotel and go back to sleep. For most of the day, he and wide receiver Frank Darby watch Law and Order: SVU until it’s time to leave for the stadium. There’s no need to worry about something you’re ready for.

Like he does on game day, Aiyuk doesn’t let any what-ifs linger about his National Signing Day experience. Everything has panned out at ASU. He’s a receiver. A No. 1 receiver. And in a few months, possibly an NFL receiver.

“Shame on those people who thought he was a DB,” Fisher said. “Thankfully, we weren’t one of them.”

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