ORONO, Maine — Randy Samuels almost never played college football.
He was a basketball and football standout at Mount Saint Michael Academy, an all-boys Catholic high school in The Bronx, New York. Yet he did not receive any scholarship offers in either sport.
In 2010, Samuels was scheduled to start classes at St. John’s University, where he planned to walk on with the basketball team. Instead, he received a phone call that changed his course.
“They called me and said you have been accepted, you got a full scholarship,” Samuels said of Berkshire School in Massachusetts.
Four months earlier, Berkshire boys basketball coach Peter Kinne had seen Samuels play in an AAU game.
“I caught an alley-oop out of bounds and dunked over a 7-foot guy,” Samuels said of a key play that caught Kinne’s attention.
At Berkshire, Samuels demonstrated his talent on the football field and the basketball court. It led him to the University of Maine.
Samuels is among the veteran leaders for the Black Bears. The senior helps anchor a talented and deep corps of linebackers.
“Those are the guys I can really trust. The chemistry we have is crazy,” said Samuels, who continues to thrive as a student-athlete.
The 6-foot, 220-pound Samuels, a native of Jamaica, has worked his way into a starting role. On Saturday, he led UMaine with six tackles, including a sack, in a 24-3 loss at Boston College.
“I was really excited to see how well he played Saturday against Boston College and just to see what he’s grown into as a fifth-year senior,” said Black Bears head coach Jack Cosgrove.
Samuels has appeared in 33 career games at UMaine and has made 84 tackles. He has gradually moved up the ranks and will help lead the defense when Maine plays at Tulane Saturday, Sept. 19.
“Randy’s an intelligent young man, so he plays very smart,” Cosgrove said “He’s got God-given physical skills and talents.”
Samuels moved to The Bronx to live with his mother, Sharon Forbes, and his older brother, Leroy Samuels Jr., when he was 10.
They and several extended family members lived humbly but worked hard. Forbes made sure her son stayed on track.
“My mom always kept me out of trouble, always kept me playing sports,” Samuels said. “She was a hardworking mom, the backbone of the family. She sent me to the best schools. She opened doors for me.”
Samuels, an all-city and all-league safety at Mount Saint Michael, discovered a new world at Berkshire School.
He enjoyed the rural surroundings, even though he was studying and playing with schoolmates who came from considerable wealth.
“It was a completely different experience for me. I was the only black kid in my senior class,” Samuels said.
Even so, Samuels felt accepted and loved. He credits the late Wil Smith, a Bowdoin College graduate who coached basketball at Catherine McAuley School in Portland, with teaching him the skills to make the transition.
“He was my mentor, my big brother,” Samuels said. “He’s the reason I got through the prep school process. That was some of the best times of my life.”
Smith died of colon cancer in February.
Samuels, who moved to linebacker at Berkshire, gained considerable attention on the field, earning All-New England honors. He was recruited by several Northeast Conference Schools, but he opted to walk on at UMaine where he earned a scholarship in his second year.
He was redshirted as a freshman, appeared in 10 games in 2012, then played in all 13 games as a sophomore. Last season, he finally cracked the starting lineup.
“There’s still a huge learning curve for young men who grow up in urban environments and come up here,” Cosgrove said.
“He’s a guy who did some things, did some things on special teams initially and earned his way through the ranks,” he said.
Samuels struggled emotionally with not playing more in his early years, but he eventually realized that with continued hard work and humility, good things would happen.
Samuels now mans the weak-side linebacker position for UMaine, but he also can handle the responsibilities of the middle linebacker spot when needed.
“He’s made tremendous strides. He’s grown as a young man,” Cosgrove said. “He’s become a better football player, a better tackler.”
Samuels, who will graduate in December with a degree in mass communications, will pursue football as far as it will take him. After that, he hopes to work in public relations.
He looks back fondly, thankful for all those who have helped him make it this far — especially his mother.
“Everything I do I do for my mom,” Samuels said. “I try to keep a smile on her face, try to do good all the time.”
Correction: Berkshire School was incorrectly identified as Berkshire Academy in the original version of this story.