‘Extremely thankful.’ KeShun Wells’ road from rejection to an Ole Miss scholarship.
He may be watching from the sideline at Mississippi State on Thanksgiving night, but it’s unlikely there’s a member of the Ole Miss football team who is more grateful than reserve running back KeShun Wells.
The Moss Point native’s path to a roster spot taught him to be prepared for the unexpected, but even he couldn’t have predicted how his senior season would have come to an end.
After going to three different junior colleges and nearly giving up on the sport, Wells had his hard work as a walk-on honored when Ole Miss head coach Matt Luke surprised him with a full scholarship in late October.
Wells was a standout at Moss Point High School, rushing for 793 yards and eight touchdowns as a senior in 2014. But the 5-5, 178-pound running back was barely noticed by junior colleges out of high school.
Wells first attended East Central Community College in Decatur, but left to take online classes at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College.
Next, he landed at Coahoma, a school that has traditionally had the worst junior college program in the state. But it seemed like he found a coaching staff willing to take him on as a player.
“They kept me, but they didn’t have a place for me to stay. They cut me,” Wells said. “It was probably the lowest point in my football career. Knowing how bad Coahoma had been, I never felt like I’d be cut. I couldn’t make it. I was really baffled by that. I didn’t understand it at all.”
Wells finished that spring at MGCCC and was prepared to give up football and enter the work force. That’s when Tashia Fountain, the mother of Rebels defensive back Kweisi Fountain, a fellow Coast product out of Biloxi, encouraged Wells to follow her son’s lead and try to walk on at Ole Miss. Kweisi Fountain helped set up a tryout with the Rebels and Wells earned a spot as a walk-on under former coach Hugh Freeze in the spring of 2017.
“That feeling was absolutely crazy,” Wells said. “I remember getting cut at Coahoma and coming up and visiting Kweisi. He told me how fun it is to be around big time players like A.J. Brown and Laquon Treadwell.
“I was a fan growing up. Ole Miss was my dream school. Them giving me a chance and allowing me to be on the team, it felt like I was on scholarship.”
An Ole Miss walk-on
While Wells enjoyed taking part in practices and dressing out for home games, he was part of a walk-on culture that doesn’t involve the perks that come with being a scholarship player. He did everything he could to make ends meet, including taking various part-time jobs.
“My parents pitched in as much as they could and I had a Pell grant,” he said. “Beyond that, I used to Uber. I worked at DoorDash. I delivered cookies at Insomnia Cookies. I was basically using my car to make money. Those jobs were flexible around my school schedule.”
As a sophomore, Wells was a member of the 2017 Ole Miss squad, but he didn’t take field that season. As a junior in 2018, he appeared in seven games off the bench and had four carries for 21 yards in a win over Louisiana-Monroe.
This season, he has taken the field in seven games and has one rush for seven yards against New Mexico State on Nov. 9.
While Wells’ playing opportunities have been limited over the last three years, he became a well-known figure among Rebel fans following a viral moment after a practice on Oct. 31.
With a couple of trick-or-treat buckets in hand, Luke, a Gulfport native, was standing in front of the team on the practice field when he called Wells up front and handed him an envelope.
“Open up your ticket,” Luke said.
Wells paused briefly as he opened the envelope, looked up at Luke and said, “This better not be …”
It quickly became clear that Luke was awarding him a full scholarship for the 2019-20 school year.
Teammates quickly mobbed a stunned Wells.
“I’m extremely thankful,” he said. “Coach Luke has been a blessing. Growing up, I didn’t have the same coach for more than one season at a time. Him being from the Coast, you could see how much he favored me and Kweisi. He loves all the team equally, but we had a different connection.
“His face and emotion when he was named head coach, he said he saw that in me when I got the scholarship.”
Scholarship makes immediate impact
Wells quickly called his mom to let her know that he had been placed on scholarship and news quickly spread to other family members.
Wells’ younger brother, Omni, a sophomore running back at Gulf Coast, was getting ready for a playoff game against East Mississippi that week.
“It was an amazing feeling just watching all his hard work and what he’s been through, and that’s paying off,” Omni Wells said. “All the doubters are being quiet now because he showed them. Just watching him overcome all those obstacles is amazing.”
The impact of the scholarship was immediate for KeShun Wells.
“I don’t have to leave practice early to go to work,” he said. “I’ve been able to focus on my books. I can also focus on community and service. It’s just being able to handle life without stressing out about how I can make the next dollar. It’s such a blessing. I didn’t know it was coming.
“When they gave it to me, they told me it would cover the whole year. I was in tears. I still had a bill of $1,700 to pay just to graduate. That scholarship really saved me. I wasn’t at a breaking point to leave the team, but it was real tough. I didn’t want to have to ask my parents for more help.”
As Wells prepares for his final college game, he keeps an optimistic eye on the future.
“I’m just being blessed and letting God work his magic,” he said. “Obviously, I’m planning for the future. The NFL is still a dream for me. I also have aspirations beyond the NFL. I’m getting jobs lined up if the NFL doesn’t work out. I just really appreciate the game, with or without scholarship. My love for the game is really deep.”
Ole Miss at Mississippi State
When: 6:30 p.m., Saturday
Where: Davis Wade Stadium, Starkville
Watch: ESPN
This story was originally published November 27, 2019 at 4:00 AM.
