“I’ve just been relaxing my head”, Turner said following his, often times, very stressful recruiting journey.
But if you have ever talked to Asa Turner, you get a taste of why he had such a tough time down the stretch arriving at a final decision; he’s a very, very cerebral young man who carefully thinks through his every word, as if he has to find just the right way to articulate his thoughts.
And it’s not as if he knew, all along, that all the roads would lead to a career playing big-time college football.
Most fans don’t realize that Turner didn’t even play football during his eigth and ninth grade years. His family had undergone some changes and moved from Hawai’i to the mainland.
As a young teen, Turner felt the weight of those changes and had a rough patch, “I hated it”, he said, “Actually I didn’t play in eight grade because of an injury, and then my freshman year I didn’t play at all.”
He wound up attending a charter school and finally settled in to where life had taken him, his mother Diane, and his two sisters. and older brother, Dakota — who was recruited and played for San Diego State.
But football was definitely going to wind up running in the family; although Turner says Dakota didn’t neccessarily influence him to play football, “My main goal was always to go somewhere better and be a better player”, he laughed, noting that this was his own competitive, younger sibling nature coming out against his big brother.
But Dakota was at SDSU when they went 10-3 in 2017, 11-3 in 2016, and 11-3 in 2015. So his own college career involved winning a lot of football games at the Division 1 level.
Asa plans to try to top all that at Washington, “I believe we can (win a natty)”, he said.
Photo courtesy of Diane Turner
Turner’s road to Washington started with his having played several different sports throughout his life, but once he got back on the field as a sophomore at Carlsbad High School, his game went to a new level, “I don’t people know I went two years without playing football”, he said, “So I didn’t expect a lot of this to happen.”
But he’s a naturally gifted athlete, and we’ve called him a “unicorn” because his God-given talent and skillset is rare — and it comes so naturally that as he began to put the time into harnassing that talent, coaches began to notice, the offers began pouring in, and the doors to his future began to swing wide open.
So what’s driving this young man?
As we said, Turner is a very thoughtful teenager. His attributes much of his backbone to his mother and his faith in God, also those who have coached him up and been mentors to him throughout high school both on and off the field. Now, Jimmy Lake has stepped in to play a big role in Turner’s life.
“He’s talked to me about staying in the office and watching a lot of film with him”, Turner said of Lake, adding that Tim Socha is also going to be right by his side the minute he gets on campus in late June, “They’re sending me the workout — I’m going to go up there and talk to Coach Socha.”
Photo Courtesy of Turner Family
Turner is going to be in Seattle twice in April, in fact, per Lake’s request.
“I think my goal is to set a good foundation for how ever many years I’m at Washington”, he said, “I want to do my best and hopefully get early playing time.”
The Turner family is one that Husky fans can truly embrace; they’re a tight-knit group and Diane Turner is just about sweet as can be. She wasn’t always crazy about the recruiting process, however, “She didn’t like it”, Turner laughed, but she stood by her son and was ready to support him in whatever decision he arrived at in those last few days before February 6th.
So let’s get to know this new Husky safety a little better…
On his hair…Turner said he has no plans to cut it except for maybe a couple inches.
One area of interest…Real estate. Turner likes watching shows such as “Million Dollar Listing” and anything else having to do with real-estate.
Favorite music? “Being from Hawai’i I like reggae a lot. I also like rap now and country, but mostly reggae”.
Favorite food? “Chick-fil-A and Board and Brew”, Turner said.
On his name…”My dad once sat on a plane next to Asa Hutchinson” (Arkansas governor).
Favorite subject in school? “I liked math most until my sophomore year…then I didn’t like it as much …now I like it again”, Turner explained, “I also like Beach Volleyball because I get to drive to the beach everyday.”
There ya have it. From the Turner Ohana to the Husky Ohana, Asa Turner has worked exceedingly hard to get to where he’s at, and yet his story has many chapters left to be written.
Watch him write a few at Washington over the next few years — there’s good reason to believe they’re going to be something special.
