Good Sports: Former Clovis Cougar Adam Prentice playing his 6th year of college football at South Carolina

CLOVIS, Calif. (KFSN) -- The South Carolina Gamecocks take on Ole Miss this weekend. The oldest Gamecock on the team hails from the Central Valley.

"It's great to see the good guys having success and he really is one of those ultimate good guys," says Clovis High's football coach Rich Hammond about Adam Prentice.

Before becoming a division one football player, Prentice was a three-sport athlete at Clovis High School - playing football, wrestling, and track.

"He was so competitive in all three of those arenas because he was so detail-oriented and disciplined in terms of what you coached him to do - to a T," says Hammond.

The former Cougar, a standout in athletics and the classroom, graduated with an over 4.0 grade point average and was dedicated to community service.

"He would play on Fridays and be at the soup kitchen on Saturdays and altar boy on Sundays," says Hammond.

His senior year, Prentice's father Gary was diagnosed with leukemia.

"Him and I had gone out to CSU on a visit, I committed while I was there, a few days later he got sick, less than a month after he got sick, he passed away. In less than a month I moved to Colorado. That was tough having to leave my family in those circumstances," says Prentice.

Prentice played five seasons with the Rams and earned a medical redshirt year after tearing his ACL after graduating last fall with a degree in Civil Engineering. He decided his football career wasn't over.

"It's a free year, not many college athletes get to say they get 6 years to play football," he says.

The fullback transferred to South Carolina and is pursuing his master's in structural engineering. At age 23, he's the oldest player on the team and tries to be a leader for his younger teammates.

"...Show them it's easier just to do the right thing from the get-go, establish a good credibility with your coaches and professors, it'll just help you in the long run and ultimately your overall success," he says.

They're lessons that his father instilled in him and he's keeping alive in his memory.

"As tough as it is and how much I'd love to have my dad in the stands watching every game, I know he has the best seats in the house watching up there, so I know he's watching and keeping track," Prentice says.