Ashanti Cistrunk sat sandwiched between his parents behind a table in the Louisville High School auditorium.
Cistrunk donned a white polo shirt, and to his right, a projection screen flashed some of the signature plays he produced during his decorated career.
The 6-foot-2, 205-pound linebacker before long grabbed a red Ole Miss hat, placed it on his head and lifted his right hand to his forehead to mimic the well-known Landshark gesture.
Cistrunk, listed as a 3-star recruit by 247Sports.com, will head to Oxford next month as an early enrollee.
“I went up there in March for Junior Day, and the coaches brought me into the unit as if I was their own,” Cistrunk said. “It felt like I was at another home.”
Cistrunk selected Ole Miss over Vanderbilt after deciding Ole Miss gave him the best opportunity to begin his college career early. He completed his final class at Louisville earlier this month.
“What made me choose Ole Miss over Vanderbilt, Vanderbilt really wasn’t bringing me in in January, and I didn’t want to sit around Louisville for one whole semester. I wanted to go ahead and get started.”
Family members, teammates and members of the Louisville community filled the auditorium Thursday for Cistrunk’s signing ceremony and press conference. The support, he said, was overwhelming.
“It meant a lot,” Cistrunk said. “Everyone there was there to support me, and it really motivates me to know that I have so many people behind me. I noticed that they were happier for me than I was for myself.”
Cistrunk missed four games with injury this season, but he still compiled 109 total tackles with four for a loss. He recorded five interceptions and recovered three fumbles during Louisville's 15-win, state championship season.
“I can’t complain about anything that happened this season,” said Cistrunk, who plans to major in international business. “It was my senior season, and I hate that I got hurt, but it was God’s will, so it happened. We came out with a state championship, and it’s amazing. I’m going to remember this team. It was a great team, and all of us were connected like brothers, and that’s what led to us winning state.”
Over the last three seasons, Cistrunk has tallied 303 tackles, posted six sacks, intercepted 10 passes and recovered five fumbles. He hopes to replicate that production in college, and arriving early, he said, will give him an early start on achieving that goal.
“I feel like it will get me used to the college atmosphere, and I’ll be able to settle down easier,” he said. “And with football, I believe I’ll get faster and stronger and put on more weight by the time the season starts, and then I could possibly get more playing time than I would if I had reported in the summer.”
While Thursday signaled a new chapter in his life, Cistrunk said he’ll forever be grateful to his Louisville teammates and coaches. Although Cistrunk will no longer don the Wildcats’ red-and-black uniforms in the fall, he and his family will remain some of the school’s biggest supporters.
“It always has been something big for me because my dad is a big Wildcats fan,” Cistrunk said. “He’s still going to go to all of the Louisville games. I grew up as a Louisville Wildcat, and it’s a big part of my life.”
