From France to football for Kande

Euless (Texas) Trinity's Prinz Kande is not new to the game of football. He has been playing since seventh grade. While that may be a late start compared to many other Texas natives, Kande is not your typical Texan. The defensive back prospect moved to Texas when he was 11 years old from his native land of France and though his childhood may not be football-heavy, his future looks like it will be.

With three football scholarship offers already in hand, the move has seemingly paid off.

"Wisconsin offered, Kansas offered, and New Mexico offered," Kande said. "They're all pretty good schools. Right now I've really broken it down to Wisconsin and Kansas. I'm talking to coaches and parents trying to figure out what the best place is."

Predictably, Kande's European childhood didn't render him a fan of any one school in particular. Instead, Kande has become a fan of the game of football in general.

"I just love the game," he said. "It's hard [to pick a school] because I'm not from here. I didn't really grow up with football. I just love the game. I used to play basketball a lot. All these Trinity coaches they really got me into it."

Without the bias of a childhood favorite, Kande is keeping academics in mind when he does select a school.

"I'm really looking for an education," he said. "I really want to do this for my mom. She really wants me to go to a school to graduate. And I just want to go somewhere where I can play early."

Among the other schools that have shown interest beyond his three offers have been Rice, Nebraska, Tulsa, Buffalo and Utah. However, as word of Kande's versatility and ability on the field spreads, that list of interested parties may grow.

"My freshman year and sophomore year I played corner," said the 5-foot-11 185-pounder. "Last year I played safety. Depending on what the scheme of the week is, I may move down a couple plays and play corner or I may move back and play safety."

Kande's versatility is what makes him such a unique prospect. He couples a corner's coverage ability with a safety's ability to support the run.

"It's hard because I got so comfortable playing corner and then they moved me to safety and I didn't know what to do," he said. "I still miss corner but I'm starting to like safety.

"About corner, I really like just being with the receiver and covering them one on one, being able to compete and just shut them down. At safety, I really like to hit so I like playing both of it."