To understand Ashton Ginty’s story, a few things need to be cleared up. Genty’s presence this historic season at Boise State is a miracle, or perhaps written in the stars. There is no reason why a child who was born in Jacksonville, Florida, raised in Italy and developed in Texas should reside in Boise, Idaho. There is no reason for such a player to stick around when a transfer is instant and NIL deals can double or triple.
This is a throwback to putting together one of the greatest seasons in sports history. Through six games, he already has 1,248 yards and 17 touchdowns, giving him a serious chance of challenging Barry Sanders’ all-time rushing and touchdown records. Had Ginty transferred, 247Sports would have named him the best overall transfer in the portal.
His game is the stuff of legend. Genty’s menacing upright stance in the backfield has drawn comparisons to horror villain Michael Myers. His wounds and outbursts are compared to Sanders and Reggie Bush. It is a comfortable running zone or gap charts. Ginty made 56 tackles, the most in college football. There are no holes.
“He’s tough to defend because he’s so versatile,” Wyoming coach Jay Saville said. “He can catch the ball, you can move it, get it out of the backfield and throw it to him, that’s the planning thing. The next part is he’s just a really good player, and you have to deal with the guy. You can plan something all you want, and then they throw the ball and now you have to tackle him.” ”
Many schools were happy to entice Genty with dollar signs. Others may have given him the national exposure he didn’t get at Boise State. In the end, Boise State threaded the needle at the perfect moment in college football history to create a once-in-a-lifetime perfect storm. With any luck, Ginty hopes it turns into an avalanche.
“I hope my decision shines a light on college football players at a bunch of different schools,” Ginty told CBS Sports. “That’s what I wanted to do was be a role model and show people that you can be different. You don’t have to do what everyone else does.”
From Italy with love
For a kid who was a global citizen, Boise, Idaho, didn’t register much on his radar. Ginetti played football at an Italian military base in middle school before transferring to the football-hungry city of Frisco, Texas, before his sophomore year of high school. On a stacked high school team, he played running back, receiver, defensive end, outside linebacker and safety to get on the field.
Jeanty earned all-district honors as a junior…at wide receiver. He was tasked with replacing Denver Broncos receiver Marvin Mims and was knocked out of the starting quarterback snaps by Western Michigan running back Jaden Nixon.
“If you’re not a standout guy by your second year, especially at that position, the big schools already have their students locked out,” Lone Star High School coach Jeff Rayburn told 247Sports. “They’ve been recruiting these guys for a while, and I don’t think Ashton was necessarily a late-rounder. He wasn’t heavily recruited early on.”
Despite the tape mix, Boise State offered before Gainey’s senior year at Frisco (Texas) Lone Star, before he took over the full-time running back position. It was his biggest show ever, although Kansas and California shows came later. He knew a little about Qilin Mor and the Blue Grass from sightseeing, but he certainly didn’t know much about the location.
“If you had asked me when I was younger where Idaho was, I couldn’t even have told you,” Jeanty said. “I’ve been all over the world and my dad was in the military, so I feel like I definitely never saw myself in Idaho.”
Ginty entered the recruiting process late after transferring from Italy as a sophomore. 247Sports
It was consistency during the recruiting process that won me over. Remember, this is a military brat. Loyalty and reliability are the main virtues. Additionally, Boise State has a way of running backs. Since 2012, four NFL running backs have been drafted from the program, including Frisco native Jay Ajayi.
247Sports was later the only recruiting service to lift him up after Jeanty recorded 2,653 all-purpose yards and 41 touchdowns, but a few others entered the mix.
For Danielson, that was a defining moment when he realized what Boise State had. Danielson was serving as defensive coordinator during the Broncos’ second spring scrimmage, when Genty was still 17 against the team’s first-team defense. Danielson was in the coaches’ box and called for short-handed defense for the staff. Genty, as he often does, snapped the ball once, rounded the linebacker and took the ball 70 yards to the house.
“I remember saying into my headset, ‘Boy, watch out for Deuce, he’s going to have a big time,'” Danielson said. “Everyone was like, ‘Yeah, we’ve seen that for a while. You just see his ceiling, and man is it going to be a great time.’
Get my gin there
After two seasons, Jeanty was the biggest star in the Mountain West. He won Offensive Player of the Year in 2023 and recorded more than 2,100 yards and 21 touchdowns in two seasons. As a sophomore, he exploded as a pass catcher, catching 43 passes for 569 yards and five additional touchdowns.
“Not to beat a dead horse, but there’s a lot of things going on in college football with messes and different things out there,” Boise State coach Spencer Danielson said. “But Ashton wanted to be at Boise State. He wanted to be here.”
From a purely monetary perspective, Boise State couldn’t compete. Boise State’s Horseshoe Collective is incredibly competitive, especially at the Group of Five level, but major SEC and Big Ten schools have been in the mix as well.
“He was honest with us,” Boise State athletic director Jeremiah Dickey told CBS Sports. “He was clear that first and foremost, he wanted to be a Bronco. We have a great number of student-athletes that we’ve been able to hold on to. But it’s not just about spending money on a problem, we’re also getting creative about solving it.” How do we deal with it?”
First-year Boise State coach Spencer Danielson has the Broncos in the College Football Playoff race. USATSI
The Horseshoe Collective was able to come up with a competitive number to at least set a baseline. Jeanty has furthered this through branded clothing, endorsements, and plenty of other opportunities. Boise State also aggressively marketed him at every opportunity.
When the Mountain West Association decided to hold media conference days in Las Vegas this July, the association chose Circa Resort near downtown. Just one problem: it’s a 21+ year old facility. Janty is 20 years old as of December. It didn’t matter that he was the biggest star in the conference, he just didn’t have much luck at Boise State.
Instead of sitting around while several national reporters traveled to Las Vegas for Big 12 and Mountain West events, Boise State took action. The sports crew called Bellagio and rented a small room in the back, away from the glitz and glamor of the Strip. After holding several conversations with reporters for about 90 minutes, Ginty was whisked away from the city center to the Golden Gate Hotel, one block away from Circa. There, in a random hotel room, Jeanty conducted more interviews. At a time when many athletic departments hide their stars from interviews, Boise State has been limping along.
“If they don’t come to us, we’ll go to them,” Dickey said.
Ironically, the hallways of the Bellagio Hotel were packed with sports fans demanding autographs. Genty’s media session was just as she left USA Basketball for a pre-Olympic exhibition in Las Vegas. Spectators lined the halls hoping to see star athletes pass by. They didn’t think much of the 20-year-old wearing a backwards hat and heading toward the exits.
If only they knew.
Taking Boise State to new heights
Genty may not have known anything about Boise, Idaho, when he committed to play for the Broncos, but he has since turned his life around. He lives with close friends from the soccer team and has a dog. This Halloween, embrace the Michael Myers-Dress-up-the-Villain comparison. In many ways, Boise State represents the stability that Genty never enjoyed as a passing military brat.
However, there was another star who had to align to keep Genty in Boise: the College Football Playoff. In 2024, the CFP expands to 12 teams and secures a spot for a Group of Five team for the first time ever.
“It definitely made it a lot easier just knowing I had a chance to play in the College Football Playoff,” Ginty said. “It’s not just the so-called prestigious powerhouse schools. Even then, our path may not be as difficult as it is in those other schools. To have this opportunity is tremendous.”
Quietly, a group of key players in other top G5 rivals remained in place. UNLV wide receiver Ricky White III had options. So did Liberty midfielder Kaydon Salter. Texas State running back Ismail Mahdi and Memphis quarterback Seth Hennigan wanted their shot. A good season can end with a serious national championship without having to risk changing positions and having to start over.
“You see the level of hope, it’s contagious,” Dickey said. “It creates momentum for the rest of the department, and that’s powerful. And all of a sudden, you can be included in something that you know has tremendous value from a brand and department standpoint, and from an organization standpoint. There’s a lot riding on the group of five who have that seat, I’m sure Because every ad in the Group of Five feels the same way, it allows you to tell a different story, to get that level of support that will take you to the next level.
On Friday night, Boise State travels to take on UNLV in a battle with serious College Football Playoff implications. The Broncos are viewed as the unanimous favorite to face the field. Their only loss was to top-seeded Oregon, and they have won every other game by double digits. UNLV is perhaps Boise State’s biggest rival in the entire Group of Five.
But for Jenny, this moment is the best case scenario. The youngster is in the middle of the Heisman Trophy race, competing for the top spot with Colorado athlete Travis Hunter. Boise State is having its best team success in more than a decade. Everything will be planned.
“I definitely think this is going to change the course of college football,” Ginty said in July, before he took a single snap or broke a tackle. “Guys are going to understand, ‘Hey, I’m at a winning program. I have as good a chance here as I have at Alabama or LSU. I definitely think that will change things in a big way.’
There are other schools where Genty could have competed for the Heisman Trophy and a trip to the College Football Playoff. At Boise State, that means a little more. The program returns to the National Theater for the first time in more than a decade. Ultimately, Boise State could offer Jenny something no one else could: the opportunity to leave a legacy. Chance of getting a home.
“He chose to stay at Boise State because it was different,” Danielson said. “He knows that in the long run, Ashton Genty will have a place in Boise, Idaho as long as he wants. This is a place Ashton loves.”
