2014 Football Roster
Witherspoon, Ahkello
vs
Houston
Sep 12 (Fri)
5:30 PM
Jersey Number 23
Ahkello Witherspoon
- Position:
- Defensive Back
- Height:
- 6-3
- Weight:
- 185
- Class:
- Sophomore
- Hometown:
- Sacramento, Calif.
- High School:
- Christian Brothers/Sacramento City CC
Bio
AT COLORADO: Career—He finished tied for 13th on CU’s all-time passes broken up list with 28. He has accepted an invitation to play in the 2017 East-West Shrine Game.
2016 (Sr.)—He played in all 14 games (12 starts) including the Alamo Bowl at right cornerback, earning second-team All-Pac-12 honors from both the Associated Press and the league coaches. He led the nation in pass breakups with 23 on the year (including the bowl); the 22 in the regular season tied for the most in CU single-season history (Ben Kelly had 22 in 1998). He ranked second in the nation in total passes defended with 23, trailing only teammate Tedric Thompson’s 25. His lone interception on the year was one of CU's biggest plays of the season, as his pick in the end zone at Oregon when the Ducks had the ball inside the CU 10-yard line with under a minute to play sealed the 41-38 victory. He was credited with at least one pass breakup in 12 games, including seven games with multiple pass breakups (high of four versus Utah). He was in for 797 snaps on defense, recording 24 tackles, 10 third down stops and six touchdown saves. He helped the CU secondary rank No. 3 in the country in pass efficiency defense at 98.1 while opposing quarterbacks completed just 48.3 percent of their passes in averaging only 182.5 yards per game, ranking as the 13th-best passing defense in the FBS. He had a pass breakup in each of the first eight games of the season and was one of only two players in the nation (along with Indiana’s Rashard Fant) to have a pass breakup in every game through the end of October. He posted three tackles and two pass breakups in 49 plays at No. 4 Michigan, and recovered the first fumble of his career at USC, which was one of four takeaways for the Buffs in that contest. He forced the first fumble of his career on at Arizona, a game in which he set a new season/career-high with six tackles. In the bowl game against Oklahoma State, he had one solo tackles and a pass break up. He missed almost all of spring practices after suffering a mid-foot sprain early on (March 14); he was 100 percent by the end of April.
2015 (Jr.)—He played in all 13 games, including eight starts, all made at the left cornerback position. He racked up 41 total tackles (36 solo, one a tackle for zero), along with posting seven third down stops, four pass deflections, two touchdown saves and two interceptions, the latter coming in back-to-back games against Oregon and Arizona State. He had a career/season-high six tackles on two occasions, at Hawai’i in the season opener and against Oregon, all of them solo in both games. He had four solo tackles at Oregon State, three of them coming on third downs. He opened the scoring in the spring game with a 69-yard interception return for the Gold team (one of two picks he had in the four main spring scrimmages).
2014 (Soph.)—He played in 10 games, five on defense with one start (at Southern California) as he was hampered at the beginning of the season with a back injury that surfaced in the middle of August camp. He was in for 144 snaps on defense, recording 12 tackles (10 solo), with two pass deflections and a third down stop. He had a season-high five tackles (four solo) against Oregon State, when he also had a pass deflection. He had three unassisted tackles at Oregon, when he played his most snaps in a single game (45). On special teams, he had a knockdown block and an interception on a 2-point conversion try (the latter against Utah). He had a tremendous spring, recording 11 tackles and eight passes broken up in the four main scrimmages; he had three solo stops, an interception and four PBU’s in the spring game alone, three of the latter coming in the end zone. He signed with the Buffs in the December junior college signing period and enrolled in classes for the spring semester; he came to Colorado with four years to play three in eligibility.
AT SACRAMENTO CITY COLLEGE—He played one season at Sacramento City College, starting at cornerback. In eight games, he racked up 21 tackles (15 solo), with seven passes broken up and a forced fumble; he had also had three interceptions, which tied for third in the Mid-Empire Conference. His top game came against Siskiyous, when he had eight tackles (seven solo) and a PBU. Under coach Dannie Walker, Sac City was 1-9 his only season there.
HIGH SCHOOL—He played just one season of high school football, starting at cornerback his senior year at Christian Brothers. He was in on 25 tackles (14 solo), with four passes broken up and an interception. Despite his short prep career, he had over a dozen schools interested in him. Top games as a senior: in a 23-20 win over River City, he had three tackles, with five points scored on kicks (2-3 PAT, 1-2 FG, the latter good from 35 yards); he missed a late field goal try to tie the game but on the next drive, intercepted a pass on defense and returned it 34 yards to the 4-yard line, setting up the winning touchdown with 13 seconds left in the game. In a 45-6 win over McClatchy, he had three tackles and scored nine points, converting all six PAT kicks and drilling a 35-yard field goal. Under coach George Petrissans, Christian Brothers was 6-5 his senior year. He also lettered twice in basketball (point guard), averaging 16 points and seven assists as a senior, and two times in baseball (outfield), owning a .300 batting average with 21 stolen bases his senior season. He also played soccer as a freshman.
ACADEMICS—He is majoring in EBIO (Ecology & Evolutionary Biology) at Colorado. He has aspirations of becoming a doctor after his football career is over.
PERSONAL—He was born March 21, 1995 in Oak Park, Calif. His hobbies include playing basketball and singing (particularly rhythm and blues). His father, Lucky, was a tailback at Nevada-Reno, and a cousin, Mike Brown, played basketball at the University of Rhode Island. A grandfather, Jimmy Witherspoon, was a blues artist, with his best known song, Ain’t Nobody’s Business, reaching No. 1 on the R&B charts in 1949. His full name is James Ahkello Elec Witherspoon. (First name is pronounced ah-kellow.)
2016 (Sr.)—He played in all 14 games (12 starts) including the Alamo Bowl at right cornerback, earning second-team All-Pac-12 honors from both the Associated Press and the league coaches. He led the nation in pass breakups with 23 on the year (including the bowl); the 22 in the regular season tied for the most in CU single-season history (Ben Kelly had 22 in 1998). He ranked second in the nation in total passes defended with 23, trailing only teammate Tedric Thompson’s 25. His lone interception on the year was one of CU's biggest plays of the season, as his pick in the end zone at Oregon when the Ducks had the ball inside the CU 10-yard line with under a minute to play sealed the 41-38 victory. He was credited with at least one pass breakup in 12 games, including seven games with multiple pass breakups (high of four versus Utah). He was in for 797 snaps on defense, recording 24 tackles, 10 third down stops and six touchdown saves. He helped the CU secondary rank No. 3 in the country in pass efficiency defense at 98.1 while opposing quarterbacks completed just 48.3 percent of their passes in averaging only 182.5 yards per game, ranking as the 13th-best passing defense in the FBS. He had a pass breakup in each of the first eight games of the season and was one of only two players in the nation (along with Indiana’s Rashard Fant) to have a pass breakup in every game through the end of October. He posted three tackles and two pass breakups in 49 plays at No. 4 Michigan, and recovered the first fumble of his career at USC, which was one of four takeaways for the Buffs in that contest. He forced the first fumble of his career on at Arizona, a game in which he set a new season/career-high with six tackles. In the bowl game against Oklahoma State, he had one solo tackles and a pass break up. He missed almost all of spring practices after suffering a mid-foot sprain early on (March 14); he was 100 percent by the end of April.
2015 (Jr.)—He played in all 13 games, including eight starts, all made at the left cornerback position. He racked up 41 total tackles (36 solo, one a tackle for zero), along with posting seven third down stops, four pass deflections, two touchdown saves and two interceptions, the latter coming in back-to-back games against Oregon and Arizona State. He had a career/season-high six tackles on two occasions, at Hawai’i in the season opener and against Oregon, all of them solo in both games. He had four solo tackles at Oregon State, three of them coming on third downs. He opened the scoring in the spring game with a 69-yard interception return for the Gold team (one of two picks he had in the four main spring scrimmages).
2014 (Soph.)—He played in 10 games, five on defense with one start (at Southern California) as he was hampered at the beginning of the season with a back injury that surfaced in the middle of August camp. He was in for 144 snaps on defense, recording 12 tackles (10 solo), with two pass deflections and a third down stop. He had a season-high five tackles (four solo) against Oregon State, when he also had a pass deflection. He had three unassisted tackles at Oregon, when he played his most snaps in a single game (45). On special teams, he had a knockdown block and an interception on a 2-point conversion try (the latter against Utah). He had a tremendous spring, recording 11 tackles and eight passes broken up in the four main scrimmages; he had three solo stops, an interception and four PBU’s in the spring game alone, three of the latter coming in the end zone. He signed with the Buffs in the December junior college signing period and enrolled in classes for the spring semester; he came to Colorado with four years to play three in eligibility.
AT SACRAMENTO CITY COLLEGE—He played one season at Sacramento City College, starting at cornerback. In eight games, he racked up 21 tackles (15 solo), with seven passes broken up and a forced fumble; he had also had three interceptions, which tied for third in the Mid-Empire Conference. His top game came against Siskiyous, when he had eight tackles (seven solo) and a PBU. Under coach Dannie Walker, Sac City was 1-9 his only season there.
HIGH SCHOOL—He played just one season of high school football, starting at cornerback his senior year at Christian Brothers. He was in on 25 tackles (14 solo), with four passes broken up and an interception. Despite his short prep career, he had over a dozen schools interested in him. Top games as a senior: in a 23-20 win over River City, he had three tackles, with five points scored on kicks (2-3 PAT, 1-2 FG, the latter good from 35 yards); he missed a late field goal try to tie the game but on the next drive, intercepted a pass on defense and returned it 34 yards to the 4-yard line, setting up the winning touchdown with 13 seconds left in the game. In a 45-6 win over McClatchy, he had three tackles and scored nine points, converting all six PAT kicks and drilling a 35-yard field goal. Under coach George Petrissans, Christian Brothers was 6-5 his senior year. He also lettered twice in basketball (point guard), averaging 16 points and seven assists as a senior, and two times in baseball (outfield), owning a .300 batting average with 21 stolen bases his senior season. He also played soccer as a freshman.
ACADEMICS—He is majoring in EBIO (Ecology & Evolutionary Biology) at Colorado. He has aspirations of becoming a doctor after his football career is over.
PERSONAL—He was born March 21, 1995 in Oak Park, Calif. His hobbies include playing basketball and singing (particularly rhythm and blues). His father, Lucky, was a tailback at Nevada-Reno, and a cousin, Mike Brown, played basketball at the University of Rhode Island. A grandfather, Jimmy Witherspoon, was a blues artist, with his best known song, Ain’t Nobody’s Business, reaching No. 1 on the R&B charts in 1949. His full name is James Ahkello Elec Witherspoon. (First name is pronounced ah-kellow.)
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