Last season North Canyon wide receiver Solomon Enis had 64 catches for 1,144 yards and 10 touchdowns. Those numbers were good enough to earn Enis 5A second team all state honors. This year, Solomon is considered the top senior wide receiver in Arizona, and possibly the number one overall recruit in the state.
Heavily Recruited
Solomon has over 20 college scholarship offers, but has narrowed the list of schools he’s considering down to Arizona State, Arizona, USC, California, Utah, Mississippi, and Penn State.
“It shows how much work I put in going into my junior year, my team backing me up that year, as well as this year. They just help me out a lot. So it means a lot to me personally, but as a team and the school, representing the teachers, the staff, that just means a lot” Enis said.
Just want to say thank you to the people who been along this journey with me! #NCvsEverybody pic.twitter.com/k32Y46Zu1K
— Solomon (@SolomonEnis) August 17, 2017
At 6’4” and 205 pounds with track speed, Enis’s big play potential allows the Rattlers to have a quick strike offense. This season Solomon has 21 catches for 330 yards and 3 touchdowns. “He’s definitely dominant. He outworks everybody, so whenever he goes on the field it’s so much easier for him compared to everybody else, and he’s 6’4″ and he can jump, so it makes it easy.” said Tre O’Guinn, North Canyon Linebacker.
Rattlers head coach Airabin Justin adds, “his ability to make something happen after the catch, usually someone that big they can’t move as well as he does.” O’Guinn says, “I like to stand on the bench so I can see everything over everybody, because you never know what you’re going to miss.”
Enis was a can’t miss prospect at Nike’s The Opening camp in Oregon this past summer, where 166 of the top players in the country gathered to train for a week.
“It was just fun competing with the nation’s best and elevating my game, and boosting my confidence so I could bring it back here. Jerry Rice was out there helping us out and top coaches from NFL programs like that. Coaches that played the game and the best at it. So they were helping us out with the little details, because it’s not always about speed or catching the ball. It’s the details about your route running. I was running routes with him (Rice) and doing foot work with him. All of that good stuff, so it was fun. ” Enis said.
Solomon has another former NFL player he can lean on for advice, his biological father Curtis. Curtis is a former All Amercian running back at Penn State, who also spent 3 years playing for the Chicago Bears before injuries ended his career. “He was a great player in college, made the NFL, made his dream come true. He instilled that in me. When we hang out and talk about football, he passes that knowledge down to me. So it’s good to have that outlet, that guy to talk to that’s been there and done it. Where you want to go.” Solomon said.
From the Endzone to the Runway
While playing in the NFL is one of Solomon’s goals, his future after football involves opening his own sneaker boutique and selling street wear clothing. Enis has already started his own business venture, painting and selling shoes to classmates.
“One day I was on YouTube and a recommended video popped up, and I was like hey, I think I can do that. I just got a white pair of shoes, ordered the paint, and just did it. I enjoyed it. It was my outlet to just relax and not really think about anything else. When they tell me what they want, I go on Google images and I either put a trace down like a stencil or I freehand it on the shoe with a pencil. It depends on the shoe and just get my paint and go to work. Paint brush all by hand.” Solomon said it usually takes a couple of days to paint a pair of shoes and he has charged anywhere from $30 – $60.
For now, the senior wide receiver is hoping to cash in on his final season at North Canyon and lead the Rattlers to the playoffs. “We haven’t made the playoffs since 2011. That’s a big goal for me. All of the other stuff I am not really worried about. I want to share that moment with my teammates.”
