The story behind Israel Antwine's flip to Colorado

The day before the December 20 National Signing Day, there were reports (including one from us) that Oklahoma City (Okla.) Millwood defensive tackle Israel Antwine was flipping from his Oklahoma State commitment to Colorado.

Antwine did end up signing with the Buffaloes on that Wednesday morning in December, but even that morning, Antwine was still torn between the two schools, despite the news that broke the day before.

"Up until about 45 minutes before he signed, I wasn't sure what he'd do," Dwayne Antwine, Israel's father, said. "He was back and forth the night before. I knew he was leaning towards Colorado because the academic support was significant to him and playing early was attractive to him."

The elder Antwine spoke at length with CUSportsNation.com about his son's decision to choose the Buffaloes.

"We liked everything about Oklahoma State," Dwayne Antwine explained. "The decision [to commit] to Oklahoma State made a lot of sense for Israel -- being home, the connections, and as it relates to family, it was the superior decision on the surface. We liked the school and the fact that the program is consistently in the top 25. There's a lot of pluses to Oklahoma State. And we made that decision right after the official visit to Colorado -- a week or so after it. Were we torn? Absolutely.

"It wasn't 'recruiting stuff' that drew us [to Colorado]. It was the fact that they have an academic support staff there that I have not seen any place else. There is a lady there, her name is Katie [Bason], and she helps them get acclimated to college academics and college life. There's a lot of attention on that. The graduation rate is 92%. That along with the depth chart at Colorado -- before signing day, they had six D-lineman. After signing day, they're up to nine now, and I think Oklahoma State is at about 17.

"What we noticed during the recruiting process is that incoming lineman are typically redshirted. I'm not against it, I understand it; however, Israel is 295 pounds and feels like he can play [as a freshman]."

"There's some acclimation stuff that will have to take place in Colorado with the thin air and all of that. They put a lot of emphasis on certain foods that help with that and training."

Antwine was initially committed to Ole Miss but decommitted shortly after the Hugh Freeze scandal became public knowledge.

"When the situation happened with Hugh Freeze down at Ole Miss, Israel and I got in our vehicle and drove to his high school and walked to the middle of the football field," Antwine said. "We knelt and prayed. What I prayed that day was for the right school to emerge."

And the right school did emerge. Even though the Antwine family committed to Oklahoma State in October, the right school was Colorado. The Buffaloes' staff had a lot to do with the decision with how persistent they were during the process.

"Coach MacIntyre and Coach DJ Eliot recruited us incredibly," Antwine said. "Even after the verbal commitment to Oklahoma State, coach Eliot asked me to call him and said 'coach MacIntyre says not to stop recruiting Israel. I wanted to see what you guys thought about that.' I said that's okay since he hadn't signed yet. Inside I was really happy to hear that. In a months time, they showed up in Oklahoma four times."

Dwayne and Israel took in the Pearl Street Stampede the day before the Buffs hosted Arizona in October. A very small, but impactful, event occurred that evening when the Antwine's heard an interesting story about Mike MacIntyre.

"Our host Mike Slife took us to the Stampede and we were driving back to the hotel," the elder Antwine recalled. "While we were driving, there were crowds of people on the streets, and [our host Mike Slife] heard someone use foul language. He said, 'Boy, it's a good thing coach Mac isn't around.' I asked why, and he said that [MacIntyre] would have that guy put some money in the swear jar. He said, 'If any of the coaches get caught using bad language, they have to put five dollars in the swear jar per occurrence.' MacIntyre doesn't think that bad language needs to be used to get a message across, and he doesn't like anybody talking to the guys like that.

"That told me a lot about the character of the program."

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A couple of days before Antwine made his commitment to Oklahoma State, a story was posted on newsok.com that revealed that Antwine has symptoms of autism.

He's on the high functioning end on the spectrum, as he has great grades in school and isn't phased by crowds or loud environments.

Where his autism does show is in social situations, but he's come a long way with the help of his father to better understand various social instances.

"We've worked hard to overcome some limitations that Israel has had," Antwine said. "He's really up to speed and is a very intelligent person. As it relates to those things, it's primarily social.

"When he was a kid, he was less tolerant. He's a really quiet person. If someone made a joke that included him, then we were going to have problems, maybe not that day but it was coming."

Before Israel committed to OSU, Dwayne spoke with their coaching staff to let them know of his son's situation, but they already knew about it. The coach Dwayne spoke with, defensive line coach Joe Bob Clements, has a son that has a more severe form of autism than Antwine, so he was able to tell that Antwine was autistic.

The Colorado coaching staff learned about Israel's autism via the newsok.com story, although they did know that Antwine was different. After reading the story, CU coach Mike MacIntyre got on the phone with Dwayne.

"After that story aired, I talked to coach MacIntyre, and he said, 'I just read that story. I have to tell you, it's a beautiful story. I really wanted to coach Israel before, but I really, really want to coach him now. I think we're the right program for him.'"

Israel's mother is still involved in his life, but Dwayne has raised Israel as a single father primarily for the past 10 years. Dwayne has dedicated so much of his life to taking care of his son.

"Israel and I are very, very close," Dwayne said. "Some of the people close to us are concerned about Israel being away from me. My dad called me a week or so ago and told me that I should go to Colorado to be close to him and help him. That's the sentiment from the majority of my family members. Not that he needs me so much now, but he has a lot more confidence if I'm around."

Israel would certainly like his father around while he's in college, but it goes both ways -- Dwayne might need Israel around in his life too.

"My dad said that -- exactly," Dwayne explained. "He said, "I'm not as concerned with how well Israel will do as I am with you. You've dedicated a lot of your life to [Israel], and I'm concerned with how well you'll do if he's not around you.'"

When Israel started getting recruited, Dwayne asked him make a list of the five most important things to him in a school.

The five things consist of going to a place that can help him reach his dream of the NFL, a family atmosphere, a place where his father wouldn't mind living, great academics, and finally, a school that he'd like to give back to after he graduates.

Some of those things are yet to be determined, but the third item on the list is true. Colorado is a place where Dwayne wouldn't mind living, and the Antwine family will continue in the Centennial State as Dwayne will be making the move as Israel begins his college career at CU in 2018.