Sophomore Donovan Olugbode sees recruitment heat up, set to lead dynamic Montini receiving corps

ST. CHARLES – Montini football coach Mike Bukovsky playfully joked that he had a race recently with Donovan Olugbode to see who would dunk in a basketball game first.

“He did last week. He beat me,” Bukovsky said. “I was close. He was scared.”

All kidding aside, Olugbode is a soaring talent.

Montini’s 6-foot-2 sophomore receiver built on a strong freshman season last fall with impressive performances at 7-on-7 showcases earlier this year. In June, he received scholarship offers from Iowa, Missouri and Nebraska after competing at each of those school’s camps.

“I knew it was going to come, but it feels good knowing that they’re looking at me and that I’m doing good,” Olugbode said.

Olugbode is one reason why Bukovsky believes his Broncos can bounce back from a disappointing season by their standards. Montini in 2021 went 3-6, missing the playoffs for the first time since 1992.

Montini was in action June 30 at the Fox Valley 7-on-7 at St. Charles North.

“Feeling really good,” Bukovsky said. “We have a lot of young guys, a lot of new offensive things we’re putting in. We are where we need to be. The big thing is we need to work on our defense and improve. I love our offseason attitude. It’s much better that it’s been in a while. If that’s an indicator, we’re looking good, but you know when you play our schedule, every week is a war. We have to be ready.”

Bukovsky certainly loves the attitude and work ethic that his talented young receiver has shown.

“Donovan is a special player and he knows that and he’s doing everything the right way,” Bukovsky said. “My big thing is he’s learning, he’s growing and he’s absorbing everything like a sponge. He wants to get better. After basketball practice he was up in the weight room pounding weights to get as strong as he can.”

Olugbode said he was “OK” with his freshman year, but he’s worked to get stronger, faster and more agile and to run better routes. Competitions like the one in St. Charles help.

“It feels good to compete against schools that you wouldn’t normally play in conference or during the season,” Olugbode said.

“Donovan has really learned to polish his routes and he’s a competitor,” Bukovsky said. “He can leap and also with his length he has an excellent catch radius. He’s the whole package, he can do it all, a very talented young man. But we have some guys around him.”

Bukovsky is quite bullish about his receiving corps as a whole. Mingo Nixon also returns, JJ Turner was Montini’s leading receiver last year as a sophomore with 48 catches for 650 yards and Trey Barrett is back after an injury midway through last season.

“We have the potential to have a very deep and good receiving corps,” Bukovsky said.

Senior quarterback Cole Teschner also is back, as is multi-talented, versatile junior Dominic Catalano. Junior Alex Marre figures to be Montini’s lead running back after Joshua Robinson’s transfer to Bolingbrook.

“Alex had a really great three games as a sophomore and then he broke his leg,” Bukovsky said. “I think he will be a special player and really show a lot of people. He has a chance to show off what he can do.”

Defensively, Michael Wind and Luke Cushing will be back on the line. Three linebackers have experience – third-year starter Jonathan Goff, George Asay and Caden Phengkeokaisone.

“The secondary is a great mix of some really talented guys and veteran guys,” Bukovsky said. “I think we got it all. It will depend on our attitude and our work ethic.”