Cephus ‘right where he wanted me to be’
October 21, 2017 | Football, Mike Lucas, Varsity Magazine
Quintez Cephus is fulfilling his dreams — and the hopes of his late father — by playing Wisconsin football
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BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
MADISON, Wis. — Quintez Cephus has his late father's initials ("AJT") on his Wisconsin helmet. He also has his wallet, his cell phone and a jacket that he once wore. They are keepsakes — and reminders.
On April 3, Andre Jamar Taylor was shot in the back of the head after walking away from an argument in the parking lot of a convenience store in Macon, Georgia.
Taylor died less than 24 hours later. He was 39.
On game days, Cephus carries Taylor's obituary, the one that he picked up at the funeral. He takes the obit with him to the sidelines and turns it over to an athletic trainer for safe keeping.
"Sometimes, I have a hard time before games because I know that he's not here," Cephus said. "It makes me upset that he's not able to watch me. I get emotional.
"I'm always thinking about what he would be doing if he was here. I know he'd be going crazy talking about me and the success that I've been fortunate to have to this point.
"I know he'd be really excited and proud, really proud."
On his pregame routine, the sophomore wide receiver said, "I keep the obituary with me when I go on the field because I know that he would be telling me good luck … I know that he's there with me."
Last Saturday, Cephus caught five passes for a career-high 100 yards in Wisconsin's 17-9 win over Purdue at Camp Randall Stadium. His athletic skills and competitive fire stood out.
In the first quarter, quarterback Alex Hornibrook delivered a 14-yard strike to the 6-foot-1, 205-pound Cephus in the end zone — his fourth touchdown reception in four games and fifth of the season.
"I would be lying if I didn't say he's further along at this point than I thought he would be," said UW wide receivers coach Ted Gilmore. "And that's a tribute to him working at it and paying attention.
"He's an unbelievable competitor. He wants to win his one-on-one every time. He may not be the fastest guy, but his competitiveness is as good as any."
Gameday Mood ?? @QoDeep_87 #OnWisconsin
— Wisconsin Football (@BadgerFB) October 21, 2017
A veteran of two-plus decades as a college assistant, along with three NFL seasons (Oakland Raiders), the 50-year-old Gilmore has become more than a coach to the 19-year-old Cephus.
"He's definitely a role model to me right now," Cephus said. "He's a teacher developing my football and the way I go about my business. And he knows where I'm coming from a lot.
"We can kind of connect that way just based on what he has been through and what I've been though. What I haven't seen yet, he has already done."
Gilmore has also mourned the loss of loved ones.
"Unfortunately, I have dealt with it myself and I have that to fall back on," Gilmore said. "I lost my dad when I was a junior in college (at the University of Wyoming) and I've lost three brothers.
"He (Cephus) knows that and I think it puts everything into perspective from the standpoint when I tell him 'I know what you're going through.' I do know what he's going through.
"And I've let him know, 'It's okay to wear your emotions on your sleeve. Everybody deals with death a little bit differently. Hey, I'm not here to judge you, I'm just here if you need me.'"
"The Bigg Dogg Way" When you cheer on Quintez Cephus today, know what — and who — he plays for each Saturday. ?? http://go.wisc.edu/varsity-8-8
— Wisconsin Football (@BadgerFB) October 21, 2017
Cephus has a similar, but more deeply-rooted relationship with Jamie Dickey, who was his basketball coach at Stratford Academy in Macon and a football assistant/offensive coordinator for two years.
"It's not a coach-to-player relationship, it's more personal," Cephus said. "When I think about Coach Dickey, I think about his smile and him always wanting to see me do well."
Dickey has never hesitated to extend a helping hand to Cephus, then and now.
"Quintez is a very special young man to me and my family and really to all of Macon," said Dickey, who retired from coaching after Cephus graduated. "He's like a son."
They first met when Cephus was going into the eighth grade.
"Big smile, great kid," Dickey said. "But I didn't know if he was any good at sports, I had no clue. He played two-on-two basketball with me and a couple of the seniors that were on the varsity team.
"You can tell a lot about someone from pickup ball. As a 13-year-old, he hung in there with the 18-year-olds. You could tell he had something different about him. I knew he was going to be special."
Dickey had been made aware of Cephus through a middle school guidance counselor who was pitching Cephus to the admissions office at Stratford Academy, a college preparatory school.
"Her exact words were, 'He's the type of student that needs to be in that type of environment where it's cool to make good grades,'" said Dickey. "He wanted to do well in the classroom.
"She was worried he would get into some fights or trouble at the middle school because other people were going to make fun of him. Being an athlete and having good grades wasn't the norm."
Andre Taylor wanted a better life for his son and also pushed Stratford. "I knew Andre well," Dickey said. "We didn't talk all the time. But he'd text and call. He always wanted the best for Quintez."
Although it was hard leaving friends, Cephus said, "There was a lot of trouble at my old school and my dad wanted me to get around kids that wanted to do well and basically get a good education."
Cephus, who has an older brother and two sisters, credited his mom, Lakesha, with keeping the family together while his dad was in prison. Taylor got out when Cephus was in the third grade.
"My mom was there for us, she was our backbone," Cephus said. "She had to hold the fort down for us and she did that. When my dad came home that's when I really got to learn about him."
"I'm a Badger"
— Wisconsin Football (@BadgerFB) October 16, 2017
Meanwhile, it didn't take long for Dickey to find out about Cephus and his basketball gifts.
"We were 1-8 on the varsity level and I thought, 'He's the best player in school, I need to move him up,'" said Dickey, who started Cephus at point guard as a 13-year-old eighth grader.
"He was loved tremendously at Stratford and accepted day one. Whenever you would coach him, even at a young age, he would quickly pick it up. Anything in basketball came very natural."
Stratford has a rule that students must show up by 9:30 a.m. or forfeit any after-school activities for that day. Cephus arrived 30 minutes late and was forced to miss a game his first year there.
"He was devastated because he felt like he was letting the team down," Dickey said. "Stratford doesn't have a bus system and his mom was working and doing other things at times.
"I lived very close to him and I told him, 'You don't have to worry about transportation issues ever again. I'll make sure you're at school on time and you'll get home after practice.'
"I took him to school every day from eighth grade to 11th grade."
Dickey and Cephus got to know each other much better during those short commutes. "Those talks on the way from games and practices," Dickey said, "were a lot more me talking than him."
On those days that Dickey had to get to school earlier than usual, Cephus still rode along. "And I would just go in the gym and shoot and get extra shots," he said.
Basketball was his first love. But Cephus was a natural in all sports.
As an eighth grader, he won the state title in the triple jump and set a school record. "I didn't really practice for it," he said. "It was just jumping, and I was always able to jump."
Cephus went out for football as a Stratford freshman and was the quarterback on the junior varsity team. He really didn't play that much. And, by the end of the season, he was taking snaps at receiver.
"He would make some catches," Dickey said, "that would make you say, 'Man, he might actually be better as a football player than he is as a basketball player.'"
One of Dickey's fondest memories is from 2013 and Cephus' freshman season in basketball.
"He scored 44 points in a region championship game against an in-town rival (Tattnall Square Academy) in a packed gym," he said. "He actually outscored the other team, 44-43. Pretty incredible."
Two years later, Cephus scored a school-record 53 points in the quarterfinals of the state playoffs. "I was making a lot of 3-point shots, I think eight 3s," he said. "I got a few assists, too."
Many of his dunks had Dickey shaking his head in awe. One was highlighted on ESPN's SportsCenter. "He's a really spectacular athlete," Dickey said, citing his "off-the-backboard dunks."
But it was never a slam dunk that Cephus would play basketball in college even though he got his first offer from Clemson as a sophomore and later verbally committed to Furman.
After not playing football during his sophomore year, Cephus went back out for the sport as a junior and lined up again as quarterback. "I was a running quarterback," he said, smiling.
As a senior, he was mostly used on offense as a wide receiver. "I wasn't really running routes and beating guys," he said, noting his own inexperience. "I was just using my athleticism."
Stratford was a Wing-T team with a run-heavy offense.
"Early in the season, he had one-on-ones all the time," Dickey said. "It was basically, 'If you can run past your guy, we'll throw it to you.' Really simple stuff.
"But the first time I knew that he was really special playing football was against Wesleyan. They had two defensive backs that were both committed to colleges.
"And he had eight or nine catches for 100-some yards and three touchdowns. He was really good playing against other really good players. After that, defenses started putting two on him."
When Wisconsin offered a football scholarship, Cephus accepted.
"I was committed to Furman (for basketball)," he said of the Paladins, who are in the Southern Conference, "but in the back of my mind I always knew that I wanted to be in a Power Five conference.
"I wanted to be at a top school where all the great athletes would bring the best out of me. Luckily, I got to come here and train with Coach Gilmore and start working on really being a receiver."
Last season, there was a transition period for Cephus. Especially early on. He wound up earning a spot in the rotation, due in large part to his blocking, and caught four passes in 14 games.
"Being around a lot of guys who just loved football, it was different for me," Cephus said. "These guys have played football their entire lives and I was a basketball player."
But he quickly found his niche on the team and a comfort zone.
"At the end of the day," he said, "it's just competing."
After watching him play this season for the Badgers, Dickey confided, "I still can't get it through my head that he's not playing basketball somewhere.
"But he has truly turned into a football player — just watching him block and how physical and intense he is and how big he has gotten.
"Through the talent that God has given him, he's going to be an inspiration and help with a lot of other kids … He's still learning and growing, too. It's not like he's a finished product."
Enter Gilmore, who's determined to shape Cephus and get him to that point.
"He's a very prideful guy, he wants to please you," he said. "So, when he makes a mistake and you're coaching him, you had to make sure to say, 'This is not personal. I'm just coaching you.'
"As he gets to know you, as he has that trust in you, he can handle it all. You can come down on him harder, because he knows that you care."
That resonated for Cephus — how much Gilmore really cared for him not only as a player but as a person — after he received the phone call from his brother telling him that his father had been shot.
Cephus attempted to make sense of it all with UW head coach Paul Chryst, offensive coordinator Joe Rudolph and Gilmore. They met in Chryst's office and sorted through things.
"We were just trying to get him to calm down because he had a lot of emotions," Gilmore said. "I pulled Coach Chryst over and said, 'I'm going with him.' Coach said, 'Good' and never opposed it."
Gilmore and Cephus flew to Macon and stayed three days with Dickey, his wife and their three young daughters. Cephus got to see his dad in the hospital before he passed away.
"It was not like I was right behind him every step of the way," Gilmore said. "But I was there if he needed anything. And I learned there are a lot of people who care about him (in Macon).
"That was the first thing that stood out — that this young man has a huge extended family and a lot of people who love him."
Dickey was not surprised by Gilmore's reaction to the community.
"That's the way Stratford is, the whole town of Macon really, they supported Quintez and still do today," he said. "He has a personality everyone at Wisconsin is seeing. You learn to love him.
"We're all still here for him."
Dickey knows that Gilmore has the same commitment to Cephus. He was blown away by the compassion of Gilmore and the UW football program when Cephus was in such a fragile state.
"That meant so much that he didn't have to go through the initial heartbreak alone when he was in Wisconsin," Dickey said, "and he didn't have to travel alone.
"We'll always be a Coach Gilmore fan. That meant a lot when he came down to Macon. Coach Gilmore is an incredible man that has lived up to every single thing that he has said.
"That's from taking care of QT (Quintez) to teaching him how to become a young man. We're so happy that he chose Wisconsin. He's in a great environment.
On the return trip from Macon to Madison, Gilmore and Cephus had a heart-to-heart.
"Coach Gilmore was saying that my father told him to take care of me and that's why he wanted to be there," said Cephus. "He promised my dad that he would watch over me.
"And he didn't want to let me out of his sight."
Cephus loves talking about his dad.
"I just think about his mentality more than anything," he reflected. "I say his mentality because I know how determined he was to do things that he said he was going to do.
"If he ever told me he was going to do something for me, no matter what the situation was, he would get it done. He did what he had to do to help me and my brother and sisters.
"He always wanted to be the best at whatever he did. And that's a big thing with me. I'm going to work hard because I know my dad always wanted me to work.
"He'd sacrifice anything in the world for me to be right here," he said of playing football at Wisconsin and working towards getting a college degree. "It's right where he wanted me to be."
