DeaMonte "Chip" Trayanum is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. Ther ...

who plays for

Kentucky Wildcats The Kentucky Wildcats are the men's and women's intercollegiate athletic squads of the University of Kentucky (UK), a founding member of the Southeastern Conference. The Kentucky Wildcats is the student body of the University of Kentucky. 30,473 ...

. He previously played for the

Arizona State Sun Devils The Arizona State Sun Devils are the athletic teams that represent Arizona State University. ASU has nine men's and eleven women's varsity teams competing at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member ...

and

Ohio State Buckeyes The Ohio State Buckeyes are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Ohio State University, located in Columbus, Ohio. The athletic programs are named after the colloquial term for people from the state of Ohio and after the state tre ...

Early life

Trayanum was born in

Akron, Ohio Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 Census, the city prop ...

. He attended

Archbishop Hoban High School Archbishop Hoban High School is a Catholic college-preparatory school in Akron, Ohio. It is sponsored by the Catholic religious order Brothers of Holy Cross. History In the early 1950s, Archbishop Edward F. Hoban invited the Brothers of Holy Cros ...

where he was a four-year starter and helped them win three consecutive state championships. As a

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

, he played

and

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...

, averaging 12.4 yards-per-rush and gaining 1,313 rushing yards with 26

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Amer ...

s while also having eight sacks in his school's undefeated season. Trayanum was named a first-team All-Ohio Division II selection for his performance. Prior to his senior season, he committed to play college football for the

as the first-ranked running back in

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, a four-star recruit, the fifth-best player in the state and the 24th-best running back nationally according to

247Sports 247Sports is an American network of websites that focus mainly on college recruiting, athletic recruitment in college football and college basketball, basketball. It is owned and operated by Paramount Global, Paramount. The website hosts a larg ...

. His missed much of his senior season due to injury.

College career

Trayanum had the options to play linebacker or running back coming out of high school and opted to play the latter at Arizona State. As a true freshman for the Sun Devils, he appeared in all four games during the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

-shortened season and totaled 290 rushing yards and four touchdowns, averaging 5.9 yards-per-carry. The following season, he played nine games and ran 78 times for 402 yards with six touchdowns, averaging 5.2 yards-per-carry although his playing time decreased after two fumbles. He entered the

NCAA transfer portal The NCAA transfer portal is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) application, database, and compliance tool launched on October 15, 2018, to manage and facilitate the process for student athletes seeking to transfer between member ...

after the year. Trayanum ultimately transferred to his hometown

. He changed his position to linebacker upon joining the team. He played several positions in his first season, including linebacker,

return specialist A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another position ...

, and late in the year switched back to running back due to Ohio State's lack of depth at the position. He had his top game of the season against the Michigan Wolverines, running for 83 yards on 14 attempts. Trayanum finished the year with 92 rushing yards, 13 total

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position), a position in American football and Canadian football ** Dump tackle, a forceful move in rugby of picking u ...

and three

kickoff Kickoff or kick-off may refer to * Kick-off (association football) * Kickoff (gridiron football) * ''Kick Off'' (series), a series of computer association football games * ''Kick Off'' (album), a 1985 album by Onyanko Club * ''Kick Off'' (mag ...

returns for 29 yards. Trayanum entered the 2023 season as the third-string running back on the depth chart, behind

TreVeyon Henderson TreVeyon Henderson (born October 22, 2002) is an American football running back for the Ohio State Buckeyes. Henderson attended high school at Hopewell High School in Hopewell, Virginia, where he set many school records, and was a 5-star recru ...

and Miyan Williams. He scored his first touchdown in an Ohio State uniform against the

Western Kentucky Hilltoppers The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers and Lady Toppers are the athletic teams that represent Western Kentucky University (WKU), located in Bowling Green, Kentucky, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the NCAA Division I ranks, competing in the Co ...

on a 40-yard run. Against Notre Dame the following week, he scored a game-winning one-yard touchdown in the last second to win 17–14. On December 6, 2023, Trayanum announced that he would be entering the transfer portal. He committed to Kentucky on December 12, 2023.

References

External links

Arizona State profile

Ohio State profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trayanum, Chip Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American football linebackers American football running backs Arizona State Sun Devils football players Ohio State Buckeyes football players Players of American football from Akron, Ohio Kentucky Wildcats football players