UNI's Sinkfield finds a home at wide receiver

By Nancy Justis. correspondent

CEDAR FALLS - Like most student-athletes, Terrell Sinkfield grew up playing a multitude of sports in his hometown of Minnetonka, Minn.

Now a wide receiver at the University of Northern Iowa, Sinkfield started playing basketball in seventh grade, competing in track at Hopkins High School, and began football when he was 7.

He took up tennis last summer.

Not the game of tennis. He uses tennis balls to hone his skills at catching the football. A running back in the past, he didn't play the receiver until he came to UNI.

“I got (the idea) from Oklahoma,” Sinkfield said. “I seen a documentary on them. They have tennis ball machines that shoot out tennis balls and they catch the tennis balls. The tip of a football is about the size of a tennis ball.

“So over the summer I worked on that. I find a friend, like me and (fellow UNI receiver) Josh Collins, (and we'd) would throw tennis balls or racquet balls to each other to focus on hand-eye coordination. You really just have to look at the ball all the way in. Make sure you catch it before you do anything else.”

The routine must be helping. Sinkfield is tied with Jarred Herring for the team lead with 14 receptions. He's averaging 17.9 yards per catch and has a team-high three touchdowns. He recorded a career-high five catches for 94 yards in UNI's 42-7 win at Southwest Missouri State.

Sinkfield admits the transition from running back to collegiate receiver was difficult at first.

“I caught a little bit as a running back but it was different ‘cause I caught a lot of screens, short passes, so those are kind of easy to catch,” he said. “It took a little while to learn routes, to learn the right way to catch the ball, the right angles.”

“He was a gifted athlete coming out of high school, we just weren't real sure at what position he would play in college,” said UNI co-offensive coordinator and receiver coach Bill Salmon. “That held up the first couple of years as Terrell learned to play the wide receiver position. This year he has given us another weapon to stretch the field, and this is only because of the hard work that ‘Sink' has done in the off season.”

Sinkfield's prep coach, John DenHartog, used to teach in Waterloo. When UNI was recruiting him, DenHartog said if the player ever needed anybody, he had family in the area. His parents have been able to sit in the stands in every game, home or away.

“They've traveled to all my sports my whole life,” Sinkfield said. “I appreciate that.”

Sinkfield said his most memorable moment occurred last year when he scored his first collegiate touchdown in the season opener at home against NDSU. He's looking forward to this year's game in Fargo on Oct. 29. Marcus Williams, his best friend, plays corner for the Bison.

“We've played on the same team since we were seven years old,” Sinkfield said. “Now we go up against each other on every play. We talk every day and call each other up after every game. We talked about this game over the summer. (UNI) got them last year (16-9).”

UNI Coach Mark Farley has said Sinkfield's role “is getting more and more every week.

“Now he's becoming more vital to us,” he added. “He's got great explosiveness. He's got the capability to make the great catch down the sidelines. He's taken ownership to develop his skill in catching and it's paying off for him.

“I can't say enough about Terrell.”