By Craig Morgan, thesundevils.com Writer
CAMP TONTOZONA -- When legendary Sun Devils football coach Frank Kush helped build Camp Tontozona with his own hands in 1960, he reasoned that the remote location and rustic setting would better prepare his players for the challenging season ahead.
"You can accomplish so much more, both mentally and physically, than you can if you're in a normal routine," Kush said. "To me, the legend about this place is the association the players are going to have with each other. That develops the Sun Devil mentality and that, to me, is significant."
When the 2017 football team arrived in the White Mountains on Sunday night, the true freshmen got their latest lesson in that Sun Devil mentality. Stacked
They experienced Camp T's primitive accommodations.
"It was probably one of the most uncomfortable -- not saying it was the most terrible -- but most uncomfortable things I have ever done," freshman defensive back Alex Perry said. "The upper classmen get to stay in these cabins. They're not nice, but the freshmen have to stay in these barracks. It's triple bunks. I'm on the top and I'm literally sleeping with spider webs. I'm sleeping with sweat socks and a sweatshirt tied over my head so only my nose is sticking out so the bugs won't get into my ears.
"And when you get up from those beds -- they're not even beds, they're like mats on wood -- my back feels like it's crippled. I have to stretch every time I get up."
That's not the only challenge for the guys who draw the short straw and sleep on the top bunk.
"I had this fear of rolling over and falling on the ground," running back Eno Benjamin said "That was Night 1."
If the freshmen overcome their fear of falling and spiders, there is a third challenge awaiting them.
"It's so hot up there because it's so high," defensive back Evan Fields said. "I was sweating in my sleep -- when I did sleep -- but it's supposed to make you tough and that is definitely what it is doing."
Much has changed at Camp T since coach Todd Graham reintroduced the tradition. There is better cell service, better Wifi, better kitchen facilities, a revamped field and better food, but the dorms remain largely the same and there is no way to account for Camp T's legendary bugs, whose size seems to grow with every story told.
"I saw a moth as big as my hand, and I wear a 2XL glove," Fields said with wide eyes. "It was above the cafeteria. I definitely stayed away from it."
The bugs find their way into every setting.
"I'm taking a shower and there are spiders crawling on the floor," Perry said. "They're not even showers. It's a cold tub with a faucet. It's freezing cold. I don't even know why they have the temperature [gauge] because it doesn't work. I was in there and half my body was getting wet and I stepped out, put some soap on me and got my other half wet. It's just too cold to stay in there, but that's good because you want to get in and get out because it's so nasty in the shower."
All three freshmen said they prefer practice and all outdoor activities to being indoors at Camp T.
"I like the campfires a lot," Fields said. "I'm not from Arizona. I'm probably the only recruit from Oklahoma so when we tell our backstories it's cool getting to know everybody and know what everybody has been through."
Despite the challenges, Perry said he sees the value of Camp T.
"It's good to be uncomfortable," he said. "That's how you grow as a person."
CAMP TONTOZONA -- When legendary Sun Devils football coach Frank Kush helped build Camp Tontozona with his own hands in 1960, he reasoned that the remote location and rustic setting would better prepare his players for the challenging season ahead.
"You can accomplish so much more, both mentally and physically, than you can if you're in a normal routine," Kush said. "To me, the legend about this place is the association the players are going to have with each other. That develops the Sun Devil mentality and that, to me, is significant."
When the 2017 football team arrived in the White Mountains on Sunday night, the true freshmen got their latest lesson in that Sun Devil mentality. Stacked
They experienced Camp T's primitive accommodations.
"It was probably one of the most uncomfortable -- not saying it was the most terrible -- but most uncomfortable things I have ever done," freshman defensive back Alex Perry said. "The upper classmen get to stay in these cabins. They're not nice, but the freshmen have to stay in these barracks. It's triple bunks. I'm on the top and I'm literally sleeping with spider webs. I'm sleeping with sweat socks and a sweatshirt tied over my head so only my nose is sticking out so the bugs won't get into my ears.
"And when you get up from those beds -- they're not even beds, they're like mats on wood -- my back feels like it's crippled. I have to stretch every time I get up."
That's not the only challenge for the guys who draw the short straw and sleep on the top bunk.
"I had this fear of rolling over and falling on the ground," running back Eno Benjamin said "That was Night 1."
If the freshmen overcome their fear of falling and spiders, there is a third challenge awaiting them.
"It's so hot up there because it's so high," defensive back Evan Fields said. "I was sweating in my sleep -- when I did sleep -- but it's supposed to make you tough and that is definitely what it is doing."
Much has changed at Camp T since coach Todd Graham reintroduced the tradition. There is better cell service, better Wifi, better kitchen facilities, a revamped field and better food, but the dorms remain largely the same and there is no way to account for Camp T's legendary bugs, whose size seems to grow with every story told.
"I saw a moth as big as my hand, and I wear a 2XL glove," Fields said with wide eyes. "It was above the cafeteria. I definitely stayed away from it."
The bugs find their way into every setting.
"I'm taking a shower and there are spiders crawling on the floor," Perry said. "They're not even showers. It's a cold tub with a faucet. It's freezing cold. I don't even know why they have the temperature [gauge] because it doesn't work. I was in there and half my body was getting wet and I stepped out, put some soap on me and got my other half wet. It's just too cold to stay in there, but that's good because you want to get in and get out because it's so nasty in the shower."
All three freshmen said they prefer practice and all outdoor activities to being indoors at Camp T.
"I like the campfires a lot," Fields said. "I'm not from Arizona. I'm probably the only recruit from Oklahoma so when we tell our backstories it's cool getting to know everybody and know what everybody has been through."
Despite the challenges, Perry said he sees the value of Camp T.
"It's good to be uncomfortable," he said. "That's how you grow as a person."