California receiver Wolitarsky rewrites his own story as a Gophers leader

Drew Wolitarsky was approaching California's all-time high school receiving records on Sept. 22, 2012, when he made his official visit to Minnesota.

The Gophers beat Syracuse that night before a packed house at TCF Bank Stadium. That's also the weekend he finished a novel — Mitch Albom's "The Five People You Meet in Heaven" — which inspired him to become a writer himself.

"Drew came back very excited," his father, John, said. "He said, 'The people in Minnesota are really different. I like it there.'"

This didn't surprise Wolitarsky's parents. He was born and raised in Southern California, but his father's side of the family has deep Minnesota roots.

In 1868, Wolitarsky's great, great, great grandfather, Johannes J. Malterud, emigrated from Norway to Minnesota, settling in Nicollet County. Two more generations lived in Minnesota before his great grandparents moved to California, after World War II.

"Perhaps that's why a West Coast boy was destined to return to Minneapolis," John said.

Clearly comfortable in his new home, Wolitarsky has emerged as a senior leader of the Gophers receiving corps. He's finishing his English degree and continues to hone his writing.

This summer, Wolitarsky finished another short story called "Faceless Fear."

Asked how his writing has evolved during college, he said, "It's a lot related to football. You think you're good coming out of high school, and then you look back on your film, and you're like, 'Wow, that is not good at all.'

"So it's just working on it every day. And it's amazing, without you even realizing how much better you're getting, you are."

Wolitarsky has sports in his blood. His great uncle, Ted Renne, played tackle at Concordia College in Moorhead from 1928-32. Another great uncle, Charles Austin, played left tackle for Oregon from 1953-57. And Wolitarsky's father, John, qualified for the 1984 Olympic Trials in the hammer throw after a record setting career at USC.

But when John first signed Drew up for flag football, the son was disinterested.

At Canyon High School, Wolitarsky earned all-conference honors as a freshman, quickly finding a role in a pass-happy offense. He finished his prep career with 281 receptions for 5,148 yards, breaking the state records held by former New York Giants receiver Steve Smith.

The 6-3 Wolitarsky still didn't draw a ton of scholarship interest. He had offers from Arizona and San Jose State, but the Gophers swooped in and got him. After an ankle injury derailed his 2014 season, he set career highs last year with 39 receptions for 524 yards and three touchdowns.

Now, the Gophers need a go-to receiver to replace KJ Maye.

"Yeah, I want to be that guy," Wolitarsky said. "I'm ready to be that guy. So we've been training all summer for me to be that guy."

Quarterback Mitch Leidner has been quick to look for Wolitarsky, along with sophomore Rashad Still and junior Eric Carter, during training camp. Leidner appreciates the way Wolitarsky has adopted the leadership role Maye had last year.

"Drew Wolitarsky had a receiver [arrive] late — first one of the summer — and Drew did the whole workout with him," Leidner said.

Wolitarsky saw a chance to teach accountability.

"If I'm going to take a day off or sleep in, my teammates are going to be affected by this," he said.