EXCLUSIVE: How Parenting Shaped Elite Jonathan Smith, MSU Football Commit
CORONA, Cal. -- With a football player as talented as three-star cornerback and recent Michigan State commit LaRue Zamorano III, it would be easy for parents to get carried away with the success. The prodigious ability. It is a tale as old as time in sports. The over-zealous parent or parents that live vicariously through their child's successes. It can be detrimental to a player.
But that is not LaRue and Brittani Zamorano, parents of the Spartans' newest addition. The opposite could be said of Zamorano's parents. They raised a son to stick to his values. Remain grounded, don't get caught up in what could be, nor the moment. The Zamoranos also instilled in their son that he is a person who plays football. Yes, he is very good at it. But that is not what defines him.
Take the story of LaRue nearly pulling his prolific son from game altogether because he felt the attitude wasn't right.
"LaRue's a great kid," Zamorano said. "But you know, kids sometimes get in their ego. And I didn't want my son to be an ego person. Because sometimes, when you put your ego into everything, that's where you give the universe time for something bad to happen or anything because you're not truly focused. I told him about this and he changed it. What was the best thing that I could say he's learned from out of it, I was like, 'LaRue, you don't even celebrate once you do something, you just get up and don't do nothing. You don't jump, you don't do none of that. He's like, 'Dad, I don't because the next play somebody could go up top to me because I was celebrating too much. It could turn around the wrong way for me.' So after that, I kinda knew that he understood exactly what we were trying to implement in him as a kid."
Brittini has pride that her son does not let the hype affect who he is as a person.
"He believes in his gifts, and he wants to stay focused on just that. He's not the type of person that's going to celebrate after a play," she said. "I hope that eventually he'll start to give himself some credit."
It could have been about NIL offerings. It could have been a "What will this school do for me?" situation that has not been uncommon with parents on the recruiting trail. When it came to the school that Zamorano's mother felt the most comfortable giving her blessing, it came from the heart.
Brittani was taken care of by the Spartans on a visit to East Lansing. She knew they would take care of her son. That was all that mattered.
"They took care of me, they didn't know me, they catered to me, as the parent. It gave me a peace, that if I was to leave my child here, that they would take care of him as well," Brittani said.
The Zamoranos' parenting is noticeable to many, including the player's coaches. Centennial's defensive backs coach Steven Burns described LaRue and Brittani as Zamorano's "backbone."
"You can tell that they raised him well. He listens to them, he respects them," Burns said. "But what they've taught him, what they've instilled with him, he carries on himself every single day. So everything that he's been taught and preached to, he's taken into account. He doesn't want to disappoint them, doesn't want to disappoint his family and he wants to set an example for his siblings. And he's doing it."
Zamorano's parents are grounded. The young talent is grounded. It will help him take flight in East Lansing.
Michael France is Sports Illustrated's Michigan State recruiting beat writer, covering all things Big Ten recruiting for Spartan Nation. Be sure to follow him on Twitter/X@michaelfrancesi for exclusive Spartans recruiting coverage.
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MICHAEL FRANCE