Former Clemson receiver finds his niche as a trainer

GREENVILLE, S.C. - When Sugar Ray Leonard, Sylvester Stallone and others who are developing the new NBC reality boxing series The Contender asked Ray Leonard Jr. to become part of the show, the son of the former boxing great was pleased.

Before getting in front of the camera, however, Leonard knew what he had to do.

"I definitely needed to get back into shape," said Leonard, who targeted a weight loss of about 30 pounds to participate in the NBC series, which will offer virtually unknown boxers a chance at a Rocky-like rise in their careers.

Enter Kenya Crooks, a former wide receiver with the Clemson University football team who works as a personal trainer.

"I'd known Kenya for a long time," said Leonard, who lives in Atlanta. "I first met him several years ago when he was trying to continue his football career and we've remained friends."

Crooks, a Tigers letterman from 1994 to 1996, is working with more than 40 clients. A winning smile and ability to read people are given as his top attributes by several clients. But also important is a trainer's ability to motivate, said former major league baseball player Mike Devereaux.

"That's the biggest hurdle for a trainer, keeping your clients excited about what they're doing, while helping them achieve their goal," Devereaux said.

Devereaux said Crooks excels in that area.

"He's truly one of the best motivators I've been around," Devereaux said. "He has a way of getting his clients where they need to be. He designs a diet that is simple and easy to follow and he knows how to keep his clients going. He pushes them hard, but knows when to let up."

Terry Leap, the department chairman of management at Clemson University, is a distance runner. Already in good condition, he wanted to develop his abdominal muscles and the rest of his upper body when he began training with Crooks in the summer of 2001.

"He offers highly individualized training," Leap said. "He has a really good personality, very motivating. He'll tell you, 'I'm not for everybody' and that's no joke. No matter what kind of shape you're in, and I think I'm in pretty good shape, he'll push to where you can't do anything else. He's pretty good at figuring out what you can and can't do and he will push you to the limit."

Leonard, who has been working with Crooks for about two months, is pleased with the results and is close to pronouncing himself in the shape needed to face the unforgiving spotlight of national television.

"I've dropped about 25 pounds," Leonard said. "I'm feeling great and looking great right now. I'm probably going to drop some more, but I'm pretty comfortable where I am right now."

"He's gone through some changes," Crooks said of Leonard. "The biggest thing was changing his eating habits because there is a big difference in going from a set plan and time that you eat, than eating anything at anytime. It's a lifestyle change, nothing out of the ordinary. We're not re-creating the wheel. It just takes a lot of discipline."

Despite an expanding business that includes clients in Atlanta, Charlotte, Columbia, Greenville and Clemson, Crooks hasn't given up on playing professional football. But it's no longer his primary focus.

"Football is secondary," he said. "This is my thing. I've always said I'm a much better businessperson than I am a football player and I'd like to think I was a pretty good football player."