2021 Countdown to Kickoff: 51 Days (Joshua Sales)

Written by Amanda Pavelka (@amandapavelka3)

The Countdown to Kickoff has almost hit the halfway point as we are now down to 51 days until IU suits up for battle against Iowa at Kinnick Stadium. Today we feature the other guy who will wear the number 52 jersey— yesterday we featured junior defensive lineman Shamar Jones, and on the offensive side of the ball is Joshua Sales Jr.

Joshua Sales Jr.

Position: Offensive Lineman

Year: Freshman

Hometown: Brownsburg, Indiana

Height/Weight: 6’6”/319 pounds

As a top 10 recruit in Indiana, Joshua Sales held multiple college football scholarship offers—18 total to be exact. The three-star offensive tackle ended up choosing Indiana over Purdue, Nebraska, Michigan State, Mizzou, Arizona State, and 13 other schools. The LEO culture, beautiful campus and facilities, prestigious Kelley School of Business, and strength and conditioning program led by former NFL strength coach Aaron Wellman were major selling points for Sales and his family, according to their interview with Peegs’ Matt Weaver.

As a senior on the Brownsburg High School football squad, Sales managed to not allow a single sack, and racked up 72 knockdowns in eight games. He earned 2020 all-state and all-conference honors, and was named to the 2020 Indiana All-USA Super Team.

After leading the Bulldogs thru a 7-4 season that ended with a 6A sectional title win, Sales joined the squad in the Spring to get a head start on his college football career. Last month he had his first press conference as a Hoosier and talked about the impact the extra time and training has had on him.

”Honestly this spring helped me out a lot. It helped me adjust to the speed of the game. We were kind of thrust into it. It made the jump a little rocky at first, ,but in the grand scheme of things it definitely helped me out with my development.” Sales told the media. “I think the most difficult part was just realizing that everybody is good to some extent. There’s nobody that doesn’t have skill and everybody is here for a reason. Stuff you could get away with in high school, you definitely can’t eat away with at this level.”

Sales will look to battle for time on the offensive line in 2021. Like most offensive lineman coming out of high school, his main focus will be on IU’s strength and conditioning program to further develop him into a Big Ten starting tackle. Sales will likely see the field in up to four games so he can use his redshirt.