Wide Receiver Elijah Sarratt's Journey Has Him Ready for Big Ten Challenge

Image: Indiana University Athletics

Written by Sammy Jacobs (@Hoosier_Huddle)

Wide receiver Elijah Sarratt was one of the most celebrated transfers coming to IU this offseason. The 6’2” Virginia native was an FCS All-American at Saint Francis (Pa.) as a freshman in 2022 before heading to James Madison where he earned First Team All-Sun Belt honors as a sophomore. Sarratt’s next stop is the Big Ten as a member of the Hoosiers.

“Saint Francis took a chance on me (and I) was able to show everybody what I had to do. Went to JMU (and) was able to do the same thing and now I'm just trying to improve on my season from last year and have an even better one this year.” Sarratt said of his journey from the FCS level to the Big Ten.

At Saint Francis Sarratt made 42 catches for 700 yards and tied the program record for touchdown catches with 13. His success continued with the Dukes of JMU as he recorded 1,191 yards receiving with eight touchdowns.

He landed at James Madison due in large part to his older brother ‘Cheese’ Sarratt.

“My brother was a big part of that. You don't get a lot of chances to play with your brother. I played with him at high school so I had opportunity to go into college and play with them was something that I want to pursue and everything that JMU they were telling me, type player that they wanted me to be in a system I like that.” Sarratt explained.

His recruitment to IU was not always set in stone, even with Curt Cignetti’s move to Bloomington.

“I didn't even know if I was going to transfer at first because they had a two time transfer rule. So I was just finishing up my season with my boys at JMU playing the bowl game and then I hit the portal. The coaching staff was talking to me almost as soon as I was able to as soon as they were able to and then things were just moved from there they weren't they weren't pressuring me to commit right away they knew other schools were interested in me.” Sarratt said of the transfer process.

Now Sarratt has a chance to show his skills at the top level of college football with Indiana. His mentality has not changed much.

“Patience” Sarratt said was the key to improvement. “Some days (are) not gonna go how you want. You just gotta be consistent every single day. You might catch one pass today, you might catch eight passes tomorrow. You just weather the storm and try to get better.”

Sarratt was the headliner of a large incoming wide receiver transfer class and projects to be one of the main targets for Mike Shanahan’s offense in 2024.