During a phone interview two days before Christmas, Jairo Faverus bounded off a train in Amsterdam and raced toward a connecting bus that was moments from departure. He barely caught his ride, laughingly gave the driver an ay-ay-ay, and, upon finding his seat, asked the reporter on the phone, “OK, what was I saying again?”

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Travel doesn’t frazzle Faverus. The Netherlands native attended prep school two hours outside of London, aiming to build himself into a football prospect. And he spent 26 days in the United States during the summer, enduring a 4,000-mile bus tour that featured make-or-break auditions for college programs.

It was during that trip that Faverus, essentially an unknown, earned offers from Penn State, Minnesota, Georgia Tech, Maryland and Cincinnati, and was even singled out by Alabama coach Nick Saban for a private meeting.

He was scheduled to fly back to Europe on June 12 before Brandon Collier, the founder of Premium Players International, made a serendipitous suggestion: “Stay a little longer if your body can take it.”

Even though it meant purchasing a different return flight home, even though it meant more strain on his fatigued legs, Faverus agreed. Two days later, he camped at West Virginia.

Welcome cornerback Jairo Faverus from Amsterdam, Netherlands and Bristol Academy of Sports!

➡️ #HailWV | #TrustTheClimb | #TakeMeHome20

— West Virginia Football (@WVUfootball) December 18, 2019

“All Brandon had to say to me was there are more schools that want to see you,” Faverus said. “So I knew I had to push through, because it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get in front of these coaches and show them what I’ve got.”

What Faverus showed — a 6-foot frame, sub-4.5-second speed in the 40-yard dash and fluid hips — secured an offer.

“As soon as he walked on the field, eyes were on him,” Collier said. “And when they saw how he moved, it was kind of a no-brainer.”

Faverus virtually committed on the spot, and six months later, West Virginia added him to an impressive list of cornerback signees.

“Everybody else kind of backed off,” said Mountaineers director of player personnel Brian Bennett. “I mean, how are you gonna go swing a European kid?”

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Majoring in kinesiology, Faverus plans to enroll in two weeks, part of a class ranked 38th by 247Sports.

Before Collier went trans-Atlantic in search of football recruits, he played at UMass, attended training camp with the Philadelphia Eagles and spent two seasons in the CFL.

The European collective he assembled over the past three summers has stoked increasingly stellar impressions. “Take some of these top schools in Europe and they can go compete with American high school teams,” Collier said. “That’s me looking at both sides, but people would never know it unless they came out to see it live.”

His earliest group primarily featured FCS signees, but Power 5 schools now show a willingness to offer prospects despite an absence of game tape.

“The lack of film is scary,” Bennett said, making the camp circuit as much do-or-die for college coaches as it is for the foreign hopefuls.

“We get to coach them, we get to see them move, and we get accurate measurements. At the end of the day, you have to decide that you’re gonna trust your evaluation and push forward.”

In Faverus, the Mountaineers saw a fleet and physical player in a cycle in which they needed to replace three graduating cornerbacks.

“It’s a roll of the dice, but what part of recruiting isn’t?” Bennett said. “Maybe he comes over here and he’s the best cornerback in college football. Or maybe he comes over here and he’s a really good special teams player because he’s big and he can run.”

They noticed those measurables in Tuscaloosa, Ala., a stop that occurred during the early leg of PPI’s tour. (The itinerary: The group flew into Newark, N.J., and drove 15 hours south for a satellite camp in Macon, Ga. Then it was up to Athens for a workout in front of Georgia coaches before heading to the Alabama camp.)

Having watched Crimson Tide defensive backs for almost 10 years, Faverus considered them “like role models.” He also kept tabs on recruiting rankings and knew Alabama was putting together another elite class, so he didn’t expect to get any attention. He sensed himself having a great camp with the safeties, but Saban was focused on cornerbacks. At the close of drills, however, Faverus was summoned to the football facility.

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“Somebody told me to grab my stuff and come with them,” he said. “I didn’t know who I was supposed to meet or who I was waiting for. Then they said it was Coach Saban, and I had to kinda gasp for air. I had no idea he noticed me.”

Saban said he wished his staff would’ve known about Faverus six months earlier, in which case he’d probably have an offer. But there were several offers out to corners already and little room left in the 2020 class.

Faverus and Collier were energized nonetheless.

“I knew he was a special athlete and that his measurements are kind of eye-popping,” Collier said. “Plus, Jairo’s personality makes him a one-of-a-kind kid. Seeing him do it in front of American coaches was satisfying.”

Besides Alabama, Faverus watched other college football role models.

“I was always like a semi-West Virginia fan before going to any of these camps,” he said.

“When I first started watching college football, it was in the time of Tavon Austin and Karl Joseph — like those generations.”

Such nostalgia, right? Discussing recent players in the way Boomers recall rotary phones.

Think back to Austin’s season as a Heisman contender in 2012 and that’s when Faverus was a kid participating in contact sports like judo, wrestling, kick-boxing and tumbling. “A lot of physicality and explosive movements,” he said, “but I didn’t really fall in love with any of those sports.”

Football was more alluring. Even flag football, which he started playing at 11.

“When I first started playing, there was no team for my age category, so I was working out with guys who were 16, 17 and 18,” he said. “That helped me once we put pads on for real.”

Before Faverus could be discovered by American coaches, he needed to get noticed in Europe. His first trip to a PPI camp in Germany didn’t yield much interest, primarily because Collier was focusing on linemen. When Collier attended a Dutch national team tryout the next year, he was wowed by the cornerback wearing a PPI camp shirt.

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“Who’s this kid?” Collier thought. “I’ve never heard of him.”

Faverus laughed off that memory of being overlooked and credited his relationship with Collier for helping him chase down his college football dream. Another PPI recruit, tight end Victor Wikstrom of Sweden, looms as a West Virginia commitment for 2021.

“If they played in Florida right now, they’d probably be four- or five-star kids, and they’d be hard to get,” Collier said.

Citing the work ethic and talent on display from Faverus, Collier is reluctant to call him a sleeper, even though he’s visited America only a couple of times.

“Great energy, great swagger about himself and people just gravitate toward him,” Collier said. “He’s really a high-character kid. I mean, he had an offer from Yale, so he takes school seriously.”

Along with coverage skills, Collier brags about the hip-hop moves Faverus exhibits.

“He’s an accomplished dancer. You guys have to see him,” Collier said. “The athleticism really comes out.”

Faverus, having grown accustomed to Collier’s praise, admitted to performing a couple of shows with friends, but added, “We’re not too serious.”

It’s not hard to imagine West Virginia’s video crew highlighting Faverus in a locker room celebration. “I don’t mind,” he said. “I’m not camera-shy.”

(Photo: Courtesy of Faverus)