The fall of 2021 didn't go exactly like Braden Waterman had planned, at least from a recruiting perspective.

The Bakersfield, Calif., quarterback had visited Ole Miss in August and hit it off with then-offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby. He thought an offer might be forthcoming from the Rebels.

By late December, however, Lebby had taken the offensive coordinator post at his alma mater, Oklahoma.

"Everything kind of went dark," Waterman said.

Of course, for Waterman, a little bump in the recruiting road was nothing. Just two-plus year ago, Waterman was dealing with a much more serious form of adversity.

Waterman grew up in Paso Robles, Calif., the oldest of Brock and Michelle Waterman's two sons. They are winemakers (Brochelle Vineyards), and everything was going great until the fall of 2019. Halfway through Braden's junior season, he started feeling sick. Weight was falling off his 6-foot-4 frame. He dropped from 205 pounds to 170.

"I started getting really bad fevers and I was super white and didn't really have a whole lot of energy," Braden said. "I went in and they told us I was sick."

Specifically, Braden was diagnosed with stage 3b Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. In stage 3, cancer is found in lymph node groups above and below the diaphragm (the thin muscle below the lungs that helps breathing and separates the chest from the abdomen). Each stage may also be assigned a letter (A or B). B is added if a person has any of these B symptoms: Loss of more than 10% of body weight over the previous 6 months (without dieting) Unexplained fever of at least 100.4°F.

"It was (terrifying)," Braden said. "It was definitely a life-opening experience for me. I had never been in a hospital or had to deal with those kinds of things. I was a 17-year-old kid. I thought I was invincible and that I could basically do whatever. This kind of took me by surprise, for sure."

The diagnosis came on Jan. 1, 2020. Chemotherapy started that very day and continued for the next five months.

“Gosh, I mean, Michelle and I would just literally, we’re crying and he’s just so strong, like, ‘What’s wrong? I got this, it’s fine,'" Brock Waterman told ABC23, a Bakersfield-based affiliate. "So that was one of the most defining moments for us as parents especially for me, like, I can learn from my kid."

The chemotherapy, Braden said, was "rough. With Hodgkins, it's a little bit more intense."

Every other week meant another chemotherapy treatment. Football, once his passion, was fast becoming an afterthought.

"Honestly, I was thinking just about trying to live at that point," Braden said. "Football was kind of thrown out the picture at that point.

COViD-19 led California officials to cancel the 2020 high school season. In October of that year, Braden learned the cancer had returned.

"Drop to your knees, sick to your stomach, like how could this even be?" Michelle Waterman told ABC23. "He was doing all the right things."

Braden said the next few months were "long and difficult," but he added a new twist to his second fight with cancer. Braden said he completely changed his diet, adjusting to a a very clean, keto-based approach. That combination worked. By the fall of 2021, after transferring to Bakersfield Christian, Braden was cancer-free.

Getting back into football shape was another matter entirely.

"The first time I really tried to throw, I really couldn't throw it five yards," Braden said. "I literally had to teach myself how to throw a football, teach myself how to walk again, run, basically kind of do the basic aspects of life again. It was rough."

By the fall of 2021, however, Braden was feeling great. He was back up to 203 pounds and won the starting quarterback job, playing for Darren and Derek Carr. He had a strong season, playing with his brother, Bryson, and threw for 3,027 yards and 41 touchdowns.

"I feel extremely good," Braden said. "I've put on good weight. I just feel good. I don't feel tired or lazy. I'm definitely better than I was before."

After the season, Braden took some visits to other programs and picked up some scholarship offers. Something about Ole Miss, though, stuck in his mind. Then good luck broke his way. Former USC assistant Seth Doege joined the Ole Miss staff as an offensive analyst. Braden works out with Los Angeles-based quarterbacks coach Danny Hernandez. Hernandez and Doege are close friends.

"I told Danny, 'Hey, I really want to go to Ole Miss. That's kind of my set spot,'" Braden said.

Doege showed Braden's film to Ole Miss offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. and head coach Lane Kiffin.

"I guess they liked it," Braden said. "They flew me out and basically said, 'We want you to come play for us.' I was like, 'Yeah, let's do it.' I think this was something that I was kind of really set on. I felt this was the right move for me and my family and where I really wanted to be.

"I got diagnosed with cancer and didn't think I was ever going to play football again. I've kind of been betting on myself since that happened. God's gotten me to where I need to be and this feels right."

Braden will get started this summer as an invited walk-on at Ole Miss. He'll be walking into a fairly crowded quarterback room, but he has a different perspective these days.

"I see life completely different," Braden said. "Once you're in jeopardy of losing your life, you kind of value life from a different perspective than other people who haven't gone through something like this. You have to value everything that you're given. Take for example, Ole Miss. This is an opportunity that I'm valuing and I plan to take full advantage of."

“He’s changed Michelle and I," Brock Waterman told ABC23. "He’s changed his brother, Bryson. He’s changing people around him that know him. He’s literally changing people and their perspective on life. What’s important and what’s really not important. He’s been our rock and our idol at times. It’s crazy.”

Braden said he's up to 210 pounds now as he's preparing for his arrival in Oxford. His body feels good. His mind is clear. He knows winning a scholarship, much less one day winning the Rebels' starting quarterback post, is going to be difficult, but he's eager to compete.

"At the end of the day, you have to compete and show that you can be the guy," Braden said. "That's where I am. I'm going to go there and give it everything that I've got. I'm confident. I believe I can do it. I've already proved I can beat cancer and come back and play football again. How can this be any harder than that, right?"