Top Georgia football recruit leaves basketball behind to star on the South Garner line
South Garner High’s Nnamdi Ogboko dominated in his younger days on the AAU basketball circuit, but his coach often told him football was his future, even though it meant steering away his best player.
Corey Hairston, an AAU hoop coach who doubles as South Garner football’s offensive coordinator, envisioned Ogboko as a prototypical nose tackle. And that’s exactly what the 6-foot-5, 350-pounder has grown into as a senior committed to Georgia, the two-time national champion churning out XXXXL-sized NFL defensive linemen.
But projecting a unique athlete’s future whose Nigerian name is pronounced NAHM-dee Oh-boh-koh was the easy part. Hairston’s challenge was convincing a kid to give up his first love for a sport he never played until his junior year of high school.
Yes, Hairston told Ogboko, you stand a head taller than your peers, but he also explained his more valuable attributes were nimble feet on a thick frame. Ogboko’s weight dwarfed his teammates.
Nevertheless, Ogboko stuck with basketball. After all, he was collecting AAU tournament trophies.
But Hairston eventually found the right ally far from home at an AAU basketball tournament in a football state, Alabama. As the game progressed, Ogoboko came to the bench for a breather. Hairston continued coaching his team as he felt a tap on his shoulder.
A man Hairston later learned was a Tennessee State assistant football coach asked, “Does he play football?”
Hairston said no.
“Tell him …” replied the Tennessee State coach, “if he plays football, he’ll have 15 Division I scholarship offers right away.”
The total grew to 25 by the time Ogboko announced his Georgia commitment on June 25.
This week he leads the Titans (2-1) into their city rivalry game against Garner (2-1) at 7 p.m. Friday on South Garner’s field.
‘A lot to learn’
Hairston recited the conversion anecdote in a South Garner office as Ogboko sat in an easy chair he filled armrest to armrest. Hairston noted they had to show him how to put on a helmet and shoulder pads.
Ogboko leaned over to bury his face in his big hands with an embarrassed laugh.
“I had a lot to learn,” Ogboko said. “It’s different than basketball. I got used to the contact. I learned to get low to get more explosion and to use my hands.”
Ogboko’s hands quickly adapted from handling a basketball to handling blockers. He stands up double-teams between the hashmarks and then sheds them in pursuit of the ball left or right with a quick first step.
Funny, though, he doesn’t always look so quick.
When the defense takes the field, Ogboko lumbers to his position. But once the ball is snapped, the heavy-legged look vanishes with explosion. Is it a variation of Pro Football Hall of Famer Jim Brown? He’d act hurting as he got up from a tackle and slowly returned to the huddle only to run by defenders on the next play.
South Garner head coach Greg Greene, who was an offensive lineman at NC Central, said Ogboko might casually trot on possession switches, but his only weakness is inexperience.
“What you see is his floor,” Greene said. “It’s nowhere near his ceiling. He’s a run stopper. That’s what he was put on this Earth for — in terms of football. That’s what Georgia and colleges are looking for.
“He’s got the hind parts that give him the ability to squat and then run. He has mobility from his basketball background. He’s learning as he goes along.”
All in the family
Athletes with Ogboko’s size aren’t fully physically tested until college, but Nnamdi benefits from a “big” little brother — Ekene Ogboko, a 6-6, 295-pound sophomore. Ekene starts at left offensive tackle but in practice Greene sometimes moves Ekene to guard so that he can challenge Nnamdi.
“We push each other,” Nnamdi said.
Ekene has his moments, although Nnamdi wins four out of five head-to-head battles.
Nnamdi praised his brother’s effort, adding: “He told me, ‘If I can stop you on a bull rush, I can stop anybody else.”
Ekene already has 17 offers, even though he hasn’t been officially ranked yet by recruiting services. Georgia, naturally, is among the schools offering, along with NC State and Duke.
The Ogboko brothers, American born to Nigerian parents, are good students with grade-point averages between 3.7 and 3.9. Their older sister, Ugonna, is a pre-med graduate from Salem College in Winston-Salem awaiting medical school. Another sister, Chiagozie, attends North Carolina.
‘Nigerian Nightmare’
One story, though, explains more than any Nnamdi’s lack of a football history. As he embraced football, he compiled a highlight film to post on Hudl, a high school sports site.
He dubbed the video, “The Nigerian Nightmare.”
But he soon learned the football moniker was taken – a long time ago.
Christian Okoye gained fame as a 6-1, 253-pound NFL Pro Bowl running back for the Kansas City Chiefs, 1987-92. He arrived from Nigeria at Azuza Pacific University on a track scholarship as a shot putter/discus thrower. Okoye was 23 years old when Azuza’s coaches convinced him to come out for football.
“Nigerians don’t like football as much as other sports,” said Ogboko, defending his innocence. “We like basketball, track and soccer.”
Nevertheless, the “Nigerian Nightmare” identity fits him.
Who’s going to tell him otherwise?
