Georgia home to elite kicker
Kickers are traditionally the low man on the totem pole when it comes to early scholarship offers, so it grabs your attention when one receives heavy interest prior to his senior season.
Augusta (Ga.) Westside is home to one such player in Obi Egekeze.
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Egekeze (6-3, 190, 4.86) received an early offer from Maryland and committed to the Terrapins this spring, but it hasn’t stopped some other heavy hitters from continuing to pursue him.
“I committed to Maryland, but I’m still getting a lot of stuff from a few other schools,” he said. “Ohio State, Penn State and Georgia seem to be very interested. I had no idea all these schools would pursue me when I committed.”
So where does that leave his commitment to the Terrapins?
“Oh, I’m happy with Maryland,” Egekeze said. “It’s a great school, I really like the coaching staff, and the program seems to be on the rise. It showed me a lot that they were the first to offer.”
Egekeze has seen his stock rise with kicking camp appearances at Georgia, Maryland and Texas. He also won the field goal and punting competition for underclassmen at the Chris Sailer kicking camp in Las Vegas this spring.
As a junior, he was 8-for-12 on field goals with long kicks of 52 and 54 yards. He also converted 26 of 28 PATs and delivered 75 percent of his kickoffs for touchbacks.
“I’m improving at punting, but I excel in placekicking,” he said.
Egekeze (a Nigerian name pronounced Egg-KEE-zee) has a soccer background.
“My football coach came out and watched one of our soccer games,” he said. “He saw where I could kick the ball from almost one goal to the other and was impressed. He came to talk to me and told me how the football team really needed a kicker. I really love football now. It’s my passion.”