Odenigbo adds new school to top group

Centerville (Ohio) four-star defensive end Ifeadi Odenigbo's top five has been pretty static since the summer, but the 6-4, 210-pound prospect has added a new team to the mix, and also has an official visit upcoming.

"I'm looking at USC now," Odenigbo said. "What got them in the mix was, they offered late, but they were looking at my film and after doing my research on USC I am just very interested in their program."

Odenigbo revealed the new contender on his list shortly after his Centerville team dropped their first round playoff game to Middletown on Saturday night, effectively ending Odenigbo's high school career.

"I really wanted to practice on Monday," he remarked. "We played hard, Middletown was just the better team today. There's nothing we can do about it. My senior year of football, my high school career, is over and now I have to move onto college and all this recruiting now.

"I have a lot of thinking to do after today. This decision-making is going to be very hard for me. I'm still one of the few that still have not committed yet. February is going to hit and I need to get a decision down. I'm going to start taking my official visits now."

The next official visit Odenigbo will take comes next weekend when he will travel to Stanford to see the Cardinal host Oregon. He has already taken one previous official visit, and that was to Notre Dame the weekend of Oct. 22.

"That went pretty well besides the fact that they lost," Odenigbo said. "I got to meet the players and the best part was hanging out with the players afterwards. The other best part about Notre Dame was the environment. It was so loud I couldn't hear myself think, and that's never happened before. It would be pretty nice playing for them."

One other program has a definite official date with Odenigbo set and that is Northwester, which will host the Rivals100 prospect the weekend of Dec. 9.

"I [set] that the last time I made a visit, so I look forward to that," Odenigbo said. "Northwestern is really high up there. They are just a great academic school and Coach [Pat] Fitzgerald is a great guy. I am planning on majoring in Economics and I see that they are ranked No. 5 in the nation for Economics, so if I get a degree from there I am pretty set for life."

The other two programs that round out Odenigbo's now top six are Cal and Ohio State. The Buckeyes are the school located closest to his Dayton-area home, and he expects a visit to Columbus in the near future.

"I can start taking looks at Ohio State and start going to games now that the season is over because I have been extremely busy this season," Odenigbo said.

Whether Odengibo's top group will remain six schools or be trimmed to a smaller number remains to be seen. With the brand new offer from USC and his high school career just coming to an end, Odenigbo said he has not had time to figure that out yet. He is aiming to have his process complete by sometime in January, however.