Oregon DE sees offers rise
One of the fastest rising prospects on the west coast is four-star defensive end Owamagbe Odighizuwa (6-3, 240, 4.7) from Portland (Ore.) David Douglas and for good reason. Odighizuwa spends so much time in the opposition's backfield, he should pay property taxes.
Case in point, Odighizuwa racked up 96 tackles, 22 tackles for loss, 18 sacks, two pass breakups and two fumble recoveries. His performance saw him earn Conference Defensive Player of the Year, first-team all-conference and second-team all-state.
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Duke is his latest offer when they offered yesterday (March 30th), joining the likes of Arizona State, Cal, Colorado, Florida, LSU, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Oregon, Oregon State, Stanford, Tennessee, UCLA, USC, and Washington.
When you have a list of opportunities as diverse and impressive as Odighizuwa does, it could make a decision hard to come by.
"I'm not even close to narrowing things down," Odighizuwa said. "I will wait until the summer."
The amazing thing about Odighizuwa is, he has only been playing football since the eighth grade so it is a very safe bet that his best football is ahead of him.
"My mom didn't want me to play, but when she found out all of the opportunities that football brings at getting scholarships," Odighizuwa said. "She started to enjoy the game."
Will playing close to home be factor when Odighizuwa makes his decision?
"Playing close to home will play a small factor," Odighizuwa said. "But not the ultimate reason.
"I have done a little research on some of the schools that have offered me," Odighizuwa said. "I took an unofficial visit to Stanford and I have talked to Florida."
"I went to Stanford for junior day," Odighizuwa said. "it was impressive and I thought it was cool."
"I liked the fact that Florida has a good football program," Odighizuwa said. "The football coaches, I felt were good guys and from what they told me, their graduation rate for football players is 100 percent."
"I have talked to both Oregon, Oregon State, Notre Dame, UCLA, Cal, Tennessee, Nebraska and Colorado a little bit," Odighizuwa said. "I didn't get to talk to Tennessee too long, so I don't have a lot to say. I didn't talk to them enough so I didn't come to a conclusion."
"I think Oregon is in a nice area and nice community. Oregon has good coaches and players."
"Oregon State has really, really personable coaches and are honest," Odighizuwa said. "I also like their academics."
"I haven't talks a lot to Notre Dame, but when I did, I talked to Coach Weis (Charlie Weis)," Odighizuwa said. "We didn't get a chance to talk much, but he seems to be a humorous guy to be around. I like Notre Dame because it is a schools with a really strong tradition."
"With UCLA they seem to have a really good coaching staff," Odighizuwa said. "Coach Hundley (Tim Hundley) was a teammate of my high school coach. UCLA's coaches seem like they are good and honest guys."
"USC is like a like a lot of the schools that I have talked to," Odighizuwa said. "USC's coaches are very personable, honest and seem to be nice guys. They talked about USC's academics and they can offer."
What is Odighizuwa looking for in a college?
"I'm looking for coaches that I can get along with for my time being there," Odighizuwa said. "I am also looking for a school that has really good academics and a good social life on campus."
Odighizuwa earned a spot on the preseason Rivals.com Rivals100 team for the class of 2010 landing as the nation's No. 50 prospect at any position.