Scott-Emuakpor awaits first offer

A Rivals.com 250 to Watch List member, East Lansing (Mich.) High wide reciever Efe Scott-Emuakpor is one of the most physically gifted prospects in a deep year for talent in the state of Michigan and the numbers that make up his résumé are pretty impressive.

Over the last two years, Scott-Emuakpor has caught 97 passes for 1,055 yards and seven touchdowns in just 15 games. On the basketball court he averages between seven and ten points a night along with six rebounds and a couple blocks playing a wing position.

The 6-5, 180-pound Scott-Emuakpor was timed at 4.64 in the 40-yard dash as a sophomore and has a vertical leap of 33 inches despite spending little time in the weight room because his off-season is filled with basketball responsibilities. Scott-Emuakpor also is posting good numbers in the classroom, where he carries a 3.5 GPA.

What Scott-Emuakpor does not have yet is a scholarship offer. Although he receives mail from schools across the country, he is still waiting on that first school to make their interest official.

"I just have a lot of high interest from schools," Scott-Emuakpor said. "I get letters from the LSU's, the Georgia's and the Alabama's. I think I have more letters from LSU than anyone."

The school that appears closest to offering Scott-Emuakpor is also the school that is located closest to his East Lansing home - Michigan State. There is a lot of familiarity with the Spartans for Scott-Emuakpor, and vice versa, though that recruitment just recently was re-started.

"There was a gap in the recruiting process with them because of Coach [Don] Treadwell getting the [Miami] job," Scott-Emuakpor said. "They had to set up a new recruiter, so now my recruiter is Mark Staten and I have been talking to him.

"I actually went to Michigan State's basketball game last Thursday and talked to Coach [Mark] Dantonio and Coach Staten. Coach Staten said I am in good shape and one of their top guys. Coach Dantonio wants to check out my highlights, and we'll see what's up after that."

The connections between Scott-Emuakpor and Michigan State University run deeper than just being located in the same town.

"My parents both went to Michigan State," Scott-Emuakpor said. "My dad was a part of the alumni board for a long time so I always got a chance to go to the games when I was younger because he always had season tickets. He has been a professor there teaching medicine for awhile."

Michigan State is not the only Big Ten program Scott-Emuakpor has family connections with. He has multiple connections to Ohio State as well.

"My sister lives in Columbus and I have two nieces that go to school in Dublin," Scott-Emuakpor said. "Then, my oldest brother got his Ph.D from Ohio State and my other brother is a junior [studying] Engineering at Ohio State.

"The awkward thing is I haven't received anything from Ohio State. After the NIKE Camp over there I received a little bit, but nothing since then."

Wisconsin is another school that has been showing extensive interest in Scott-Emuakpor in recent weeks, and he plans to attend junior days at Central Michigan and Notre Dame later this month.

Scott-Emuakpor missed the final three games of his junior season after separating his shoulder. He recovered quickly from that and was able to start the basketball season with his team, but finding time to get into the weight room is difficult with his basketball responsibilities.

"Over the course of basketball season I am trying to get in there as much as possible," Scott-Emuakpor said. "We have a class at East Lansing I am taking that is a Yoga and Pilates class. I feel that is my weight lifting sometimes."

Scott-Emuakpor plans to put his talents on display at camps and combines across the Midwest this spring and summer.