Red-shirt freshman offensive tackle Obinna Eze has always had the mindset that he was destined to be more than what he is. From his youth in his home country of Nigeria to his development into a four-star recruit after only one year of playing varsity football, Eze has always known that greatness was within his grasp.
“I’ve always felt like I was bigger than I was,” Eze said. “Like I was in Nigeria, but my mind traveled to other places, so I was always watching Indian movies, American movies, all kinds of African movies. So, watching stuff like that exposed my mind, and so when the opportunity came for basketball, I was excited for it, though I realized I was about to be a thousand miles away from my family. But my family and I talked about it, and my mom, dad and sister were all excited for me. And it was just a leap of faith.”
Eze was asked by high schools across the United States to be part of their basketball teams. After much discussing and an extra push from his mother, he decided to play for Davidson Academy in Nashville.
He moved in with Maurice and Jennifer Fitzgerald as a part of the guardianship program that allowed him to attend the school in 2015. But after only two weeks of being in the country, the Fitzgeralds suggested a different sport that would change Eze’s life forever.
“Believe it or not, Nigeria and America are pretty much the same aside from newer technology that is here,” Eze said. “So it didn’t take me long to really get settled. When I did, my guardians asked me to try football when I was in my second week in America. I called my parents back home, and I decided to try it, and the rest is history. I’d fallen so in love with football that I just decided to leave basketball.”
The switch proved fruitful for the inexperienced lineman, who, after only two years of playing the sport, was a four-star recruit and one of the most sought-after prospects in the state. Eze acquired more than a dozen offers, including ones from SEC powerhouses Alabama, LSU and Auburn. Still, even with so much hype surrounding him, he didn’t allow it to steer him away from his goal.
“For me, I come from a very humble background,” Eze said. “So I can’t come to America and act like I’ve been around this hype before because why get sucked up into a zone that you don’t know a lot about? I’ve never been famous for anything before. I did a good job of keeping my head low and figuring out what I want out of these colleges and not just enjoy the hype.”
Even with all of the big-name college programs knocking at his door, Eze decided that the University of Memphis was the ideal place for him to continue his playing and academic career. At Memphis, he majors in international business.
This move baffled college recruiting sites across the country because they could not understand how a mid-major program like Memphis could steal a prospect away from Alabama. But for Eze, the name of the school was not what mattered. It was the relationships that were key.
“All other schools offered me big-time football and education, but Memphis offered me football, education and life,” Eze said. “It gave me a realistic look at life after football, a life if football didn’t work out. Other schools had the two big things, but Memphis had multiple little things that count for a lot. I believed in my coaches, and they believed in me. So that’s a big reason why I picked Memphis.”
Despite being the highest rated recruit to attend the University of Memphis since local legend running back DeAngelo Williams, Eze was asked by his coaches to red shirt his freshman season, so he could have more time to get familiar with the offense and to work on getting faster. The move caught the tackle off guard because he had grown comfortable with his spot on the roster.
“I didn’t go in thinking I was going to red shirt until about the fifth game,” Eze said. “I started the season off as the second-string offensive tackle, so I prepared myself every day to play. I have a wonderful guy in front of me in Trevon Tate, but I was preparing myself as if something were to happen, not hoping it would happen, but if it did, I wanted to be ready. I would say the red shirt was a good opportunity for me because I was able to really experience college football and not just watch it on television.”
Unfortunately for Eze, he has not been able to return home since his big move, and his family has not been able to come to see him play, but he stays in constant communication with them. He said this upcoming season will be his time to show everyone what he can do and not just from a football standpoint.
“I want to have at least a 3.2 GPA, and I want to start this season, but because I know there’s a lot of dynamics to it, I would at least like to play and contribute to the team physically and help my community as much as I can,” Eze said.
Offensive tackle Obinna Eze, who grew up in Nigeria, is prepared to take over left tackle responsibilities. The red-shirt freshman moved to Nashville to play high school basketball at Davidson Academy and was then noticed by a football coach who convinced him to change sports to football.
