At this time last year, Kennedy High senior Ndubisi "Bisi" Ezekoye was preparing to enter his third high school in as many years. Now, the 17-year old football, track and classroom star will enter his senior year as a budding NCAA Division I football recruit.
But he is much more than that.
"This kid is the most impressive young man that I've had the fortune to meet," said Chuck Harmon, the president/founder of the Maryland Crab Bowl, the state's all-star high school football game. "When you look for a kid, a complete kid, a football player, a track guy; I'm talking about as a father, this is the kind of kid I want you to be like. That's Bisi."
Ezekoye, a native of Pittsburgh, moved to the Washington, D.C. area last August after his father decided to move his law practice. He initially attempted to register at DeMatha or Good Counsel, but the application deadline for both schools had passed. Eventually, his family was drawn to Montgomery County and felt the Silver Spring school was a good fit.
Once enrolled, the 6-foot, 179-pound speedster had less than a week to prepare for the football season. But the transition was easy for the former Plum High and Pittsburgh Central Catholic standout.
After starting the season as a running back with 4.3-second 40-yard dash speed, he was moved to quarterback in the third week to facilitate Cavaliers head coach Randolph Warren's option offense.
Ezekoye will remain a dual threat in the fall. Warren hopes to utilize his captain's athleticism by "tailoring the play selection to his abilities."
"I'd love to rush for 2,000 yards and a billion touchdowns," said Ezekoye. "We have some new tricks up our sleeves like the Wildcat formation, so the newspapers are definitely going to hear some weird scores. … But the main thing is to be looked at as the captain of this team. I need to balance academics with football and help younger guys."
Added Warren: "I've been very fortunate and thankful for him to fall into my lap. He's a wonderful kid with a positive attitude and a pleasure to coach."
Ezekoye also emerged as a track star this past year, earning All-Gazette first-team honors as a sprinter in both the winter and spring. He took the Class 3A West Region title in the 55-meter dash (indoor) and state championship in the 100 (outdoor).
However, the aspiring corporate lawyer may be even more proud of his off-field accomplishments. Compared by Harmon to former Florida State University safety and current Rhodes Scholar Myron Rolle, Ezekoye carries a 3.71 grade-point average while taking honors and Advanced Placement classes. The future economics and political science major plans to attend law school after his athletic career is completed.
According to Ezekoye, he has official football scholarship offers from the University of Connecticut and the United States Air Force and Naval Academies, while he also hopes to draw interest from Stanford (Calif.), Duke (N.C.), Notre Dame (Ind.) and Northwestern (Ill.) Universities.
"Not only do I think he's going to be a future football star, but his life is going to have much more meaning that," said Harmon. "I've never spoken like this about a kid. When he's elected into the United States Congress, you'll say ‘[Oh my gosh].'… I understand greatness when I see it. I've met presidents, senators, governors; I've never been this impressed with a kid."
Ezekoye's national attention is sure to rise during his senior year, but his immediate focus is on improving the Cavaliers' 2-8 record in 2008. He already has one postseason accolade under his belt: being named to the D.C. team for Dec. 19's Crab Bowl.
"It's a blessing," said Ezekoye. "To just be considered one of the best is an honor."
