Michigan After Grad Transfer OL Sunny Odogwu
This is slightly unexpected after Michigan seemingly straight up passed on Cal transfer Aaron Cochran (who ended up at Oklahoma State) but Michigan threw its hat in the ring for this gent:
BIG development (literally) - Miami grad transfer Sunny Odogwu (6-8, 317) reflecting upon his two-day official visit to #Michigan https://t.co/h7WqAMkhru
— Sam Webb (@SamWebb77) June 1, 2017
Odogwu is an enormous but injury-plagued dude who's started 14 games over the course of his career.
He was Miami's starting RT last year until injury hewed him down, and his late decision to transfer comes after he was held out of much of spring practice. His injury history is extensive:
Odogwu’s broken lower-left leg was sustained on the first of back-to-back sack plays by FSU in the fourth quarter of the Oct. 8 Florida State at UM game last season. It looked severe when the Miami Herald reviewed replays from the ABC telecast. Defensive tackle Derrick Nnadi, a 6-1, 312-pound junior, got past UM center Nick Linder, made the sack, then fell on the back of Odogwu’s lower left leg and ankle —Linder falling with them and Odogwu’s ankle bending unnaturally.
Replacing Odogwu back then was 6-5, 305-pound sophomore Tyree St. Louis, who played a lot last season because Odogwu “has had some knee issues in the past,” Richt said back in October, specifically a torn MCL in his right knee that got surgically repaired in mid-December 2015.
When he's been on the field he's impressed. PFF gave him a very solid 70 in that Miami-FSU game, specifically noting the OL's performance against an FSU front four you may remember decimating the Michigan OL in the bowl game:
Miami’s offensive line kept the Seminoles’ excellent defensive front relatively quiet throughout the course of the game. DeMarcus Walker was largely anonymised by the Hurricanes’ veteran group.
Walker and Odogwu battled to a draw, something that Michigan really could have used last year. It's possible Michigan saw Cochran as just a guy and sees Odogwu as a potential upgrade if he can stay on the field. While that's clearly a major question mark, Michigan has a spare scholarship so the downside is nothing. Might as well take a shot.
Far more certain is Odogwu's ability to give a quote. Beat writers are currently praying to all available deities this comes off.
He refused to answer the first question from reporters, claiming he doesn’t speak English.
He was joking, which is something he does often.
Asked to describe his personality, he began with this:
“Sunny, Sunny Odogwu, the ultimate Sunny Odogwu, which is me. I’m Sunny Odogwu. That’s who I am.
“I hate the sunshine. I love midnight. At night, my energy comes out the most. That’s who I am. I’m Sunny. And I like riding bikes and doing stuff that people don’t normally do.”
Odogwu's next stop is UCLA; Webb asserts that it'll be one of the two schools.
think that bike riding is fairly common. Right?
Maybe not for someone 6'-8" and over 300 lbs.
worth taking a shot at. If he stays healthy could be a decent upgrade at RT for us. If he ends up hurt, well nothing really lost and you go with what you have now.
Michigan has you covered...
if he's healthy, seems like a real contributor. And, and upgrade in the postgame presser department.
Is there a chance he plays LT for us? I mean, if he's stoning people like Nnandi and DeMarcus Walker...
is almost like a suckfest? That sounds like an NCAA violation.
Sometimes you're trying to post to mgoblog quickly in the middle of a meeting and success becomes suckfest
Is that what happened with your username too, or am I just ignorant?
The username is from a picture someone else made on reddit which is my picture. It's a wolverine with khakis on and its saying "gwkrlghl" which was my username for a while. Long story short, my username is that word backwards now
Um it says sucfess
it's quite the covfefe
I and a small number of mgoposters know exactly what I meant
There is a non-zero probability that covfefe is an acronym. Try not to go crazy wondering what manner of beast it would be.
What is, Nigerian nightmare on the right side of the line!
...But Sunny!
I heard Jim himself is scouring every hall of U of M looking for potential walk on linemen to bolster depth
of 'good shape' is. There are going to be bodies/players on the depth chart but for the most part they are going to be quite young and inexperienced. It's pretty common to have inexperienced depth on the oline, but usually you're hoping it's players that have been in the program for at least a year or two, if not longer.
It sounds like UM is going to be counting on one or more guys who will be arriving this summer/August to help fill out the oline depth chart, if not possibly see the playing field. Getting a grad transfer who has seen the field at his previous school in a power 5 conference doesn't sound like a bad idea.
I think there might be an article out there somewhere though...
“Sunny and I had a good conversation, and he informed me that he feels his best opportunity to get the most playing time would be at another school,” coach Mark Richt said in a statement released by the school. “Sunny has been a great teammate and leader for this program, and we will miss him.”
Thanks!
So it sounds like this dude's a good player but has just had the worst injury luck. That's tough.
is a looser and I think he is a boozer, so you'd better make that call to the Plow King! Sorry, couldn't resist. One of my favorite Simpson's episodes
Well considering their O-Line last year may have actually been worse than Michigan's O-Line was the year after Lewan and Schofield graduated, yeah, this should not be a surprise at all.
This article has more info on Sonny's backstory.
He was raised in rural Nigeria without running water, electricity, or a bed, and came to the US after being discovered for his basketball talent. The Miami coaches and players all loved his positive, infectious, and hard working attitude. I really hope we land him!
I think you'll find UCLA quite unacceptable. Come to Michigan. You'll forget what the sun looks like.
Bonus: We have bike riding! It's crazy!
I can actually relate to this. I live in FL and I swear it is sunny almost every day. Sometimes I just want a cloudy day...actually several of them in a row might be a nice change of pace around here. I know this is hard to fathom for those living in the North, but many of us down here get tired of the heat.
middle finger to you! Kidding aside, I would love the sunshine less the heat and humidity. So begins my transition to snow bird!
Sweeping the rush away.
Get him.
GO BLUE!!
"Men call me Sunny, and I am of the night." - Sunny "Darkstar" Odogwu
Plus 10,000 for ASOIAF reference.
I like bikes.
As a Miami fan, I can confidently say Odugwu will make a ton of fans' favorite player list if he comes to Michigan, even if he never plays a down for the maize and blue. Great story, even better kid.
This is a good play either way. You have the scholarship and he's a legit talent if he can stay healthy, so might as well see if you can find a place for him on a 2-deep that is pretty shallow.
Hates Sun? That can't bode well for UCLA, right?
Makes sense to me.
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