Steilacoom’s Emeka Egbuka, nation’s No. 1 receiver, commits to Ohio State
On a FaceTime call Tuesday with Ohio State football head coach Ryan Day and wide receivers coach Brian Hartline, who were waiting for the star football player’s decision with bated breath, Emeka Egbuka zoomed his cell phone camera out to reveal a college football team’s sweatshirt.
Only, it wasn’t an Ohio State sweatshirt. It was the sweatshirt of either Oklahoma or Washington (Egbuka declined to say which school), the two other schools the highly-touted recruit was considering in the final period of his recruitment.
“They got kind of expressionless,” Egbuka said. “Their hearts dropped.”
Then he took the sweatshirt off, revealing an Ohio State shirt. Prank accomplished.
“Once I took it off, they both kind of fell out of their seats,” Egbuka said.
Egbuka, a senior at Steilacoom High School and the nation’s No. 1 ranked receiver in the 2021 class, verbally committed to Ohio State on Friday evening, announcing his commitment on his Twitter page. He chose the Buckeyes over Oklahoma and Washington.
“I always knew that I liked (Ohio State) the first time I went down there,” he said.
Egbuka, considered a five-star recruit by 247sports.com, held 35 offers and had his pick of big-time college football programs around the country. He joins a loaded Ohio State recruiting class, becoming its fifth five-star recruit, which is the top-ranked class in the Big Ten and No. 2 nationally behind Alabama.
He talked with his dad, who wanted him to make an emotionless decision. So Egbuka went to work on creating a chart with a point system for each school, awarding points for each category he assigned of things that were important to him. Ohio State came out on top, just ahead of the other schools.
Friday’s announcement marks the end of a recruitment process which Egbuka played close to the vest, with few sure where the star receiver would land in the final days leading up to Friday’s announcement.
“I guess that’s kind of part of my personality. I don’t like when things are spoiled. I hate when movies are spoiled, TV shows, anything like that. I didn’t want anyone to really know where I was going.”
Putting himself in the best possible position to some day play in the NFL was a major factor for Egbuka in his recruitment. Ohio State, consistently ranked in the Top 10 and a perennial College Football Playoff contender, felt to Egbuka like the best chance to showcase his talents to pro scouts.
“The NFL is very much a goal,” Egbuka said. “Not just the NFL, but the first round. First round can really change your life and the others around you. After the first round, I’m looking for a long, healthy career and ultimately get myself in the Hall of Fame. … That’s just more exposure to the NFL, if your team is in the College Football Playoff every year. You’re going to be on TV, more NFL scouts are going to tune in.”
Egbuka was The News Tribune’s 2019 All-Area player of the year. The two-time Class 2A South Puget Sound League Mountain division MVP racked up 1,607 receiving yards and 25 touchdowns on 83 receptions in his junior season. He had 2,240 all-purpose yards and 35 total touchdowns. On defense, Egbuka tallied eight interceptions at corner for the Sentinels. He was also named the state’s 2019 Gatorade Player of the Year. He currently has 3,907 career receiving yards through three high school seasons (Washington state has not played its high school season yet, as high school football was moved to the spring due to the coronavirus pandemic).
Steilacoom advanced to the Class 2A state championship game in 2019, losing 48-34 to Tumwater. The championship game appearance marked the furthest Steilacoom’s program has advanced through the state tournament. With a high school football season still uncertain in the spring as coronavirus counts tick up and an uncertain vaccine rollout timeline, that game could be the last we see of Egbuka in a Steilacoom uniform.
He could wait around to see if a spring season materializes, or he could enroll early at Ohio State, play spring football and put himself in potentially a better position to compete for playing time as a true freshman with the Buckeyes.
“We don’t know what decision he’s going to make in regards to early enrollment, but one of the toughest things I’ve had to tell him is, ‘You need to go,’” said Steilacoom coach Colby Davies. “But I think it’s the best decision for him. I don’t know what decision he’ll make. He wants to be around his teammates, wants to be here, wants to do all these things and accomplish all these goals and set these records.
“But I don’t know if that’s going to be possible. It’s hard to tell a kid who’s so optimistic and so positive, but you have to tell him the truth and hopefully he makes a good decision.”
If the 2019 game is indeed the last we’ll see of Egbuka in a Steilacoom uniform, the effect on the Steilacoom program is enormous.
“He’s impacted the program in so many different ways,” Davies said. “I think about now, the situation we’re in, that I may be done coaching him. That part is pretty sad. … We’ve been doing this for four years together, but we may have been through our last game together. He’s going to go on and do all his great stuff. We’ll miss him.”
Known for highlight-reel catches, speed and elusiveness, Egbuka is one of the nation’s most electric playmakers. His dazzling one-handed grab in the back of the end zone in the state championship game made rounds on social media following the game.
Egbuka’s commitment marks a miss for first-year UW head coach Jimmy Lake and the Huskies, who have long coveted Egbuka and aimed to keep the in-state recruit home. Though four-star Kennedy Catholic quarterback Sam Huard is in the fold, Egbuka is now gone and most recruiting analysts predict Eastside Catholic defensive end J.T. Tuimoloau, the state’s No. 1 ranked player in the 2021 class, will also commit to Ohio State.
“It’s strictly business,” Egbuka said. “Nothing but love for all the coaching staff there.”
In his commitment video posted on Twitter, Egbuka announced his decision, surrounded by his teammates. With his talent, he could have transferred to any school in the state, at any classification. But he stayed true to Steilacoom, playing alongside the friends he has played football with since he was a young kid.
“It was everything,” Egbuka said. “They’ve helped me get here, more than they know. We’ve been playing since the second grade. I wouldn’t have anyone else out there with me.”
This story was originally published December 11, 2020 at 5:08 PM.
