Gold Rush: Duke Ejiofor - Making an Impact
12/7/2016 12:00:00 AM | Football
By Sam Walker
Although Duke Ejiofor was born in the United States, his family heritage is Nigerian. Dr. Samuel and Franca Ejiofor, his mother and father, moved to Texas where they had seven children.
Duke says that in Nigeria his family are descendants of royalty. He says he knows no details, but he's been told it is a fact. His two brothers names are Prince and Kingsley, and he has four sisters as well.
But family aside, this season as a redshirt junior, Ejiofor is being a royal pain for opposing offensive linemen and quarterbacks. Heading into Wake Forest's bowl game, Ejiofor leads the team sacks and ranks second in tackles for loss from his defensive end position.
Now, it's difficult to believe Ejiofor had only two major college football scholarship offers -- one from the University of Houston and the other from Wake Forest. And Ejiofor could have stayed close to home, family and friends had he played at Houston. But the allure of the academics at Wake Forest and competition of the ACC drew Ejiofor to Wake Forest after former recruiting coordinator Ray McCartney and cornerbacks coach Derrick Jackson sold him on the value of Wake Forest as a full college experience for a student-athlete like him.
"I was recruited as a linebacker," Ejiofor said. "I had only two big offers coming out of high school in Houston and Wake Forest. I took two official visits to both schools, and I just saw Wake Forest had a better academic program and saw I could excel athletically here, too, with the high level of competition in the ACC. On my visit, I felt at home here. I felt I had a better opportunity here. Nobody really pressured me to stay home and play at Houston, and my family watches me play on TV now. They don't make it to too many games.
"When I got to Wake Forest, I gained too much weight, so they moved me to defensive end, which wasn't too much of a change since that was what I played in high school. I feel like redshirting was good for me getting used to school and just getting bigger, faster and stronger, and getting used to the college feel. I can see it paying off right now as I continue to get better."
Once head coach Dave Clawson took over the program, Ejiofor felt like he had to "audition" all over again, but he was prepared to make a statement. Going into the 2016 season, Clawson had a feeling Ejiofor could be the impact player he needed to put pressure on opposing quarterbacks and diversify the defense.
"Duke is a factor every single week," Clawson said. "You have to account for him, you've got to block him, you have to slide protections because of him and he allows us to get other guys free. He gets back up and gets loose and just keeps going (every play)."
Ejiofor had 12 tackles and two sacks in 10 games as a freshman. Then Ejiofor began his sophomore season on the sideline watching, recovering from a concussion sustained in the preseason. It wasn't until the Deacons earned a 3-0 victory over Boston College that Ejiofor got a taste of both live action and victory. It's one he still appreciates because of the result and timeliness.
Through 12 games this season, Ejiofor is fourth in the ACC in sacks and eighth in tackles for loss. He was named ACC defensive player of the week following Wake Forest's victory over Duke when he recorded career highs in tackles (7), sacks (3) and tackles for loss (4) as well as forcing two fumbles and recovering one.
He was also named the Chuck Bednarik Award Player of the Week for his performance against Duke. The Maxwell Football Club announced that honor and is responsible for honoring the nation's best defensive player at the end of the season with the Chuck Bednarik Award.
"That's the first time I've gotten an award like that, and it was a blessing," Ejiofor said. "I played a good game and was happy to get a `W' and just to get that award on top of it."
Senior defensive back Ryan Janvion said that Ejiofor is a tough guy who can really move.
"He's definitely an NFL-type defensive end, and I think he's the best defensive end in the ACC," Janvion said. "What he does, and how it changes the game, makes our jobs so much easier because Duke gets that pressure put on so fast it takes the pressure off us because we don't have to cover as long. It you have a one-on-one matchup with Duke right now, chances are 65 percent of the time he's going to win.\
"Everything he does, he goes hard. He's big in the weight room, and he might be a soft-spoken guy, but when he gets on the field, he just goes."
Linebacker Marquel Lee agreed with the assessment provided by his teammate.
"It's great to have a pass rusher like Duke," Lee said. "Giving him the chance to cut the ball off on the weak side, to have that strong end -- he's good at that, and his pass rushing ability is second to none. Teams are starting to maximum protect him so we have confidence in our other guys, too (to make plays). But Duke makes plays."
Ejiofor is proud his family name commands respect back in Nigeria, but here in the United States he just thinks it's a neat fact to drop into a conversation. Right now, he is focused on getting Wake Forest prepared for a bowl game. He's already won as many games this season as he has in his entire time at Wake Forest, and this team knows it's better, getting even better and wanting to prove more.
"Week in and week out, I take a good long time studying my opponents, how they scheme against us and the kind of moves I would use in the game," Ejiofor said. "It's preparation, and that's how you have success in games. It's a lot more mental now. This season has been amazing so far, but we want to keep going. I just see there's more buy-in to what Coach Clawson has been bringing to the table, and with that everybody is on the same page. We have more people working extra in the weight room, and also we're excelling academically. Right now, I feel like everything is going well for us."
