Alabama football linebacker ditches Tide for South Carolina
For the fifth time since it opened, Alabama football has lost a linebacker, this time Justin Okoronkwo, to the transfer portal.
clutchpoints.com
Another portal get for the defense
- Thread starter PrestonyteParrot
- Start date
An very interesting 2023 NY Times article on Okoronkwo
www.nytimes.com
By Kennington Smith III
Jul 11, 2023
9
A life-changing moment still hasn’t quite sunk in for Justin Okoronkwo. He was in his hotel room in late June when he received a text message from his trainer Brandon Collier, six words that any amateur football player would want to hear: “Alabama is about to offer you.”
Collier arrived a few minutes later, handed Okoronkwo his phone and told him to call linebackers coach Robert Bala. Then the moment arrived. A few weeks later, on July 9, he committed to join the Crimson Tide’s 2024 recruiting class.
“He said we really liked your performance at camp and we want to offer you (a scholarship),” Okoronkwo said. “It felt like a dream. It was unbelievable.”
Okoronkwo is like many prep athletes who attend camps during the summer to work out in front of college coaching staffs in hopes of getting noticed. To earn an offer from a program like Alabama is rare in itself, but Okoronkwo’s journey is especially uncommon. Head coach Nick Saban has recruited just about every type of athlete but almost none like Okoronkwo.
He has never played a down of football on American soil. He was born in Munich, Germany, and has only been playing football for a little over three years. Now, he’s a part of what will be another top-ranked Alabama recruiting class.
“I think I realize (now) how big it is,” Okoronkwo said. “I’ve been on Instagram and everyone’s wishing me best of luck, there’s random people saying, ‘Wow, it’s crazy what you’ve accomplished’. (Collier) said that this is big for the culture.”
Okoronkwo, a 6-foot-3, 225-pound linebacker, is rated as a three-star recruit and the No. 1 player in Germany by the leading recruiting services. In his home country, where American football’s popularity is booming, his commitment is a significant moment for the sport’s trajectory.
“If a European player can play in Germany, develop there and get a scholarship to Alabama, it should let (younger players) know that they can do it too,” said Josh Alaeze, coach of Okoronkwo’s Nurnberg Rams team.
Okoronkwo (right) with Nick Saban and trainer Brandon Collier on his visit to Alabama. (Courtesy of Brandon Collier)
“He hit me up and said I have to build to play, come and try it out,” Okoronkwo said. “I tried it, went to a training session and fell in love with the sport.”
In 2021 Okoronkwo met Alaeze, who invited him to join his football program after scouting him at a local game. At the time, Okoronkwo was a 187-pound safety, but Alaeze knew his future on the field was at linebacker.
“He was a young, hungry kid who just wanted to develop,” Alaeze said. “He joined us in 2021 and we’ve been going at it ever since.”
Alaeze is a Baltimore, Md., native who played college football at Central Connecticut State from 2011 to ’14. His professional career had several international stops, from the Kiel Baltic Hurricanes in the German Football League to Panthers Wroclaw, a Polish team in the European League of Football, to the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League. After his playing career, he returned to Baltimore and founded his training company AVO Sports & Performance. During the pandemic, he decided to move his operation back to Germany to help grow the game where he once played.
He works directly with Collier, a Cleveland, Ohio, native with a similar background: college football at UMass, followed by professional stops in Canada and Europe. Collier’s training company PPI Recruits sponsors a “Dreamchasers Tour” in which the best European athletes travel with Collier to America during the summer months to attend college camps and gain exposure. Together, Alaeze and Collier help European athletes gain exposure, and hopefully scholarships, to American universities. Since its inception in 2016, PPI Recruits has landed over 80 international athletes from 15 countries on Division I scholarships to schools including Michigan, Notre Dame, Penn State, Virginia and now Alabama.
Football is growing overseas, but there are still hurdles to clear in educating the families on the opportunities available.
“The kids I have in my program have the support of their families, which is huge,” Alaeze said. “That’s huge because what they’re trying to do is very big but it’s not so common to the average European. So the reality is, most of these parents don’t really know what their kids are working for. They don’t have an idea of what’s really going on across the water in America when it comes to college athletics.”
Okoronkwo’s family had some concerns about American football, mainly the sport’s violent nature and injury risks. His recent commitment serves as validation, but there’s still much for his family to learn. They will travel with Justin for his official visit in early September for an Alabama home game.
“They still don’t know how big it is, but they’re still very proud of me,” Okoronkwo said. “My dad’s never been to America so he can’t really imagine how big it is, what I’ve accomplished, but I look forward to showing them on my official visit.”
Any scholarship would’ve been a blessing to Okoronkwo — he had previously been committed to Maryland since November 2022 — but Alabama was always his dream school. The reason? When he first started playing, his coaches would show Alabama games as a film study.
“He told us that’s the highest level you can play, that’s the best you can be,” Okoronkwo said. “So that’s always been my dream school, and that’s why it was such an honor to get this offer.”
From Germany to Tuscaloosa, Justin Okoronkwo marks new recruiting territory for Alabama
In his home country, where American football's popularity is booming, his commitment is a significant moment.
www.nytimes.com
From Germany to Tuscaloosa, Justin Okoronkwo marks new recruiting territory for Alabama
By Kennington Smith III
Jul 11, 2023
9
A life-changing moment still hasn’t quite sunk in for Justin Okoronkwo. He was in his hotel room in late June when he received a text message from his trainer Brandon Collier, six words that any amateur football player would want to hear: “Alabama is about to offer you.”
Collier arrived a few minutes later, handed Okoronkwo his phone and told him to call linebackers coach Robert Bala. Then the moment arrived. A few weeks later, on July 9, he committed to join the Crimson Tide’s 2024 recruiting class.
“He said we really liked your performance at camp and we want to offer you (a scholarship),” Okoronkwo said. “It felt like a dream. It was unbelievable.”
Okoronkwo is like many prep athletes who attend camps during the summer to work out in front of college coaching staffs in hopes of getting noticed. To earn an offer from a program like Alabama is rare in itself, but Okoronkwo’s journey is especially uncommon. Head coach Nick Saban has recruited just about every type of athlete but almost none like Okoronkwo.
He has never played a down of football on American soil. He was born in Munich, Germany, and has only been playing football for a little over three years. Now, he’s a part of what will be another top-ranked Alabama recruiting class.
“I think I realize (now) how big it is,” Okoronkwo said. “I’ve been on Instagram and everyone’s wishing me best of luck, there’s random people saying, ‘Wow, it’s crazy what you’ve accomplished’. (Collier) said that this is big for the culture.”
Okoronkwo, a 6-foot-3, 225-pound linebacker, is rated as a three-star recruit and the No. 1 player in Germany by the leading recruiting services. In his home country, where American football’s popularity is booming, his commitment is a significant moment for the sport’s trajectory.
“If a European player can play in Germany, develop there and get a scholarship to Alabama, it should let (younger players) know that they can do it too,” said Josh Alaeze, coach of Okoronkwo’s Nurnberg Rams team.
Okoronkwo (right) with Nick Saban and trainer Brandon Collier on his visit to Alabama. (Courtesy of Brandon Collier)
Finding football abroad
Naturally, Okoronkwo’s first sport was soccer, where he played goalkeeper; he also participated in gymnastics until he was 16. A conversation with a friend in 2020 changed the course of his athletic future.“He hit me up and said I have to build to play, come and try it out,” Okoronkwo said. “I tried it, went to a training session and fell in love with the sport.”
In 2021 Okoronkwo met Alaeze, who invited him to join his football program after scouting him at a local game. At the time, Okoronkwo was a 187-pound safety, but Alaeze knew his future on the field was at linebacker.
“He was a young, hungry kid who just wanted to develop,” Alaeze said. “He joined us in 2021 and we’ve been going at it ever since.”
Alaeze is a Baltimore, Md., native who played college football at Central Connecticut State from 2011 to ’14. His professional career had several international stops, from the Kiel Baltic Hurricanes in the German Football League to Panthers Wroclaw, a Polish team in the European League of Football, to the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League. After his playing career, he returned to Baltimore and founded his training company AVO Sports & Performance. During the pandemic, he decided to move his operation back to Germany to help grow the game where he once played.
He works directly with Collier, a Cleveland, Ohio, native with a similar background: college football at UMass, followed by professional stops in Canada and Europe. Collier’s training company PPI Recruits sponsors a “Dreamchasers Tour” in which the best European athletes travel with Collier to America during the summer months to attend college camps and gain exposure. Together, Alaeze and Collier help European athletes gain exposure, and hopefully scholarships, to American universities. Since its inception in 2016, PPI Recruits has landed over 80 international athletes from 15 countries on Division I scholarships to schools including Michigan, Notre Dame, Penn State, Virginia and now Alabama.
Football is growing overseas, but there are still hurdles to clear in educating the families on the opportunities available.
“The kids I have in my program have the support of their families, which is huge,” Alaeze said. “That’s huge because what they’re trying to do is very big but it’s not so common to the average European. So the reality is, most of these parents don’t really know what their kids are working for. They don’t have an idea of what’s really going on across the water in America when it comes to college athletics.”
Okoronkwo’s family had some concerns about American football, mainly the sport’s violent nature and injury risks. His recent commitment serves as validation, but there’s still much for his family to learn. They will travel with Justin for his official visit in early September for an Alabama home game.
“They still don’t know how big it is, but they’re still very proud of me,” Okoronkwo said. “My dad’s never been to America so he can’t really imagine how big it is, what I’ve accomplished, but I look forward to showing them on my official visit.”
Any scholarship would’ve been a blessing to Okoronkwo — he had previously been committed to Maryland since November 2022 — but Alabama was always his dream school. The reason? When he first started playing, his coaches would show Alabama games as a film study.
“He told us that’s the highest level you can play, that’s the best you can be,” Okoronkwo said. “So that’s always been my dream school, and that’s why it was such an honor to get this offer.”
Germany’s most dominant prospect
Right now, Collier estimates that close to 300 teams play 11-on-11 padded football in Germany across all levels. At the prep level, Okoronkwo is the best player.He’s a do-it-all weapon for Alaeze’s Nurnberg Rams, featuring at linebacker, kick and punt returner and a utility player on offense. Germany’s football season runs from spring to late summer, meaning that Okornkwo is in-season now. According to Alaeze, his stat line from his last game read as follows: three tackles for loss, one interception, one 50-yard kick return and one rush and reception for 50 yards each.
“He’s just a freakish athlete,” Alaeze said.
The Rams play in an eight-team regional league in Bavaria, the largest state in Germany. Play styles vary by team, but as a Baltimore native, Alaeze’s team identity favors the NFL’s Ravens: a smashmouth, physical offense paired with an aggressive defense. That culture helped in Okornkwo’s development as he’s still learning the physicality of the game.
Advertisement
“Of course it was a different environment with the physicality but I wasn’t afraid of it,” Okoronkwo said. “I’ve always liked violent sports so I was made for it. My home team plays really tough football.”
Okoronkwo has missed a few games in each of the last two years to attend Collier’s “Dreamchasers Tour,” a necessary sacrifice for those with a college scholarship as the ultimate goal. Spots on the tour are coveted; Collier holds an annual combine to select the attendees. During Okoronkwo’s first tour in 2022, he camped at Alabama, Michigan, Michigan State, Miami and more. His first scholarship offer came from Michigan.
“I think at that point I couldn’t really realize what I accomplished,” Okoronkwo said. “That moment I was just standing there with a big smile and couldn’t really imagine what happened. It was just great.”
This year’s tour featured other prestigious stops including Georgia, the back-to-back national champions, but Okoronkwo’s performance at Alabama earned him a scholarship offer that was too good to pass up.
His measurements looked the part, and his on-field marks were more impressive, per Collier: a 4.49 40-yard dash, a 10 feet 5 inch broad jump, a 38-inch vertical leap and a 6.63 three-cone drill time. Each one of those would’ve ranked in the top five results at the 2023 NFL combine among draft-eligible linebackers.
Okoronkwo’s athleticism jumps off the page but his most impressive attribute is his experience level.
“This is his third year of playing football,” Alaeze said. “Realistically his best football is going to be in 2025, 2026. I think that’s where a lot of coaches are excited, he’s not even scratched the surface of what he can be.”
A turning point for football in Germany
American football’s reach in Europe is growing. The NFL played its first game in Munich last November, and this season’s schedule includes five international games, including two more games in Germany (Frankfurt), one of which featuring the reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs. The aforementioned European League of Football was founded three years ago and features 17 teams from Germany, Austria, France, Spain and other countries. Okoronkwo says the fan base is steadily growing.Advertisement
At a lower level, stories like Okoronkwo serve as motivation. Alabama has signed international players before, from wide receiver John Metchie to freshman Olaus Alinen, but even they played high school football in America before signing. Punter James Burnip is an Australian native who made his American football debut as a member of the Crimson Tide in 2021. And Okoronkwo will join that short list next year.
“I think that I will have a lot of new experiences in America,” Okoronkwo said. “I’ve always wanted to study somewhere other than at home.”
He’s the latest addition to a growing list of German-born prep athletes going on to American college football, but being the first to attend Alabama is new territory.
“I’m hoping these kids can see this opportunity that Justin has and just realize that anything’s possible,” Alaeze said. “For Justin to not only get the scholarship, but be able to commit… the kid has never played high school football in America. So at this point there’s literally nothing that’s impossible for a European athlete.”
(Top photo courtesy of Josh Alaeze)
It's gonna be great listening to Todd talk about this dude making tackles!
Todd was already cringing when he saw Damola Ajidahun had committed. He's really got his work cut out for him now.
Good size. Should definitely fit in to Clayton White's plan for a spread-defense...you know without any defensive tackles
Get unlimited access today.