This future Gamecock says brotherly love, family workouts pushed him to be his best
Irmo High School’s Nick Emmanwori has emerged as one of the top defensive players in the state. His offseason training sessions with his brother were instrumental in his development.
Okachi Emmanwori, who played at Irmo and transferred from Presbyterian to Wofford College this season, put his brother through some grueling workouts the past few years. Some of those sessions included running hills and the Lake Murray dam, and spending time in sand pits and on the field working on technique.
The results have paid off. The younger Emmanwori committed to play for Shane Beamer at the University of South Carolina over the summer as the seventh-ranked prospect in the state by 247Sports Composite.
“I owe everything, I would say, to my brother, Okachi,” Nick told The State on Tuesday before practice. “He was a great football player here a few years ago. He is the reason I fell in love with football. Some days, he would force me to go to practice when I was eighth-grader and as a freshman.
“I owe everything I have now to him. He used to push me every day. When no one believed in me, he believed in me.”
Nick Emmanwori was a standout running back for Seven Oaks Recreation growing up. While he had success there, Okachi saw bigger things for his brother and started a plan to get him in shape, and improve on his footwork and technique.
The plan started when Nick was 15 and continues each time Okachi is home for summer break.
“Every summer when I come home, we get right back to work like nothing ever stopped,” said Okachi Emmanwori, who is fifth in tackles for Wofford this season. “I would always push him to get one percent better each day. My motto for him was ‘Chase excellence.’ After a few years, I told him, ‘You’ve got a good chance to be a really good player. You just have to have that killer mentality and continue to chase greatness.’ ”
Nick took that summertime work and applied to his high school playing career. At practice on Tuesday, he was one of the first to finish in his group running sprints before practice.
Nick Emmanwori has become a tacking machine for the Yellow Jackets, who host A.C. Flora on Friday in a matchup for first place in Region 4-4A. He leads the team with 91 solo tackles, six tackles for loss, and has a sack and an interception.
He primarily played safety last season, but Irmo coach Aaron Brand moved Emmanwori to a hybrid linebacker spot this season.
Emmanwori has played middle and strongside linebacker. The senior embraces being able to play multiple positions and looks up to Derwin James, who has played a variety of positions from safety to linebacker during his career so far with the Los Angeles Chargers.
Brand believes the 6-foot-4 Emmanwori can play linebacker in college if he adds some weight to his 210-pound frame.
“I have never been around someone that has been around the football so much in my 20 years of coaching,” Brand said. “He is disruptive in the pass and run game. We aren’t done with Nick yet but those guys down the road (South Carolina) are getting a special player.
“He is more of an outside backer and could carry about 240 or 250 pounds. And as long as he keeps his speed, he is going to be an NFL guy. Nick is tough enough and got great speed to play in or out of the box. He has great length and can run like the wind. The sky’s the limit for him.”
Emmanwori remains in contact with Gamecocks coaches, especially defensive coordinator Clayton White. He went to the Kentucky game earlier this year and plans to be back at USC at some point this season.
Other schools have shown interest in him. Penn State is expected to be in town Friday to talk to him, according to Brand.
Emmanwori won’t enroll early at USC because of his class schedule.
“This commitment is huge. I feel like the city loves and is behind me. I am really excited for the Gamecocks’ year and how it turns out,” Emmanwori said. “There was a lot of hate on coach Beamer (after the Tennessee game). But it is his first season as a coach and things are going to change next season and the season after that. It was like that here at Irmo in coach Brand’s first year. But I know the culture is changing over there and will continue to change.”
This story was originally published October 14, 2021 at 6:00 AM.
