By Andrew Wilson for Magazine of Elon
Coming to the Elon football team as a first-year student in the summer of 2014,
Olisaemeka Udoh wouldn't even turn 18 until February 2015. But standing 6'5" and weighing 380 pounds, the offensive lineman knew he had an opportunity to turn heads, both academically and athletically, over the course of his time at Elon. Nearly five years later, Udoh, of Fayetteville, North Carolina, found out just how far he had come when on April 27 he became football's third student-athlete selected in the NFL Draft since the program moved to the Division I ranks in 1999 when he was selected in the sixth round by the Minnesota Vikings.
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While Udoh has become the latest Elon athlete to represent the Phoenix at the professional ranks, he's one of many that have used their time at Elon as a launching point for not only careers in athletics, but also future careers in their field of choice. An exercise science major and a biology minor, Udoh spent his first year at Elon redshirting to focus on losing weight, gaining strength and learning the skills required to play in the trenches on the offensive line in the Colonial Athletic Association—one of the top football conferences at the FCS level. Though not ready to contribute his first year on the field, Udoh built on his strong high school academic background to shine in the classroom on the way to earning Athletic Director's Honor Roll recognitions each of his first two semesters on campus.
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The son of parents in the medical field, Elon offered Udoh a chance to balance his love of science with the ability to play football at a high level. "When I was visiting schools, my parents kept stressing that I should make my choice based on academics," Udoh says. "I thought that Elon presented me with exactly what I wanted to do academically, and it allowed me to stay fairly close to home. My family has always been really supportive, so it meant a lot to have them close enough to come to my home games and continue that support."
Graduating last May, Udoh exercised his fifth year of eligibility to take some additional science courses and continue his football career. That's when he started garnering serious attention from NFL scouts. Starting all 11 games in 2018 and all 45 contests the Phoenix has played since his redshirt season, Udoh became a mainstay on Elon's offensive line that helped Elon's offense to the top of the conference in rushing and touchdowns. "Going into last year, that spring is when the scouts started coming around and started asking about him," says head football coach
Tony Trisciani. "This year, every NFL team came through Elon and he had plenty of meetings. It was obvious to us and to him that he was going to have this opportunity if he did the work. That was the challenge and he's met that and put himself in this position."
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Along the way, Udoh thrived in the classroom while making a name for himself on the field. He took difficult science courses, worked closely with professors and was an integral member of group projects from day one. Caroline Ketcham, a professor of exercise science who had Udoh in her senior seminar course, says he was one of the most innovative students she has ever taught in her 15 years in higher education. "Oli is both respectful and respected—a quiet leader who facilitated a group to develop a complex idea and present outcomes to diverse stakeholders with a sophisticated and digestible approach," Ketcham says. "His talent, work ethic and confidence are not front-forward, but they're unmistakable for those who are fortunate enough to work alongside Oli for a sustained period of time."
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Now set for the next chapter in his career, Udoh worked his way on the field from a kid that wasn't ready for the gridiron in year one, to earning multiple All-America honors and putting Elon on football's biggest stage at the East-West Shrine Game, the Reese's Senior Bowl, the NFL Combine and now the NFL Draft—all while earning a degree to succeed off the field when his football career comes to a close.
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--ELON--
