Big things expected for Oghobaase

Defensive tackle could fulfill his promise, and give Duke a boost, by making it to the NFL

DURHAM -- Duke junior defensive tackle Vince Oghobaase commands attention.

He stands 6-foot-6 and weighs 310 pounds.

In 2005, he was the first five-star recruit to choose Duke in over a decade.

Recording 3.5 quarterback sacks and 6.5 tackles for losses, while regularly battling double-teams this season, he could be Duke's first All-ACC pick from the defensive line in six years.

He also could be just the third NFL draft pick from the Duke defense since linebacker Mike Junkin went in the first round in 1987. Junkin was the last first-round pick to come out of Duke.

Having Oghobaase make good on that size, hype and potential, both in the ACC and the NFL, would legitimize a fledgling Duke program.

"It's absolutely one of the goals I've written down," Duke coach David Cutcliffe said, "to develop some draft choices and do it the right way with the right kind of people, which Vince is."

Big kid

People have been wishing a football future on Oghobaase, son of Vincent Sr. (6-3) and Florence (6-1), and seeing big things in his long arms, long legs, and strong body since he was a child.

Oghobaase grew up with Duke linebacker Michael Tauiliili, the ACC's leading tackler, in Houston. They attended the same middle school and played youth football together and went to rival high schools. Tauiliili said people were always hanging on Oghobaase. They'd go out and people would stop Oghobaase wanting to talk to him about his high school football career.

That started when Oghobaase was in middle school.

Oghobaase's dad, who came to the U.S. from Nigeria and met his future wife while they were both students at Pace University in New York, never played football. He saw a sign for the local youth league and wanted to get his son active in sports. The state's football obsession took it from there.

"Down in Texas, kids are bred to play football from when they're small," Oghobaase said. "It's one of those things, you can't get by without someone asking you who you play for."

Big recruit

That's Texas. Oghobaase said he was lucky to play in the Houston area surrounded by great players and coaching. There were so many great ones, Oghobaase didn't play varsity ball until his junior season at Alief Hastings.

He ended up as the third-ranked recruit in Texas and the 45th best prospect in the nation in the 2005 class according to Scout.com.

College scouts, who were evaluating older prospects at Hastings, noticed Oghobaase as a freshman. The first offer came two years later.

Ted Roof's former Duke staff was just one of many schools chasing him. Roof sent half of his staff after him. Oghobaase shocked football fans when he chose Duke over Texas A&M, Oklahoma State, Miami, and Arizona.

"I knew Duke was the best place for me to set me up for life after football," Oghobaase said. "I made the decision for myself. I came here on a mission and came here to do it. We had some down years but we're getting it done."

The best players face the most pressure and Tauiliili said Oghobaase has always been able to roll with the punches like he did while being recruited.

"You see the praise he gets," Tauiliili said. "You see the magazines and him all on the cover when he first got here saying he was the savior of the program. ... I'm amazed how humble he still is. Part of that comes from his parents. He tells me all the time, 'I'm just going to continue to work.' He thinks, 'If I'm not working, someone else is. 'Some guys wouldn't know how to handle that."

Big player

Oghobaase's ascent stalled when he tore the medial collateral ligament in his right knee as a freshman and had to redshirt. It was the toughest football situation he has ever faced. But, with 34 consecutive starts, he hasn't missed a snap since.