NC State’s Ikem Ekwonu is the Pancake King of Raleigh. He has syrup bottles to prove it
When speaking with N.C. State offensive lineman Ikem “Ickey” Ekwonu, there is an important question that needs to be asked before moving forward.
Does he even like pancakes?
“For sure, yeah,” Ekwonu said. “Top-five breakfast food.”
Considering how synonymous Ekwonu, a sophomore tackle for the Wolfpack, is with pancakes and syrup, it helps that he at least enjoys the meal. On the field this season, he’s served up more pancakes than IHOP, earning him a lot of honorary syrup bottles in the offensive lineman room.
When one of the big boys gets a pancake block, knocking down an opponent and finishing him off sometimes by falling on top of him, they receive bottles of syrup. In 20 career games Ekwonu has 72 bottles.
At a position that doesn’t gain a lot of notoriety, Ekwonu’s play at left tackle (or guard) has become must see TV.
Take the first touchdown for N.C. State versus Miami two weeks ago. Quarterback Bailey Hockman caught a pass from wide receiver Thayer Thomas and found his escort to the end zone, the 6-foot-4, 325-pound Ekwonu, who led the way by shoving his defender to the ground. But Ekwonu wasn’t done. With one victim in the dirt and not a threat to make a tackle, Ekwonu didn’t leave anything to chance, flopping on his opponent as Hockman crossed the goal line. The play was making its rounds on social media before the offense even got back on the field for the next possession.
When Ekwonu is making plays, everyone wants to watch.
“One hundred percent, without a doubt,” running back Ricky Person responded when asked if he looks for Ekwonu’s blocks while watching film. “There have been plenty of times when I catch myself on the sidelines or during film like, man, look what Ikey just did.”
Ekwonu is the one N.C. State player the entire team watches the most on film, according to coach Dave Doeren, who called him the “the instigator of the pancake world.”
“I mean, how many teams stand there and just can’t wait to watch their tackle block somebody you know,” Doeren said. “I mean, it’s something we look forward to.”
NC State coach Dave Doeren knew early
It might not have been the first time he laid eyes on Ekwonu, but Doeren remembers the moment he was sold that Ekwonu could help the Wolfpack sooner than later.
“It was one of the most impressive performances I’ve ever seen by a lineman,” Doeren recalled about seeing Ekwonu in high school at Providence Day in Charlotte.
Ekwonu played both ways and almost never came off the field. The moment that stood out for Doeren was a play when the quarterback threw an interception. Ekwonu chased down the defender and made the tackle. Doeren said it was one of the hardest hits he’d ever seen.
“He went down the field and just drilled a guy,” Doeren said. “And I’m, like, man, this guy’s gonna play and I came back and told the staff, I said, that guy will start here as a freshman on the offensive line.”
Doeren said his staff had their doubts, knowing how hard it is to start as a true freshman in the trenches, but Doeren was convinced. Ekwonu proved Doeren to be a prophet. As a true freshman, he started seven games and had 37 pancake blocks.
While fans see Ekwonu finishing blocks now, his former high school coach, Adam Hastings, still sees Ekwonu as the same freshman he threw into the fire at center when a starter went down, and blossomed throughout his four-year career.
Ikem’s twin brother, Osita, is a linebacker at Notre Dame. Hastings said it was apparent from Day 1 that Osita would be a big time prospect, once getting 12 offers in a day. But Ikey grew from a junior varsity player who occasionally dressed out for varsity, to a two-way starter on Friday nights and one of the best linemen he’s ever coached.
“He had a really good sophomore year on JV, then that summer he really ballooned up, size wise,” Hastings said. “By his junior year he started playing on varsity and you realized there was something different about him, that he had the ability.”
That ability included finishing blocks, something Hastings said Ekwonu did since he was a high school freshman, the same way fans see him doing ACC defenders now. Ekwonu, who played soccer and basketball growing up, said he remembers always being a finisher dating back to his Pop Warner days in Charlotte.
“It’s just how I play the game, I guess,” Ekwonu said. “I just like finishing plays, just leaving it all on the field. That’s how I attack everything. You’re never done until the whistle and you feel the ref tap you on the back.”
Ekwonu didn’t become a full-time offensive lineman until his junior year, but brought that physicality from the defensive side of the ball to offense. He was an All-State wrestler and a lot of his success has to do with technique and hand placement he learned on the mat.
“Wrestling, there’s no hiding,” Ekwonu said. “Wrestling is super up close, super personal. You have to have the mindset that you’re going to be a dog on the mat or on the field, you just have to be a dog. You’re not going to get punked by anyone, you’re not going to get moved by anyone.”
Ekwonu was the first true freshman to start at offensive tackle since Robert Crisp in 2010. He earned the Philip Rivers Award for Rookie of the Year and was named to several freshman All-American teams. Those 37 pancake blocks he recorded led the team and he was the Co-recipient of the Wolfpack’s John Ritcher Offensive Lineman of the Year award.
Hastings knew if the opportunity to play early presented itself, Ekwonu would take advantage. Some players have to adjust mentally and physically to that first year of college, but Hastings said Ekwonu was the type of guy who would have no problem.
“The reason he’s playing like that is because of who he is,” Hastings said. “His work ethic, his mindset, the way he approaches the game. That’s really what separates him.”
Ikem Ekwonu wants to leave a legacy
Without the helmet and pads, Ekwonu is all smiles, wearing glasses and being “carefree.” But when the lights come on, the nastiness coaches want from a lineman comes out.
“It blows people’s minds. He was a student body officer, you always saw his face, that big old smile of his all around school, that carefree attitude,” Hastings said. “A lot of teachers thought he was really silly, carefree. I would tell teachers ‘he gets us personal fouls in games.’ He talks more junk than any player I ever coach. When you tell people that don’t see him like that they don’t believe you.”
That’s something Ekwonu is working on.
“I might talk a little more than I should,” he said with a laugh. “That’s something I’ve gotten better at as the season has gone on, for sure. I got a personal foul early in the season so that kind of woke me up a little bit. I don’t want to hurt the team, especially after something good.”
Beyond talking less on the field, he’s still developing as a lineman.
He wants to become more flexible, something scouts examine when looking at linemen, especially ones with long limbs and NFL-left tackle potential like Ekwonu. Just a sophomore, he knows there is plenty of time before he’s close to his ceiling.
With the NCAA ruling that 2020 won’t count toward a year of eligibility, Ekwonu could be in Raleigh for three more seasons if he chooses to. Even he realizes his freshman season was better than average and he’s on pace to at least duplicate that success now.
“All I can do is go up,” Ekwonu said. “I have a lot of time left to focus on my technique and clean up my game, really.”
Doeren said Ekwonu sets the standard in the offensive line room for knockdowns, and everyone’s competing for the crown, but they all are chasing the man they call “Ikey.”
When his college career is complete, there’s no telling how many bottles of syrup Ekwonu would have collected when he leaves N.C. State. He doesn’t care, as long as he’s remembered as one of the greats.
“Before I leave here, I want to have a legacy. I want people to know the Ekwonu name, know my last name, know my family name,” Ekwonu said. “You know how Torry Holt, everyone knows him, knows his children, I want to have a legacy like that before I leave, before it’s all said and done.”
This story was originally published November 19, 2020 at 1:38 PM.
