Who is Ikem Ekwonu? 7 things you should know about 2022 NFL Draft pick from NC State
What do football fans know about Ikem “Ickey” Ekwonu?
They know he’s big (6-foot-4, 320) pounds. They know he was a consensus first-team All-American at N.C. State, the first since 2017.
Ekwonu, the former Wolfpack left tackle, will hear his name called early during the 2022 NFL draft tonight, which begins at 8.
After three stellar seasons at N.C. State, Ekwonu could become the first Wolfpack player since Mario Williams to go No. 1 overall. Almost all of the draft projections have him gone by at least the sixth overall pick.
Ekwonu splashed onto the scene as a true freshman, starting seven games and becoming the first N.C. State freshman since 2010 to start at offensive tackle.
Who is Ikem Ekwonu?
Ikem Ekwonu’s nickname is “Ickey”
That came from one of his former coaches, who thought he looked like former Cincinnati Bengals running back, Ickey Woods.
The meaning of his name
His full name is Ikemefuna Ekwonu, which means “my effort will not be in vain.”
Ikem Ekwonu is a former wrestler
At Providence Day School in Charlotte, Ekwonu was just as dominant on the mat as he is on the football field.
“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.”
He was a flag football running back
Don’t let his size fool you. As a youngster, the All-American tackle was a running back.
“I played flag football before I played Pop Warner,” Ekwonu said in November. “I just loved getting the ball and running with it. I didn’t really know how to hold the ball yet, obviously, but I played a little running back, played a little receiver and tight end. I feel like I definitely had a spot at running back if I didn’t get so big.”
He showed he still had some speed as he got older, running anchor on his prep relay team.
Ikem Ekwonu comes from a football family
Ekwonu’s twin brother, Osita, is a linebacker at Notre Dame. In high school, it was Osita, not Ikem, who got a lot of the attention early from recruiters.
Their high school coach, Adam Hastings, said Osita once got 12 offers in one day, but he knew Ickey’s time would come.
“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.”
Syrup bottles
The Pancake King of Raleigh gets a bottle of syrup every time he flattens (or pancakes) an opponent. They all sit in the offensive line meeting room inside the Murphy Center Football building.
But does Ekwonu even like pancakes?
“For sure, yeah,” Ekwonu said. “Top-five breakfast food.”
Ekwonu left Raleigh with 154 pancake blocks.
Recruiting Ikem Ekwonu
Even though he might become the No. 1 overall pick, Ekwonu wasn’t the headliner of his recruiting class. Dave Doeren’s class of 2019 might be his best yet, and Ekwonu was ranked as the ninth-best player in the 24-man class.
He was a three-star prospect and the No. 26 player in North Carolina coming out of high school, according to 247Sports.
After watching him play for the first time, Doeren knew he would be an impact player at the next level.
“I came back and told the staff,” Doeren recalled. “I said, that guy will start here as a freshman on the offensive line.”
This story was originally published April 28, 2022 at 7:00 AM.
