Okonkwo waiting for Pac-12

Okonkwo was a standout at the IMG 7on7 over the summer.

A big cornerback with skill is hard to come by and sometimes, if they’re good enough, they’re hard to recognize too. If no team is willing to throw their way, it can be hard for a prospect to set himself apart on Friday nights. That is almost the case with Fontana (Calif.) Summit defender Charles Okonkwo but with the limited opportunities he’s had, Okonkwo has been able to emerge on the Pac-12 radar.

Okonkwo is 6-1, 178 pounds. He runs an 11.0 100 meter time and he is a sure tackler in the open field. Those are all attributes that are hard to come by at the cornerback position. Now Okonkwo’s challenge is to alert major colleges to those sills.

Already he has offers from the likes of Boise State, Nevada, San Diego State, Utah State and Fresno State. He has an official visit set up with Nevada for the first weekend of December. But Okonkwo would like to play in the Pac-12 and he’s got a couple of schools that have expressed an interest in return.

“I’ve been getting a lot of interest from schools like Oregon State, Duke, Stanford and Washington State,” Okonkwo said. “With Stanford they’re saying I need to take some AP classes with I’m trying to get into. Oregon State said they’re going to come out to my game in a couple weeks and they might offer me then.”

Up to this point in the season, Okonkwo has plucked two interceptions despite limited opportunities and he has taken one back for a touchdown.

“My dream offer would be Stanford because of the program and the academics definitely. I think they’re considering me a lot because I’ve been talking to them and they like my film. They’ve talking to me about taking AP classes and I’ve been talking to my counselors but my teachers said it might be a little late to get into AP so we’re trying to work it out. My second dream offer would be Oregon State.”

Currently Okonkwo is rated as the No. 61 cornerback in the country by 247Sports and the No. 89 player in the state of California. He also has a 247Composite rating of .8496 and a 247Composite ranking as the nation’s No. 64 cornerback.