2021 Football Roster
Sep 27 (Sat)
12:00 AM
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Ikem Ekwonu
- Class:
- Sophomore
- Hometown:
- Charlotte, N.C.
- High School:
- Providence Day
Pronunciation: EE kehm eck WAHN ew
2021 SEASON:
• The Athletic calls him “the most feared lineman in the ACC.”
2020 SEASON:
• Earned second-team All ACC honors from the Associated Press at both guard and tackle. Earned third-team honors on the league team.
• The recipient of the team’s Jim Ritcher Award for top offensive lineman.
• Named co-ACC Offensive Lineman of the Week for the opener and for the win over Duke.
• Graded out an unheard of 90% vs. the Blue Devils and again vs. FSU
• Led the team with 50 pancake blocks and with 22 knockdowns
• An Academic All-ACC performer for the second straight year.
• A first-team preseason All-ACC choice according to Phil Steele, second-team by Athlon.
2019 SEASON:
• Named to the FWAA Freshman All-America team and the PFF All-Freshman Team for 2019.
• Second-team All-ACC choice by Pro Football Focus.
• An All-ACC Academic performer - he earned a 3.4 GPA in his management major and was named to the Dean’s List.
• Started the last 7 games of 2019 at LT, the first four games of 2020 atLG and has been back at LT in the last six outings.
• True freshman who started the last seven games at left tackle.
• Had a season-best seven pancake blocks vs. Louisville.
• Led the team in pancakes for the season with 37.
• In for a season-high 87 snaps at Georgia Tech, he had seven pancake blocks in that contest.
• Corecipient of the team’s John Ritcher OL of the Year award.
• Also earned the Philip Rivers Award for Rookie of the Year.
• First true freshman to start at offensive tackle since Rob Crisp in 2010.
HIGH SCHOOL
• Senior Stats: Tallied 28 knockdown blocks on offense. On defense, posted 29 tackles with four sacks.
• Junior Stats: Had 20 tackles with 4.5 sacks.
• Honors: Named first-team all-state and CISAA first-team all-conference on offense as a senior.
• Also a high school wrestler and ran anchor leg on his prep relay squad.
• Rankings: The #29 recruit in North Carolina and the #31 offensive guard nationally by Rivals.com. Ranked the #23 recruit in North Carolina and the #34 offensive guard nationally by 247Sports.com.
PERSONAL:
• Fraternal twin brother Osita is a LB at Notre Dame. Father T.J. is a 6’6 doctor who played college basketball before coming to the U.S. from Nigeria. Mother Amaka was a high school track star.
• His name (Ikemefuna) is translated “my effort will not be in vain.” A former coach nicknamed him “Ickey” because he looked like former Cincinnati Bengals RB Ickey Woods.
• Also received FCS offers from Harvard and Yale.
• Major: Business administration
EKWONU CAREER STATS
| Year | GP-GS | Ply | KD | PAN | Sk Allowed |
| 2019 | 12-7 | 641 | 6 | 37 | 2 |
| 2020 | 12-12 | 825 | 22 | 50 | 7 |
| Totals | 24-19 | 1466 | 28 | 87 | 9 |