{"id":802,"date":"2023-03-22T14:49:57","date_gmt":"2023-03-22T19:49:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/?p=802"},"modified":"2023-03-22T14:49:57","modified_gmt":"2023-03-22T19:49:57","slug":"2025-dl-xavier-ukponu-being-recruited-by-national-championship-contenders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/2025-dl-xavier-ukponu-being-recruited-by-national-championship-contenders\/","title":{"rendered":"2025 DL Xavier Ukponu being recruited by national championship contenders"},"content":{"rendered":"

Denton (Texas) Guyer defensive lineman Xavier Ukponu<\/a><\/strong> currently holds 10 offers. His recruitment is likely to continue rising in the coming weeks. <\/p>\n

Some of the schools that have offered Ukponu include Miami<\/a><\/strong>, Oklahoma<\/a><\/strong>, Texas<\/a><\/strong> and Texas A&M<\/a><\/strong>. Ohio State<\/a><\/strong>, Michigan State<\/a><\/strong> and Houston<\/a><\/strong> are some other programs he is hoping to land offers from. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a dream come true,\u201d Ukponu told On3. \u201cI\u2019m excited for everything the future holds. I can\u2019t let the recruiting process distract me from my goals for the team and as a football player. I gotta keep staying focused.\u201d <\/p>\n

The 6-foot-3, 275-pound recruit visited the Hurricanes on March 4 and Baylor<\/a><\/strong> on March 18. He is set to see the Sooners on March 25. Texas A&M will host him on April 1. He visits Texas on April 15 and then returns to Baylor again on April 22. <\/p>\n

Ukponu previously went to College Station in January. He also saw the Longhorns that month on Jan. 21. <\/p>\n

So far, Ukponu has received positive feedback from coaches, who praise his hand placement and ability to stop the run. <\/p>\n

\u201cAll of them are easy to talk to,\u201d Ukponu said. \u201cI have good relationships with all the coaches.\u201d <\/p>\n

Right now, Ukponu knows two factors that matter a lot in his decision. They are player development and a school\u2019s academics. <\/p>\n

Ukponu felt \u2018at home\u2019 on Miami visit <\/h2>\n

Ukponu\u2019s first offer came from Miami. When the Lone Star State received it, he was \u201cthrough the roof\u201d in excitement.<\/p>\n

Multiple schools followed the Hurricanes in offering Ukponu. On his visit to Coral Gables, Miami made a strong first impression because he felt like \u201cI was at home.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was pretty good and Miami felt good,\u201d Ukponu said. \u201cIt\u2019s a good feeling down there. The campus is beautiful. Practice was really intense, but it showed they\u2019re putting in work down there. I like the way they practice, the coaches, everything they preached or did down there. It\u2019s a really nice place.\u201d<\/p>\n

Defensive line coach Joe Salave\u2019a<\/a><\/strong> and Ukponu previously built a relationship before the Hurricanes\u2019 Junior Day. But when they met in person, it \u201ccemented everything.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cHe was just a really good guy,\u201d said Ukponu, who speaks with Salave\u2019a twice a week. \u201cHe cares about you. He talked to my dad and made sure me and my dad were good\u2026 I like the way he teaches the d-line. He believes in versatility on the defensive line.\u201d <\/p>\n

Texas A&M, Texas and Oklahoma are also pushing for Ukponu <\/h2>\n

Ukponu is \u201cfor sure\u201d trying to return to the Hurricanes. Meanwhile, he is looking forward to his return to Texas A&M and catching up with defensive line coach Terry Price<\/a><\/strong>. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe cares about the players, about the recruits, everything,\u201d Ukponu said. \u201c\u2026 He\u2019s a pretty great guy. I\u2019m planning on going there April 1 and maybe again April 15 for the spring game. A&M, it\u2019s really nice down there. They have a beautiful campus and nice coaches.\u201d <\/p>\n

According to Ukponu, his visits to Texas and Texas A&M were similar. The Longhorns staff treated him \u201creal good\u201d while in Austin. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a nice place to be in college at,\u201d Ukponu said. \u201cTalking to coach Bo (Davis)<\/a><\/strong>, I like the way he teaches the d-line. He\u2019s a traditional d-line coach. He believes in playing the ball first, stay in your gaps, be in the gap, your traditional stuff. I really like what he preaches as a d-line coach. He got to talk to me, my mom, my dad, my sister after the Junior Day and that\u2019s when he offered me. It was just a really great experience down there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Regarding Oklahoma, Ukponu is maintaining good communication with the Sooners. He likes how multiple members of Oklahoma\u2019s coaching staff have previously mentioned top defensive linemen. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re also on the verge of being a powerhouse,\u201d Ukponu said. <\/p>\n

The post 2025 DL Xavier Ukponu being recruited by national championship contenders<\/a> appeared first on On3<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Denton (Texas) Guyer defensive lineman Xavier Ukponu currently holds 10 offers. His recruitment is likely…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-802","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/802","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=802"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/802\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}