OU football: Coaches saw American football potential in Chuka Ndulue

He played soccer and followed Messi, one of professional soccer's superstars. Ndulue didn't play American football until his freshman year, on Dallas Jesuit's freshman junior varsity team. He didn't play football his sophomore year.

“His grades were low,” said Bob Wunderlick, Dallas Jesuit's head coach for 14 years. “His parents were focused on academics. They pulled him out of football.”

A soccer play the following spring revealed American football was a much better fit for the youngster.

Ndulue, who by then was a 205-pound sophomore, raced down field during a soccer practice.

“Some kid ran into me,” Ndulue said. “He weighed like 120. He bounced right off me. They gave me a red (disqualifying) card. That was the day I realized that was the end of my soccer dream.”

Football coaches persuaded his parents, Bob and Vivian, to allow their son to play football.

“It was a battle,” Chuka Ndulue said. “My parents thought, ‘He's not going anywhere with this. Let's concentrate on academics.'”

Ndulue missed much of his junior year with a high ankle sprain. He wasn't on any college's radar.

Wunderlick made a few calls, including to Texas and to OU assistant Chris Wilson.

“Chuka didn't really have any highlights, but he weighed 230, was the strongest kid on our team,” Wunderlick said. “I told (college coaches): ‘I've never wasted you guys' time before, but I have somebody you need to look at.' Before you know it, he had offers from everywhere.”

The unexpected spike in recruiting stunned Ndulue.

“I thought I might go to some place like Kansas, that might be the best it was going to be,” Ndulue said. “Then OU jumped into the picture, then Texas. I was like, ‘Whoa.'”

The former soccer player had turned into a football standout who was rated as a four-star recruit by ESPN after a 50-tackle, eight-sack senior year.

Wunderlick is amazed how much the Ndulue has improved.

Because Ndulue lacked experience, Wunderlick felt it might be best for him to play for a low-profile program. He views it differently three years later.

They chatted last week when Ndulue was in Dallas.

“He's up to 260 to 265,” Wunderlick said. “Physically, he's pretty thick, pretty strong. He didn't grow up with the game like so many of us. His growth here was incredible. And he's grown even more. In some ways he's still figuring it all out.”