Buffs' Awuzie On Target To Graduate Early

BOULDER — Colorado cornerback Chidobe Awuzie will wrap up his college football career with a host of awards and honors, and for good reason.

Awuzie played a major role in helping the Buffs produce their 2016 turnaround season, a "worst-to-first" effort that saw Colorado move from last in the Pac-12 South to first, finish the regular season with a top 10 ranking and earn the Buffs' first bowl bid since 2007.

Awuzie has been a central figure in CU's return to relevance. Considered to be a likely high-round NFL draft choice, he was named first-team All-Pac-12 by Pro Football Focus, second team all-conference by the league's coaches and the Associated Press, and was also selected as Colorado's overall co-MVP this season (along with quarterback Sefo Liufau).

But the award of which he is most proud?

That would be the degree he is on pace to receive this semester from the CU Leeds School of Business — a diploma that has taken him just 3½ years to earn.

"It's been crazy," Awuzie said last week after a CU bowl practice. "I'm not really a proud guy. I try to stay humble when it comes to accomplishments and achievements. But this is one thing I can really say I was able to tackle and do it without any expectations of doing it. I was able to set a goal early and accomplish it.

"I really feel proud of this accomplishment, more than anything else, honestly."

According to a 2014 study by "Complete College America," fewer than 20 percent of college students at public universities in America earn their degree in four years. Awuzie accomplished the feat in 3½ years — and did it while adhering to the time demands of playing Division I football, only adding to the degree of difficulty.

But to those who know Awuzie, his academic success is no different than his athletic success — no surprise.

"Honestly, I didn't expect anything different from him because that's the type of young man he is," said CU head coach Mike MacIntyre, who recruited Awuzie out of San Jose, Calif. "He's just a phenomenal person. He's always been extremely intelligent, he has great time management skills and great character. He'll go play in the NFL for a while and then he'll be a guy who gets into a company or starts his own company.

"But whatever it is he does, he will be successful. That's just who he is."

Awuzie admits his degree, business with an emphasis in operations management, didn't come easily. But while football was important, he knew when he arrived in Boulder as a freshman in 2013 that his family expected him to make the most of his scholarship opportunity and earn his diploma.

"In a Nigerian household, academics is definitely a high priority," said Awuzie, whose parents immigrated to the United States from Nigeria. "Coming from a family where my brothers and sisters and cousins have all accomplished that already, it was pretty much understood. Doing it in this fashion, while playing football, has been difficult, but I definitely had an idea that I wanted to finish college early. Now that I'm on the verge of accomplishing it, it's been really fun."

Just as he does with his success on the field, Awuzie credits his teammates with helping him enjoy success in the classroom.

"It was a difficult process," Awuzie said. "It took a lot of help from my old roommate Michael Adkins, and I took some classes with Ryan Severson and Joseph Tuggle. We really tried to tackle the classes together and study together and make sure we were on top of things together."

Awuzie said his teammates helped him develop solid study habits.

"When I came into college, I wasn't very studious," he said. "I didn't have a great academic mindset. But having a business major, you have to develop that. Being around those kind of people really helped me learn how to be successful. Now I'm taking classes by myself and getting A's and B's. I have to give credit to the guys that taught me how to be academic-minded."

And, just as he credits his coaches with his success on the field, Awuzie said his CU professors have been a significant reason for his success in the classroom.

"When you start taking upper-division classes, you get teachers who know you and care about you and know your story," Awuzie said. "It gives you extra motivation to not let them down. I was able to have great teachers who cared about me and great classmates who took me in and helped me figure it out. So yes, I'm proud of what I did."

Awuzie will play his final game in a Buffs uniform Dec. 29, when No. 10 Colorado faces No. 12 Oklahoma State in the Valero Alamo Bowl in San Antonio (7 p.m., ESPN).

Then, he'll immediately begin preparing for the NFL Draft and pre-draft workouts. He hopes to be playing professionally next fall — but he is also already preparing for the time when his football career comes to an end.

"I've made great connections here at CU," Awuzie said. "They have a great alumni program and I've already met with some businesses through the leadership program here. I want to be involved with something in management, or maybe real estate — something that will keep me active and help me have a positive impact on other people. I'm hoping it's farther down the road, but it could be quicker than I know and I want to be prepared when it comes along."

ALL-STAR LIST GROWS: Colorado quarterback Sefo Liufau has accepted an invitation to play in the Reese's Senior Bowl, putting the number of Buffs committed to play in postseason all-star games at six.

Awuzie will join Liufau in the the Jan. 28 Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala. The game is considered to be one of the top two postseason games for seniors and is annually attended by NFL scouts from every team.

Four Buffs — defensive backs Ahkello Witherspoon and Tedric Thompson, defensive lineman Josh Tupou and linebacker Kenneth Olugbode — have committed to play in the Jan. 21 East-West Shrine Game in St. Petersburg, Fla. The Shrine Game is also considered to be among the top postseason games for seniors.

MORE HONORS FOR GILBERT:  Buffs senior outside linebacker Jimmie Gilbert was named  to the Associated Press All-America team.
 
Gilbert,  a third-team selection, becomes the first Buffalo to be named an AP All-American since 2011 when offensive guard Ryan Miller was also a third-team selection.  
 
Gilbert is also the first Buffalo to draw All-America honors this season from one of the five official All-America teams (those five are: The Sporting News, Walter Camp, AP, Football Writers Association of America and American Football Coaches Association). The AFCA team is the only one yet to be announced; it will be released on Wednesday morning. 
 
Gilbert was named last week to SB Nation's All-America team and was on College Sports Madness' second-team.
 
Inside linebacker Kenneth Olugbode, whose 130 tackles this season (by CU's count that uses coaches film) ranked No. 4 among all FBS defenders, was a second-team All-America selection by Pro Football Focus.

BUFFS LAND 11 ON PHIL STEELE PAC-12 TEAM: Colorado had 11 players named to Phil Steele's postseason All-Pac-12 team on Monday, including three first teamers.

Named to the first team were running back Phillip Lindsay, linebacker Jimmie Gilbert and safety Tedric Thompson. Linebacker Kenneth Olugbode and cornerback Chidobe Awuzie were second-team picks while quarterback Sefo Liufau, wide receiver Shay Fields, left tackle Jeromy Irwin, center Alex Kelley, defensive lineman Jordan Carrell and cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon were all named to the third team.

Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu