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A SECOND CHANCE TO PROSPER by Ben Samara
Originally set on attending Harvard, Columbia star Prosper Nwokocha has found that sometimes a second choice proves to be the best one. He is excelling for the Lions both on and off the field. |
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 Like most young football players growing up, Prosper Nwokocha dreamed about the bright lights and the packed stadiums of big-time college football. By the end of his senior year at James W. Martin High School in Arlington, Texas, his accomplishments had made that dream a possibility.
Nwokocha won three letters in both football and track and field for the Martin
Warriors during his four years. In football, he was an All-District defensive
back and Academic All-State as a senior, as well as the team's Defensive Player
of the Year. Nwokocha, a National Achievement Commended Scholar in addition to
his athletic accolades, was on the top of many recruiting lists.
Schools like Southern Methodist, Texas Christian, Stephen F. Austin,
Sam Houston State and even the Big 12’s Oklahoma State took a shot at
luring Nwokocha’s services for the 2002 season. Football was obviously
a big factor in the decision, but Nwokocha couldn’t help but remember
the lessons his parents taught him as a young boy.
“I’m the youngest of four siblings and we all played sports, but we all still
made the grades growing up,” Nwokocha said. “My parents emphasized being well-rounded
and putting school first, so before I could do extra curricular activities or
do anything else, they made me do my homework first. They’re a big part of the
reason why I was able to do well in school growing up.”
Seven of the eight Ivy League schools recruited Nwokocha, in addition to the scholarship
schools. In the end, the unique allure of the Ivy League’s stellar academic and
athletic combination piqued his interest. It also helped that his brother played
for an Ivy League powerhouse.
“My brother went to Harvard,” Nwokocha said. “Before that, I used to want to go
to schools like Miami or Texas. My main concern about going to the Ivy League
was not getting the exposure that a big Division I program would. Chuck told me
that chances are I probably wasn’t going to go to The League (NFL), so I should
go to a school with great academics.”
Chuck Nwokocha was a star running back for Harvard while Prosper was
still in high school. He graduated in 2001, but kept in contact with
the Crimson coaching staff, one of the reasons Prosper decided to spurn
the scholarship offers on the table. As the recruiting period went
along, he put Harvard on the top of his short list, along with Penn and
Columbia. His familiarity with the Crimson was a huge factor.
“I always used to visit my brother at school, hang out in the dorms and
go to the games,” Nwokocha said.
Everything was on track for Nwokocha to follow in his brother’s
footsteps at Harvard, until just days before he was set to take his
official visit. Then things fell apart. To this day Nwokocha says “it’s
still kind of unclear” as to why things didn’t work out with Harvard, but
he knew he was going to have to settle somewhere else for his
collegiate career.
Momentarily stunned, Nwokocha took his official visits to Penn and Columbia. He
fell in love with the New York City school almost instantly and had a change of
heart. While he was upset about not being picked up by Harvard, he realized that
sometimes a second option can prove to be the best one.
“I was upset about it (Harvard) for a while, but once I came to
Columbia and I got acclimated to the school I kind of put that past
me,” Nwokocha said. “I’m glad I ended up at Columbia.”
And Columbia’s glad it ended up with him.
 During
his sophomore year, Nwokocha earned honorable mention All-Ivy honors, starting
all 10 games under new Lions head coach Bob Shoop. He helped Columbia complete
a significant turnaround, improving three wins in both its overall and Ivy League
records, from 1-9 (0-7) in 2002 to 4-6 (3-4) in 2003.
Nwokocha’s best game that year was against none other than the Harvard Crimson,
his brother’s alma matter. He notched two interceptions in the waning moments
of a tight game to seal the victory for Columbia. For Nwokocha, it proved to be
a little bit of subconscious satisfaction.
“Maybe I think about it,” Nwokocha said. “Because my best games have been against
Harvard. My sophomore year, especially, I wanted to make an impact in the game
to kind of let them know who they overlooked.”
During his sophomore year, Nwokocha also became more comfortable with his surroundings
at Columbia. He is now making strides towards a degree and a career his academic-minded
parents would certainly be proud of.
Nwokocha changed his major from neuroscience and pre-med to sociology
and pre-med, and began working with Dr. Stephen Nicholas at Lennoxville
Hospital in New York City. There, he observed day-to-day happenings and
various orthopedic surgeries. The big city environment on Columbia’s
campus created unlimited opportunities to network and interact with
professionals in his chosen field. For a pre-med student, New York City
is truly the place to be.
“That was my first time ever seeing something like that (surgeries),”
Nwokocha said. “I enjoyed the experience and being able to interact
with the doctors.”
The experiences have, however, opened his eyes to a darker side of
playing football.
“I was able to watch a couple ACL surgeries and some Achilles
surgeries,” Nwokocha said. “It makes you kind of hope a little more
that you don’t get injured. Before I wasn’t really too concerned about
getting injured, but then I talked to the doctors and they tell me
about sports injuries that they see. I’ve seen a lot of that stuff. I
just worry a little more than I did before, but I’m not too worried. I
just hope I stay healthy.”
Nwokocha had to face the reality of being injured for a short time last season, something he does not want to re-live again. He was set to play three ways for the Lions (defensive back, wide receiver and kick returner), but two separate injuries curtailed those plans.
A shin bruise during a preseason scrimmage versus Harvard and a knee injury against Princeton were enough to raise concerns amongst the Columbia coaching staff. As a result, Nwokocha was relegated strictly to his normal position of defensive back for precautionary reasons.
“I got in one or two snaps last year at receiver,” Nwokocha said. “I
was going to play a little more receiver until I got hurt early in the
season. So they limited me to defense and a few returns.”
While the injury was enough to make Shoop weary of playing Nwokocha
three ways for the remainder of the season, the Lions’ star was still
able to earn another All-Ivy selection at defensive back.
In his “comeback game” on November 6, Nwokocha recorded an interception
against a familiar foe. Though the Harvard Crimson won the game on
their way to an undefeated Ivy League season, it was a testament to
Nwokocha’s pride to come back and play at such a high level against the
best team in the League.
This year Nwokocha may even try his hand at wide receiver again,
depending on how preseason camp goes and how quickly he adjusts to the
plays. But no matter what positions he plays, he’ll be one of the big
reasons if Columbia can bounce back from a disappointing 2004 season.
The Lions are coming off a year in which they took a step backward. The three
win improvement from 2003 spiraled back to a 1-9 record in 2004. Despite the setback,
Nwokocha still feels his head coach has sustained the positive vibe he brought
with him when he replaced Ray Tellier at the end of the 2002 campaign.
“(In 2002) I felt like the team didn’t have that drive to go out and
win or the confidence that we could beat teams on our schedule,”
Nwokocha said. “I felt like we just went out every week and just hoped
for the best and hoped we’d win. When Coach Shoop came, he brought a
whole new attitude and a whole new confidence.”
That confidence is going to have to be at an all-time high if Columbia
hopes to steal the Ivy League title from regular contenders like Penn
and Harvard. Penn won the League title in Nwokocha’s first two seasons
and Harvard is the defending champion.
“Sometimes it hurts seeing other people win,” Nwokocha said. “Just
going through four years and not winning (the League championship)
or not being real close to winning it would kind of feel like my
journey as an Ivy League football player would be incomplete. I
wouldn’t have conquered the ultimate goal.”
And as for his dream of being a member of the Harvard Crimson, who have
conquered that ultimate goal twice already since 2000, Nwokocha has no
regrets after three solid years at Columbia. At least, no regret he
doesn’t plan to rectify this season.
“We don’t get much respect from the League,” Nwokocha said. “I guess at
Columbia we haven’t won in the past few years so now a lot of teams
don’t expect us to do much. When the season starts, I want to surprise
everybody and just show everybody what we can really do.”
--Ben Samara
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