Sometimes, Southlake Carroll cornerback Obi Eboh has some of thosebrdays where he can feel a little overwhelmed. After all, Eboh is a top studentbrin the classroom, a captain on the football team and one of the state’s bestbrrecruits.br
After a summer mission trip to New Orleans gave him a new perspective,brEboh feels fortunate to have the simple problems that come with anbroverloaded schedule.br
“We went to a house with no plumbing or electricity,” Eboh says. “We setbrup a kitchen, built a staircase ladder to the attic and tiled everything. We didbra lot with that house. There are still parts
of New Orleans affected by Hurricane Katrina, so it was crazy to see all of that.”br
Eboh and the rest of the mission teambrfrom White’s Chapel United MethodistbrChurch worked on the house Mondaybrthrough Friday and even found anbrelectrician to help get everything backbrin working order. But even during hisbrtime in New Orleans, Eboh made time forbrfootball.br
The group stayed on the campus ofbrTulane University. Eboh and some of hisbrteammates would wake up at 5 a.m. andbrutilize the training facilities to go thoughbrSouthlake Carroll’s normal conditioningbrprogram.br
“It was crazy,” Eboh says. “We wouldbrgo out on their turf field every morning tobrget our workouts in. After that, we wouldbrtake a shower and have breakfast. Webrwould load the buses at 8 a.m., go to thebrworksite and work on the house for aboutbrsix hours.br
“The mission trip really opened mybreyes. It was one of my favorite trips ofbrthe summer. There are more importantbrthings out there than football.”br
As mentioned, his stay in New Orleansbrwas just one of Eboh’s favorite trips.brThe other was his journey to Beaverton,brOregon, for Nike’s prestigious event forbrelite recruits — The Opening.br
Held annually at Nike WorldbrHeadquarters, The Opening features thebrtop 162 high school football players in thebrnation as selected by Student Sports afterbrfilm evaluation and in-person evaluationbrat one of the regional events.
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Eboh earned his spot in the finalsbrafter a strong showing at the Dallasbrregional in the spring. While he wasn’tbrone of the most highly touted prospects in the event, Eboh quickly proved he belonged after being named a topbrperformer on Day 1 of the event. Eboh had an opportunity to match upbragainst some of the country’s top wide receivers, including USC commitbrTyler Vaughns and Miami pledge Sam Bruce, and work with NFL playersbrlike Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman.
br br br“It was a great experience for me,” Eboh says. “Getting to go upbragainst some of those top wide receivers really helped a lot with mybrconfidence. I had a pretty good showing, so I think it will help with howbrI lead this team.”br
Considered a three-star prospectbr— recruits can receive up to five starsbr— by most recruiting services, Ebohbrrecently committed to the Universitybrof Texas but did also receive offersbrfrom Arkansas, Nebraska, Ole Miss,brOklahoma, Wisconsin and a numberbrof other Power Five programs.br
Justin Owens of Coach O Recruiting,brwho helps Eboh with his recruitment,brbelieves the stud cornerback is exactlybrwhat most colleges around the countrybrare looking for.br
“He’s about six-foot-two, sobrhe’s a taller cornerback with greatbrlength,” Owens says. “He has that rarebrcombination of size and speed thatbrcoaches really love. He’s also a verybrgood student in the classroom and justbra high-character kid.”br
During one of the team’s picturebrdays, Eboh joked with teammatebrRobert Barnes that his recruitingbrcrystal ball won’t show anything butbra cloud at this time. With close to 30brscholarships overall, Eboh took hisbrtime with the recruiting process.br
brWith the decision to become abrLonghorn Eboh not only found abrtop football program but prestigiousbracademics. Eboh hopes to major inbrbusiness finance and work on WallbrStreet in the case that his footballbrfuture doesn’t work out as planned.
br br brWith his college plans already set,brthe all encompassing recruitmentbrprocess is now the furthest thing frombrEboh’s mind— helping SouthlakebrCarroll win a state championship, isbrwhere he wants to focus.br
Last season’s state quarterfinalbrloss to eventual 6A Division II statebrchampion Cedar Hill still stings. AndbrEboh is doing everything he can tobrensure the Dragons don’t fall short ofbrtheir goal.br
br“He’s just such a hard worker andbrmeans so much to this team,” saysbrhead coach Hal Wasson. “He’s thebrleader of our team. Guys look up to him because he’s a great young man. He has a lot of experience, andbrhe understands that a lot is expected of him. It motivates him tobrwork even harder.”
br br brSouthlake Carroll will be extremely young on defense. In fact,brthe Dragons lost 10 starters from last year’s team that gave up onlybr18.4 points/game. So it’s not only imperative for him to live up tobrhis billing but also help this young unit grow up in a hurry.br
Eboh is doing just that. Over the offseason, he tookbrunderclassmen like the aforementioned Barnes, who is a top safetybrrecruit in the 2017 class, under his wing.br
“Obi has made an impact on my growth as a Dragon footballbrplayer,” Barnes says. “I’ve been watching him since he was gettingbrsome time with the varsity as a freshman. He’s shown me thebrDragon way. He just tells me to listen to the coaches and work hard.”br
As a junior, Eboh recorded 56 tackles and 11 pass breakups. Hebrhopes his summer experiences have helped mold him into notbronly a better player but also a better leader that can help this teambrexceed expectations.br
“We’re pretty young this year,” Eboh says. “I’m the only returningbrstarter, so I know I have to step up and help some of our youngerbrguys get through the tough games. Typically, I lead by example. ButbrI’m also trying to be more of a vocal leader.br
br“I feel a good kind of pressure [being the team leader]. I have a lotbrthat I have to prove and a lot that I have to do to help this team getbrin the best position to win.”