BOULDER — When asked about his skill set, Colorado sophomore Chidera Uzo-Diribe said he can help key the defense with his quick first step and, if need be, play physical enough to knock around an opponent.
Uzo-Diribe was talking about basketball. The Buffs’ 6-foot-3, 240-pound defensive end focused on hoops until his junior year of high school.
“I was a pretty good defensive player on the boards,” recalled Uzo-Diribe, who earned team MVP honors at Corona High in suburban Los Angeles. “I could move around, play strong. I’ve always had good footwork. I’m trying to use those things in football.”
So far, so good. Actually, better than good. Uzo-Diribe already has 2 1/2 sacks through two games.
Apparently the thrill of getting to the quarterback has now surpassed those of a dunk or blocked shot. “Oh, man. I love sacks,” he said.
CU defensive line coach Kanavis McGhee earned All-America honors as an outside linebacker and sack specialist during his playing days for the Buffaloes (1987-90). Not one to often spout superlatives about his unit, McGhee didn’t hesitate in lavishing praise on Uzo-Diribe. He said Uzo-Diribe can develop into the kind of disruptive force that an entire defense builds around.
“When you’re talking about putting pieces together to build a defense, Chidera has shown real promise,” McGhee said. “This may be one of those things that fits the kind of athlete he is.”
Uzo-Diribe plays right defensive end. For a right-handed quarterback, he attacks the passer’s blind side. Colorado State sophomore quarterback Pete Thomas had better be aware of that Saturday.
The son of immigrants from Nigeria, Uzo-Diribe was born in Long Beach, Calif., and grew up with a love for basketball. That’s what his father played in Africa, and Uzo-Diribe took to the game. But when it became evident that he hadn’t inherited the really tall genes of the family (an uncle is 6-6), Uzo-Diribe realized Division I recruiters wouldn’t come running for a 6-3 post player.
Bright and aware (he’s a political science major), Uzo-Diribe stopped and listened when Corona High football coach John Brandon spotted him in a school hallway and broached the idea of trying football. Uzo-Diribe played one game as a junior, then attended summer football camps at Colorado and UCLA. Although raw on the fundamentals, he gave an early glimpse of his potential as a high school senior when he made 7 1/2 sacks on a Corona team that was 2-8.
Fortunately for Colorado, the staff of then-coach Dan Hawkins got in early on Uzo-Diribe. “They saw something in me when I was in their camp,” Uzo-Diribe recalled. “And I loved it here.”
McGhee said CU’s best pass rusher is still a very “raw” player. In McGhee’s eyes, that’s a plus. How good can his guy be?
“He doesn’t have a lot of football background and we talk about that a lot,” McGhee said. “The thing is, when you get a kid like that and you broaden his vision and he starts seeing the whole field, he can really improve quickly.
“And what I love is, him not playing much football, he doesn’t have any bad habits that I have to change. He absorbs everything that we’re throwing at him. His potential is really high.”
CU coach Jon Embree, Hawkins’ successor, went a step further. Embree suggested that Uzo-Diribe may be on the verge of reaching star status.
Having added 20 pounds of muscle since last season, Uzo-Diribe has improved his run defense and no longer is considered just a situational pass rusher. In 2010, Uzo-Diribe would trot onto the field for third-and-long. Now, he’s always in the lineup.
Last year as a true freshman, Uzo-Diribe played in 12 games and made one start, at Kansas.
“To me, Chidera is kind of like (standout receiver) Paul Richardson was last year — he’d be great on some plays and then he’d disappear,” Embree said. “Chidera has to get more consistency. You do that by playing.
“When he does, Chidera can be that kind of player on that side of the ball for us — a guy that (an opponent) has to account for.”
One of Uzo-Diribe’s cousins is New York Giants defensive end Osi Umenyiora, a two-time Pro Bowl selection and sack specialist. Perhaps Uzo-Diribe inherited some football genes after all.
“I’m all football now,” he said.
Tom Kensler: 303-954-1280 or tkensler@denverpost.com
