Disclaimer: The Lantern’s “Best of OSU” polling was conducted via social media and should not be considered statistically representative of Ohio State’s extended student body.
Emeka Egbuka had a decision to make.
Many expected he would go to the NFL, be a high-round draft pick and the next great Buckeye wide receiver to play at the professional level.
Or he could return to Ohio State and complete some unfinished business.
He has never beaten Michigan.
He has never competed in a Big Ten Championship.
He has never played for a national championship.
As the new year broke, Buckeye players like Jack Sawyer began to announce they would return for another season, and the more that Egbuka looked at his options, he realized he only had one.
He needed to come home.
Egbuka, who decided to return to Ohio State for his senior season, was voted “Best Football Player” by The Lantern’s readers in this year’s “Best of OSU” polling. Since joining the Buckeyes’ program in 2021, Egbuka has led the way on and off the field, as he strives to leave the program as both a better player and person than he was when he arrived.
“He’s so level-headed, and I think just being a good person is going to amount [to] way more than being a good player,” Ohio State athletic director Ross Bjork said.
A product of Steilacoom High School in DuPont, Washington, Egbuka was a five-star wide receiver recruit, officially committing to Ohio State Dec. 11, 2020.
When Egbuka arrived in Columbus, he said it was difficult for him to establish himself as a team leader.
“When you come in as a freshman, you really don’t know what you don’t know,” Egbuka said. “You’ve never really experienced college ball, you don’t know what it’s like.”
Luckily, Egbuka said some of his older teammates like Chris Olave, Garrett Wilson and Kamryn Babb guided him, leading by example.
“Showing me how stuff’s done, how a pro handles his business,” Egbuka said.
In his freshman season in 2021, Egbuka appeared in 10 games, making nine receptions for 191 yards.
Then, in the preseason of his sophomore year, it became clear Egbuka was being primed for a much bigger role.
“The catches that he made, and he’s just super smart,” Babb said. “He got the game very fast, got the playbook fast. Some of the catches that he made, you could just tell — with him, it just came natural.”
And it showed on the field.
In Ohio State’s 2022 season opener against Notre Dame, Egbuka turned in a team-high nine catches for 90 yards and a touchdown. In four of his next five games, he eclipsed at least 116 receiving yards, finishing his sophomore campaign with 1,151 total yards and 10 touchdowns.
That coming-out party was not surprising to Babb.
“We knew who [Egbuka] was, and we knew what his capability was,” Babb said.
The 2022 season’s end, however, was filled with disappointment as the Buckeyes fell to Michigan, missed the Big Ten Championship and lost to Georgia in the Peach Bowl.
And Egbuka’s 2023 season didn’t get much better.
The wide receiver suffered an ankle sprain in the team’s 37-17 victory over Maryland, causing him to miss three games. Consequently, Egbuka managed only 515 receiving yards and four touchdowns on the season.
The Buckeyes fell to Michigan 30-24 and were absent from the Big Ten Championship game — again.
After his junior year ended with an embarrassing 14-3 loss to Missouri in the Cotton Bowl, the NFL beckoned, but Egbuka knew he had unfinished business.
In January, Egbuka said he was 50-50 on which path was the right one — stay in school or go to the NFL. The more he thought about his choice, the more he felt pulled toward his eventual decision.
“I felt like the NFL is always going to be there,” Egbuka said. “But these moments that you get to spend in college playing with some of your best friends on the field, you don’t get that too often.”
Ohio State fans have made it evident how appreciative they are of Egbuka’s return.
“Buckeye Nation has been super supportive through all of it, so I love everybody out there,” Egbuka said.
Egbuka reflected that love back to his community Aug. 25 when he organized a Christian Fellowship event on North campus with Babb, along with current teammates J.T. Tuimoloau, TreVeyon Henderson and Gee Scott.
At the event, an estimated 2,000 people gathered to hear the players’ testimonies, as well as to celebrate their faith through public baptism(s).
Egbuka spoke to the gathered masses, recalling the time he attended a church service and was invited on stage by the pastor — an experience he said marked the first time he felt Jesus in his life.
“Sometimes, that’s all it takes,” Egbuka said. “Sometimes, it takes your curiosity. Sometimes, it takes you stepping out of faith. The first one is always the hardest one, but God has kept me ever since then. I went up to the stage, and I received the Holy Spirit for the first time in my life.”
Egbuka said the moment brought him face-to-face with the reality that football does not define him, leading him to ask himself, “Is this all my life amounts to? Is it just football?”
Egbuka realized football could end at any time through injury or missed opportunity, and he was destined for greater things than wins and losses. His faith, not his sport, is what defined him.
“When I came to know Jesus, he told me my inheritance that I have in the Kingdom of God,” Egbuka said to the crowd. “I’m like, ‘Whoa. This is unlike everything I’ve ever [known]. You’re telling me my value isn’t what I’m good at. My value is [as] your child.
And he has echoed the sentiment ever since.
“He gave me a new sense of hope and a new sense of peace,” Egbuka said.
That peace is evident in the person Egbuka has become as he embraces his final year at Ohio State.
Egbuka graduated in December 2023 with a degree in marketing, fulfilling his goal of a college diploma. Now, six games into his final collegiate season, he’s on track to become Ohio State’s reception and receiving yards leader. He is only 38 catches away from passing Michael Jenkins’ record and 516 receiving yards away from passing that of K.J. Hill.
Egbuka knows his time at Ohio State is coming to an end, and he aims to invest in the next generation the same way his mentors invested in him.
Among his proteges is freshman Jeremiah Smith, whose spectacular catches have already shown how he will carry on the legacy of great Ohio State wide receivers.
The future, for now, looks familiar to Egbuka, and his calendar has some big dates circled:
Nov. 30 — the Michigan Wolverines at Ohio Stadium.
Dec. 17 — the Big Ten Championship in Indianapolis.
Jan. 20 — the National Championship game in Atlanta.
He hopes each one brings a Buckeye victory, but also knows no matter how this season ends, he gave Ohio State and its fans everything he had to give.
“Knowing the students have confidence in me, it allows me to go out there on Saturdays and have confidence in myself and my ability,” Egbuka said.
