#0 Eyabi Okie, Defensive End
School: Charlotte 49ers
Class: Graduate Student
Measurables: 6-5/244 pounds
Hometown: Baltimore, MD.
High School/Previous School: Saint Frances Academy/Michigan
Notes: Comes to Charlotte well-traveled, having been at Alabama, Houston, UT-Martin and Michigan since finishing high school at Saint Frances Academy … Follows new Charlotte coach Biff Poggi, who was an assistant at Michigan last season, to the Queen City. Poggi coached at Saint Frances when Okie played there …
Named first-team preseason All-American Athletic Conference by Lindy’s Sports. Voted second-team preseason all-conference by Phil Steele and Athlon Sports.
Played in all 15 games last season, starting twice, as Michigan won the Big Ten and advanced to the College Football Playoff. He recorded 18 tackles, including six tackles-for-loss and four sacks. On his first play from scrimmage in the opener against Colorado State, Okie earned an eight-yard sack … Named defensive player of the game following a strong performance against Iowa …
Per Okie’s Wikipedia page, he redshirted at Houston in 2020 but was unable to play due to transfer rules. He joined UT Martin in 2021, where he helped the Skyhawks earn an Ohio Valley Conference championship and a first-round FCS playoff win …
Earned multiple OVC honors following a big performance against Austin Peay – tallying eight tackles, 4.5 tackles-for-loss, 1.5 sacks and a blocking a potential game-winning field goal attempt … At season’s end, was selected to the OVC All-Newcomer team at outside linebacker. He received a degree in interdisciplinary studies before leaving UT Martin to go to Michigan.
Considered a five-star prospect by most scouting services coming out of high school. 247 Sports ranked him the top player in Maryland, the second-best wide-side defensive end in the nation and the seventh-best player overall nationally … Recorded two sacks in the Under Armour All-American showcase game.
According to the Detroit News, he changed his surname from “Anoma” to “Okie” in 2022, to recognize his mother who lives in Africa … His first name, Eyabi, is pronounced “YAH-bee.”
Quotable: “I was given everything very quickly,” Okie said. “I started football very, very late in my career, and became a five-star real late. A lot of the little maturity things that some people, some of the five stars that were with me, they already knew how to take on. I didn’t know how to do it. It was just me by myself. I’ve always been like really raising myself, handling my own thing. So I just want people to know that you live and you learn. I’m one of those people that, yeah, I burnt my hand on the stove, but I learned from it. Every ‘L’ wasn’t an ‘L,’ it was a lesson.” (From a story posted at 247Sports in January about Okie’s transfer to Charlotte and his nomadic college career).
