Impact Of A Scholarship: Nnamdi Egbuaba

Coming to a new country can be intimidating yet exciting for international students. For Nnamdi Egbuaba, a Nigeria native who moved to Baltimore in 2012, the opportunity to play football at the University of Maryland was a once in a lifetime opportunity. 

Maryland was the first school to offer Egbuaba a scholarship and he accepted it with little hesitation. 

“Maryland was where I wanted to go, so when I got that offer, I didn’t even think to visit anywhere else,” Egbuaba said. “I committed that same day because that’s how much I love Maryland. That’s how badly I wanted to go to Maryland.”

Egbuaba, who didn’t start playing football until the age of 18, said that earning a scholarship was a moment of pure happiness. In Nigeria, he participated in the Ejike Uboaja Foundation basketball camp where he followed former Terp Ricardo Dickerson who was a football coach at the time. Dickerson convinced Egbuaba to come to the states and play football. 

He admitted to the adjustment being tough because he came to the US when he was just 17 years old and had to leave his family behind. One challenge he faced was adjusting to the different kinds of food in America. 

Coming from Nigeria in 2012, Egbuaba’s football journey started at St. Francis Academy in Baltimore. From there, Dickerson, who was a linebacker during his time with the Terps, offered to show Egbuaba, the campus and the football program. 

Maryland felt like home to Egbuaba when he first stepped foot on campus and met coach Michael Locksley, who was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at the time. 

“This is the only place I’ve known since I came to America. The people were so welcoming and I’ve met a lot of good people here.”

While playing, Egbuaba was able to live out his dreams on and off the field. He was a three-time Academic All-Big Ten selection who earned his undergraduate degree in Information Science and a master’s degree in Supply Chain. He also interned with the Information Technology department at Maryland and with Berliner, the largest ice cream distribution company in the country. 

“My time at Maryland was amazing, but it was tough, to be honest,” Egbuaba said. “It was really tough, especially during school and football. That’s always a tough task for a student-athlete.”  

Egbuaba noted that he had already come to America with discipline which helped him succeed on and off the field. His family valued academics the most which helped him gain his scholarship to Maryland.

He always regarded receiving a scholarship as one of his biggest achievements and still feels that way today. “The scholarship was one of the biggest achievements of my life. It really allowed me to benefit from the many connections he made on and off the field.” 

“I gave 110 percent in everything. I took everything very seriously. So I didn't take anything for granted.”

During his five seasons with the program, Egbuaba made several big plays, appearing in 27 games in that span, but also battled multiple tough injuries. He was prepared to play in his sixth and final season in 2019, which would also be Locksley’s first year as the Terrapins’ head coach, but another tough injury sidelined him yet again. 

The summer before the start of his sixth season, Egbuaba was told by Coach Lockesly that he tore his hip and needed surgery.

“That was going to be my last season because I was a sixth year senior, so I couldn't play…there was nothing I could do after that. So, it was a tough conversation to have, but that was the reality of the whole thing,” Egbuaba said. 

Even so, Egbuaba immensely benefited from Locksley’s presence around the program. He recalled that before Locksley returned as the program’s head coach, it was tough for him to gain internship opportunities and to find job opportunities after college. He said that Locksley was able to help “facilitate that process” in gaining internships and job opportunities because of a mentorship program to help athletes off the field that Locksley established when he first came to College Park in 2019. The mentorship program provided skills for interviewing, resume writing, and finding internships. 

Egbuaba was able to take advantage of those opportunities. He learned interviewing skills and how to search for jobs and internships through Coach Locksley’s program and from his mentor Craig Kushner. Eventually, Kushner and Egbuaba created a five-year plan together for the former Terp.

Kushner prepared Egbuaba for interviews with companies like Pepsi and Coca-Cola by ensuring that the former linebacker was communicating the right way and dressing to impress the representatives of those companies. 

His first goal was to graduate from Maryland with “flying colors” and he accomplished just that by earning his bachelor's degree in Computer Information Science in 2018. Then, he wanted to earn his master’s degree in Supply Chain Management, which he earned in 2020. 

“My number one goal, number two goal, number three, we did each one and stayed committed to it,” Egbuaba said. “I was disciplined enough to follow it and he stayed on me to make sure that I followed those plans. After that, I was able to graduate with my master's. I started going to different events where I would meet successful business men and women.”

His drive and discipline is on full display as Egbuaba worked to get his green card and landed a job at Pepsi where he’s been for the past two years. Recently, he was promoted from being a district manager to general manager at PepsiCo and will take on the position in the coming weeks. 

“You can see it's a work in progress. But everything that we put down, the goals, it’s all on a sheet of paper. It's there on the wall, it's there in my memory, and I'm working towards it every day. So, still not where I need to be yet, but I've accomplished a whole lot.”

He is also on the advisory council for the Master’s Management program in the business school.

Among all of his accomplishments, Egbuaba had the opportunity to bring back Under Armour  gear to his hometown in Nigeria and see his family. The first time he went back to Nigeria was in 2016 and the second time was this September. He had the help of Coach Locksley and Under Armour founder and University of Maryland alumni, Kevin Plank, in accomplishing this.  

“I just remember the look on my mom's face, you know, seeing me, crying and my brothers, and everybody was welcoming. That was just a beautiful moment.”  

Egbuaba remembers the time when he was a young athlete in Nigeria and what it was like to not have enough clothes or shoes. He remembered how when he used to play basketball in his hometown and how easily the shoes would rip. 

“I was able to take shoes back, clothes back, and that even made it more exciting for me, just looking at the guys and the young group of individuals back there and the excitement they had on their faces,” Egbuaba said.

Egbuaba hopes to give more in the future and hopes to start a football camp in his hometown.  

“I want to create the opportunity that I was given [to play football]…create that same opportunity for people back home,” Egbuaba smiled, thinking about the future.