Blue White Illustrated

T he spark that Golden Israel-Achumba needed to take his recruitment to the next level came by coincidence. Having played exclusively along the de- fensive line through his sophomore year of high school, Israel-Achumba was ap- proached by the coaching sta4 at Mary- land's DeMatha Catholic High School and asked to play on the o4ensive front as well. He agreed, and the move turned out to have consequences well beyond simply giving DeMatha another option on the o4ensive line. Already receiving interest from Division I schools, Israel-Achumba doubled his o4er count a5er he made the transition. Impressing with his physicality and his consistency, he 3nished with 28 o4ers. Among them were schools like Florida, Michigan, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Penn State, where he will begin his col- lege career come the fall. In the summer of his senior season, Is- rael-Achumba cracked the Rivals250 for the 3rst time and earned his status as a four-star prospect. He gave Penn State his verbal commitment on April 2 of last year and stayed solid a5er that. "Before I committed, I made up my mind, when I commit to a school, that would be the last school that I would commit to," he said last summer. "The family atmosphere that they have, that was probably the thing that stood out to me," he said. Israel-Achumba is one of three four- star o4ensive linemen set to begin their Penn State careers soon, joining Jimmy Christ and Olu Fashanu, along with three-star prospects Ibrahim Traore and Nick Dawkins. First-year o4ensive line coach Phil Trautwein will have plenty of young talent to mold as he takes the reins of that position group. For Israel-Achumba, Penn State repre- sented a chance to attend a university with more to o4er than what takes place on Saturdays at Beaver Stadium. It's the right distance away from home, he said – not too far, but not too close. It also o4ers a strong business program. That was important to Israel-Achumba, who, unlike many freshmen, knows ex- actly what he would like to pursue aca- demically when he arrives. His father runs an HVAC business, and Israel- Achumba said he would like to use the skills he acquires from earning a business degree at Penn State to run that company someday. On the 3eld, Israel-Achumba's physical mentality remains one of his best assets. He compiled 38 pancake blocks over the course of his 3nal two seasons at De- Matha. "I'm a mauler," he said, simply. Indeed, playing on the o4ensive side of the ball for the 3rst time at the high school level showed Israel-Achumba that he was something of a natural, but there was still much work to be done to get his body ready for the physical demands of playing both o4ense and defense. Re- markably, he said he dropped 50 pounds over the course of an o4-season to pre- pare for his double duties at DeMatha. Now, as he prepares to make the jump to high-level college football, he's listed at an imposing 6-foot-4, 325 pounds. In Is- rael-Achumba's mind, though, the phys- ical work is far from 3nished. He said he still wants to 3ne-tune his speed and quickness as he looks toward his goal of contributing as soon as possible at Penn State. No matter how long it takes Israel- Achumba to earn reps on Saturdays, rest assured that he's entering his college ca- reer with an attitude that Penn State's coaching sta4 and fan base alike will love to see. "I'm ready to win," he said. ■ Israel-Achumba finds a good fit on offensive line CLICK HERE to see video of Israel-Achumba in action. THE ISRAEL-ACHUMBA FILE STATS Was a four-year letterman at DeMatha and a team cap- tain as a senior... Totaled 38 pancake blocks during his junior and senior seasons... Had 40 tackles in his first two seasons HONORS Named a four-star recruit by Rivals.com, as well as the No. 12 prospect in Maryland, No. 9 o/ensive guard nationally and No. 241 overall prospect... Received All-WCAC honors as a senior... Named to the Hall of Fame World Bowl | ing his commitment from Virginia on Nov. 8. Over the past six months, he said he's become close with the other four o4ensive linemen in the 2020 class, and that bond should have fans excited about the future. "I wouldn't say there's anyone I talk with the most, which is good," Christ said. "I think we have a really good mix between us. The O-line group is pretty close. We're talking all the time. We Face- Time and talk a lot. We have a group chat between all of us and we probably talk every day. There's a really good bond be- tween us already. All of us just can't wait to get started together." ■

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