LONDON (AP) 鈥� Neff Giwa sometimes asks himself: 鈥淚s this really happening to me?鈥�
Incredibly, yes.
The 20-year-old Irishman who has never played American football committed on Sunday to play at South Carolina as an offensive lineman.
Giwa, who is also Nigerian, has come a long way 鈥� from Tipperary 鈥� in a short amount of time. Just a few months after showing an interest in the sport, he was touring U.S. college campuses, meeting coaches and collecting offers.
It鈥檚 a lot to handle, even for someone who is 6 feet, 7 1/2 inches tall, weighs 295 pounds and has 37-inch-long arms and great foot speed.
鈥淚 knew that there鈥檇 be a journey there, but I could never have anticipated this,鈥� Giwa, in an interview with The Associated Press, said of the whirlwind around his recruitment.
Giwa, whose full first name is Oluwanifemi, selected the Gamecocks over offers from Miami, North Carolina, SMU, Tennessee and Texas.
Giwa had two visits to Columbia and spent 鈥� 鈥� with coach Shane Beamer.
鈥楩reakish numbers鈥�
Giwa 鈥� pronounced with a hard G 鈥� heard about Brandon Collier through a friend familiar with of finding, training and placing international kids at U.S. college football programs. Collier, an American who played defensive line at UMass, runs PPI Recruits out of Germany.
Collier had Giwa visit him for a workout and immediately envisioned him protecting quarterbacks.
鈥淚f you can create a tackle in a laboratory, this is what you want him to look like,鈥� Collier told the AP.
It wasn鈥檛 just his size, though. Collier clocked Giwa at 4.88 seconds in the 40-yard dash and measured his broad jump at 9 feet, 10 inches 鈥� 鈥減retty freakish numbers,鈥� Collier noted.
鈥淭hen he has the toughness,鈥� he added. 鈥淵ou can have all these measurements, but if you鈥檙e not tough mentally and physically then you probably won鈥檛 make it.鈥�
Collier was bringing his latest group of recruits on campus tours earlier this month and decided to add Giwa 鈥� mostly just to introduce him to the process.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 have expectations,鈥� Giwa told the AP before Sunday’s announcement. 鈥淚t was just to see what was out there, basically, and what to work towards.鈥�
鈥淭hings kind of picked up.鈥�
Here come the offers
Not long after touching down in the U.S., Collier detoured to Toronto to check out another touted prospect. Giwa joined him.
鈥淚 had them do some pass sets and some one-on-ones with some kids, he looked phenomenal,鈥� Collier said of Giwa.
So he instructed Giwa to immediately create an X account so colleges could learn more about him. Collier then posted a couple of videos “and it went viral from there.鈥�
鈥淢iami, they messaged me literally 60 seconds after I posted it,鈥� Collier said. 鈥淭he head coach (Mario Cristobal) wrote me a message 鈥� 鈥榞et him to Miami.鈥欌��
Like actually one minute?
鈥淟iterally 60 seconds, man,鈥� Collier said. 鈥淭he power of networking and social media. People know what I do.鈥�
Giwa didn’t talk to Belichick
North Carolina would have been an intriguing choice not only to play for iconic but also because the Tar Heels play their 2026 opener against TCU .
鈥淚 haven鈥檛 spoken to him personally,鈥� Giwa said of Belichick.
Playing in his country someday would be great: 鈥淚 was born in Ireland, and I was raised in Ireland. It definitely would be cool and a bit of an honor to do that.鈥�
Lots of international talent
Marvin Nguetsop, a German defensive end who is doing a year of prep school in Connecticut, was considered the top recruit on Collier鈥檚 recent tour. He got offers from Ohio State and Michigan.
鈥淎ll of the kids had offers on the tour, too,鈥� Collier said. 鈥淭ennessee offered five or six of the kids on one day.”
Giwa is not the first of Collier’s recruits to get offers despite no football experience. received an offer from Penn State without ever playing the sport. The defensive lineman ultimately chose Ohio State. He now plays at Texas.
Giwa is a small-town kid
Giwa grew up in Cashel, a town in County Tipperary with a population under 5,000.
His mother is a nurse and his father is a physiotherapist. Giwa, who has three older siblings, said they were the first Nigerian family to move into town and that local residents 鈥渄efinitely made us feel welcome.鈥�
What does he tell everyone about college football and the facilities he’s visited?
鈥淚 tell them it鈥檚 a different world over there,” he said.
Rugby, soccer, are the local sports.
Giwa likes that American football allows him to use his size. He sees a rugby-to-football template in , a 6-foot-8 Australian who plays offensive tackle for the Philadelphia Eagles.
Name, image and likeness deals allow college athletes, , to earn big money.
鈥淚t does make you think about possibilities and choices and how you can help others. (But) it鈥檚 more just making your family proud,” he said.
Giwa credits Collier with creating life-changing opportunities. He’s not sure what he’d be doing otherwise.
“I鈥檇 just be a regular guy,鈥� he said with a laugh, 鈥渄oing what 90% of the world is doing, just trying to make a living. That鈥檚 why I’m so grateful because I鈥檓 able to do something that I really love now.鈥�
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