Mustangs vote Nwokobia to retain No. 23 jersey

[PonyPride]

From SMUMustangs.com:

23 And Nwokobia: SMU Safety To Honor LeVias Again

For the second season in a row, Isaiah Nwokobia has the honor of wearing the No. 23 jersey for the SMU football team.

But it wasn't a foregone conclusion.

After wearing 23 last year, to honor former Mustang great Jerry LeVias, Nwokobia was back in his No. 12 jersey during the spring and at the very beginning of fall camp.

Normally, it wouldn't be until the end of fall camp that the jersey would be awarded. That's not the case anymore.

"The cool thing is he wanted it, but that's not how it works, but it's good that he wanted it," SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee said. "Normally we vote towards the end of camp, but things are different. NIL and all that, guys need to know their jersey ahead of time. They've got to get all their stuff, their family's got to get all the swag. So we kind of made it more of a spring, summer offseason deal and we let the players vote the last day of summer workouts."

There were plenty of worthy players up and down the roster. But in the end, the Dallas native and Skyline product was chosen for the second year in a row.

"We had probably seven or eight guys get a good number of votes, which is cool," Lashlee said. "And there was an obvious Top three, but by a decent amount, he was the top vote getter. His teammates picked him and that's why he's in it."

In the early years of the tradition, started by former head coach June Jones in 2009, players wore the jersey multiple years. Chris Banjo (2009-11) and Stephon Sanders (2012-14) wore it three years each. Jeremiah Gaines wore the number in 2015 before Nick Horton wore in in both 2016 and '17.

Then came one-year honorees Jordan Wyatt, Rodney Clemons, Brandon Stephens, Shaine Hailey and Austin Upshaw from 2018-22.

The significance of wearing the jersey a second time is not lost on Nwokobia.

"It was an honor just to know that my teammates believed in me that much and that he gave me the honor to wear it twice," Nwokobia said. "And I know a lot of guys haven't been able to do that, wear it two years back to back, so that was really special to me. I appreciate those guys so much."

Nwokobia's been through a lot at SMU. He made three starts in nine games as a true freshman back in 2021. But an injury kept him to just four games the next season.

There were rumors about him entering the transfer portal. But Nwokobia stayed and went to work. He was a standout of spring practices and fall camp last season, earning the honor of wearing the No. 23.

All he did with it across his chest and back was make 10 starts, played in all 14 games, intercepting four passes, returning two for touchdowns, was third on the team with 61 tackles, including 4.5 for loss and a sack.

Nwokobia became the first defensive player in AAC history to be named MVP of the championship game.

"Just being able to have the season I had last season, I think that was part of the reason why the guys trusted me with that honor again," Nwokobia said. "And that's why I talked about just having that same mindset that I had last season as far as going all out 110% every single day. So just trying to stick with that same mindset."

Cornerbacks coach Rickey Hunley Jr. spends time working with the safeties and has seen that consistency from Nwokobia.

"He's doubled down on who he is," Hunley said. "We talk about it as a defense, we talk about it as coaches, real recognizes real. When you're a real guy, you're not up and down. You're that guy. You're steady. You're consistent. That message is the same, not only to yourself, but to your guys. I thought he stepped up, again, as a leader in the offseason. I thought he pushed the envelope with guys like Deuce Harmon. Guys that we expect to come in and contribute and he helped them to a standard. Not a standard that he just talks, it's one that he lives."

Instead of letting adversity define him, it was Nwokobia's response to adversity that has become a defining characteristic. It's why he was able to do the things he did last season and why the move to the ACC doesn't phase him.

"That helps a lot just knowing that I've already been through a lot," Nwokobia said. "Just knowing that as long as I keep my head down and just work, everything else will take care of itself. As long as I keep my faith in God, everything else will take care of itself. Knowing that I've been through a lot and God has brought me through a lot, it brings me comfort knowing that as long as I stay focused on the things that have gotten me here, everything will be OK."

The return to a power conference has been a long time coming for SMU. There have been rumors and hope for some time before it became a reality last Sept. 1 and then official on July 1.

Nwokobia, the No. 23 and the Mustangs are ready.

"That was one of the things that I was hearing when I first committed here," Nwokobia said. "Back then I think it was Big 12. … We go to the AAC though, win a championship there and now we go to the ACC. So it's good to see it's really happening and I get to experience that. … That was really helping put Dallas on the map as far as not just the pro team, but also a college team. That we could really be like it was back in the day."

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