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College Football's 'Hottest' Recruit Draws Attention Despite Never Playing a Down

The ability to project non-football skills onto the gridiron will see a major test with one recruit.
Joe Cox|
Count Miami's Mario Cristobal among the head coaches willing to roll the dice on a recruit with no football experience.
Count Miami's Mario Cristobal among the head coaches willing to roll the dice on a recruit with no football experience. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

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Miami (FL) HurricanesSouth Carolina GamecocksTennessee VolunteersNorth Carolina Tar HeelsSMU Mustangs

There are some essential qualities of football that can't be coached-- size and athleticism, for instance. And the quest for those qualities can go so strong that coaches are willing to ignore a complete lack of football experience. One rising 2027 recruit has never played a down of organized football, but he's drawing interest from top programs.

Yes, a 6'7", 295-pound Irish rugby player can accurately be termed one of the nation's hottest recruits... despite never playing football. The massive athlete has starred in rugby and that gave a German mentor insight into a potential college football superstar.

Neff Giwa's parents emigrated from Nigeria, and the Irish lad who grew up playing rugby is now connected with Premier Prospects International, which has helped other international athletes find college football homes. One recent success story was Swedish shot-putter Valdin Sone, who signed with Georgia and will be part of the school's upcoming freshman class.

Giwa met coach Brandon Collier, who measured him (and his 37-inch arms), clocked him a 4.88 seconds in a 40-yard dash, and came away deciding that he had found a future football superstar.

“He’s so tall, but he actually had good leverage,” Collier told The Athletic's Bruce Feldman. “He’s also got this toughness about him. He’s like a fighter. He’s got something inside him that I haven’t seen from many kids.... He was physical as heck.”

The 20-year old Giwa has seen his Internet presence grow and schools were immediately interested. Among programs that have reportedly offered scholarships according to Rivals are Miami, North Carolina, SMU, and South Carolina. Feldman also included Tennessee in the list of schools that have offered scholarships to Giwa.

Collier says that Giwa "could potentially commit" to Miami, as the Hurricanes were the first school to offer him a scholarship. It's a long way from the rugby field to being the next Francis Mauigoa, but Giwa could well be on his way.

International prospects in general continue to be a growing college football trend. 247sports lists 23 FBS signees from the 2026 international recruiting class. A dozen of those 23 are kickers and punters, which has certainly become more common given the success of Australian-style punters in college football.

But there are plenty of in-the-trenches international pick-ups, like Florida State signee Nikau Hepi of New Zealand, who measured 6'7" and 370 pounds. Among the programs adding non-special teams players from the international ranks in 2026 were Tennessee, Kansas State, Boston College, Wake Forest, and Arizona.

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Joe Cox
JOE COX

Joe is a journalist and writer who covers college and professional sports. He has written or co-written over a dozen sports books, including several regional best sellers. His last book, A Fine Team Man, is about Jackie Robinson and the lives he changed. Joe has been a guest on MLB Network, the Paul Finebaum show and numerous other television and radio shows. He has been inside MLB dugouts, covered bowl games and conference tournaments with Saturday Down South and still loves telling the stories of sports past and present.

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