Colorado State University Athletics
Rams officially add Orakpo to roster
12/17/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
Dec. 17, 2009
By Zak Gilbert
Athletic Media Relations
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Boosting their defensive secondary, the Colorado State Rams on Thursday officially added Mike Orakpo to the roster. Head Coach Steve Fairchild made the announcement.
Orakpo, a 6-foot-1, 200-pound true freshman from Houston, Texas, signed a financial aid agreement and has enrolled at Colorado State for the spring semester. Next month he will begin classes and Phase I of the Rams’ offseason conditioning program. A grayshirt athlete, he will practice this spring with all four years of eligibility remaining.
The first player to join the Rams’ Class of 2010, Orakpo (oh-RACK-poh) graduated last spring from Westbury High School in Houston, Texas. Initially recruited as a linebacker, he will begin practicing this spring as a safety.
A first-team all-District 21-4A selection as a safety at Westbury, Orakpo led his team in tackles as both a junior and a senior. As a senior in 2008, he collected 88 tackles, three interceptions -- one of which he returned for a touchdown -- and two sacks, leading the Rebels to an 8-2 record and the second round of the 4A playoffs in Texas. He also was recruited by Oklahoma State, Houston, Boise State and New Mexico, among others.
Orakpo’s older brother, Brian, was a first-team All-American at Texas in 2008, when he also won the Nagurski Trophy and Hendricks and Rotary Lombardi awards. The Washington Redskins made him the 13th overall selection in the 2009 NFL Draft.
National Signing Day for current high-school athletes is Feb. 3.