Growing up in Nigeria, Clinton Azubuike never cheered for a NFL team, but he and his dad never missed the NFL draft.
Something about the culmination of a journey appealed to Azubuike, who at the time aspired to play in the NBA.
"I just loved to see the smiles on the players' and parents' faces," Azubuike told The Tennessean. "Because it's a lot of work. You do little sacrifices. So seeing that come to reality is just so big and sometimes I get emotional watching the draft too."
As a kid in Nigeria, Azbuike could never have imagined his path taking him to where he is now, a starting offensive tackle for Vanderbilt football. The Commodores (3-1, 0-1 SEC) will go on the road to face second-ranked Georgia(4-0, 2-0) on Oct. 3 (11:45 a.m. CT, SEC Network).
Clinton Azubuike was originally a basketball player
In middle school, Azubuike started playing sports, first soccer and track, but he quickly made the jump to basketball, taking cues from his older brother.
"I thought I was going to be the next Lebron James," Azubuike said.
Azubuike was good at basketball, too. At 6-foot-8, he received recruiting interest from colleges in the United States. For a while, he thought that would be his path.
"I was supposed to," Azubuike said. "Things happen, there's a lot of politics that happen, especially when trying to get over to the United States. I was supposed to play basketball at the college level, but some things ended up happening. It didn't work out."
But Azubuike had another shot. His basketball coach introduced him to another coach who suggested he try football, and Azubuike attended an NFL Africa combine. He put up strong measurables, and while he wasn't old enough to declare for the NFL draft, he was given a scholarship to an institution in England called the NFL Academy.
NFL Academy prepared Clinton Azubuike for college football career
NFL Academy is a football development program for athletes from outside the US. The program has two locations; Azubuike attended the London location for athletes from Europe and Africa.
When Azubuike got to NFL Academy at the age of 18, it was his first time training full-time in football. The program trained similarly to how a college program would while playing games against other programs in Europe and even some independent programs in the US, like IMG Academy.
Azubuike started out as a defensive lineman, but Steve Hagen, the head coach of NFL Academy, encouraged him to move to offensive line. His length could be a disadvantage on the defensive line because it led to him sometimes getting blocked low, and the staff thought offensive line would be a better fit.
"He's tall with long arms and strong and could move. He could run, and he was a really good kid above and beyond all his measurables," Hagen said. "He's big, athletic. He's got a nasty streak on the field, off the field, he's just a really good guy."
During Azubuike's first year, the recruiting process was slow as he learned the game and adjusted to living abroad.
"He didn't play football before he came to the academy," Hagen said. "All that was just a massive learning experience because of the language of football, the processing of football. ... Football players work out way differently than basketball players as far as in the gym lifting and all that kind of stuff. So his body wasn't used to doing what football player bodies do. And so all these things that he had to transition ... you can't step in and think you know it all in one day."
Azubuike eventually started to get noticed, with Hawaii and Northern Arizona two of the teams that were interested. Azubuike eventually settled on Northern Arizona, an FCS program, due to his relationship with the coach there.
At NAU, Azubuike played in six games and the team qualified for the FCS playoffs.
"When you're in high school you think you're the best player on the team until you go to college and ... it's a lot more you need to learn," Azubuike said. " ... I met some good people over there, but it was a total learning experience for me just learning about the game and knowing how to use my leverage, how to use my strengths I have."
How Clinton Azubuike got to Vanderbilt
After one year at NAU, Azubuike wanted to play at a higher level and train to his fullest potential, so he entered the transfer portal. He connected with Vanderbilt through former NFL Academy coach Lamonte Winston, who knew Commodores offensive line coach Chris Klenakis and vouched for him.
"I took their word for it," Azubuike said. "And if football doesn't work out, I graduate from Vandy, I have my degree."
He transferred ahead of the 2025 season but took a redshirt year before becoming a full-time starter in 2026.
There are still tough parts about being away from home. There's a significant time difference, about eight hours, with his family back in Nigeria. When Azubuike gets done with practices or games, he'll give his family a call if they're still up. If not, he makes sure to send a text.
There are three other international athletes on the team − one from Canada (edge rusher Edwin Kolenge), one from China (defensive lineman Jiaming Cao) and one from Germany (Issa Ouatarra) − with whom Azubuike has connected. And the Commodores recently added a 2027 commit from the same NFL Academy program in Augustine Irek, a 6-7, 260-pound defensive lineman.
Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at agerson@gannett.com or on X @aria_gerson.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Clinton Azubuike's football journey started in Nigeria with stop in England before Vanderbilt | Exclusive
