Five-star St. Frances defensive end Eyabi Anoma, the No. 7 overall player in the nation in 247Sports.com’s Composite rankings, announced Wednesday that he will play for Alabama.
Anoma signed his national letter of intent Wednesday afternoon at St. Frances as part of a signing ceremony with teammates Jaelyn Duncan (Maryland), Randy Fields (West Virginia), Peace Addo (Duke) and Terrell Smith (St. Francis).
An Under Armour All-American and The Baltimore Sun’s Defensive Player of the Year, Anoma considered a long list of Power 5 programs, including Michigan, Florida, Penn State, Ohio State and Maryland, which he visited over the weekend.
After switching from basketball to football and arriving at St. Frances for his junior year, Anoma emerged as one of the fastest rising recruits in the nation. At 6 feet 5, 240 pounds, he improved so quickly that in April, he was rated the No. 2 overall recruit among the ESPN 300 rising seniors.
His exceptional quickness off the edge and his drive to finish every play was a big factor in disrupting offenses as the No. 1 Panthers (12-0) won their second straight Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference championship and the first conference playoff in five years.
247Sports.com rates Anoma the No. 2 weak-side defensive end in the country after Harrisburg’s Micah Parsons, who signed with Penn State.
“I think his best quality is the way he chases the football,” Archbishop Spalding coach Kyle Schmitt said. “I think he’s a good pass rusher. I think his maturity needs to come against the run, but frankly he runs down plays, which I think great players do.
“You have a choice to run at him or run away from him and he creates a lot of problems, because when you run away from him, his pursuit is excellent. He’s probably the best pursuit D-lineman I’ve coached against in a long time, the way he chases the football downfield, and in a lot of ways, creates fumbles, big hits and momentum. We had to block his second movement and a lot of people struggled to do that.”
Anoma led the Panthers, ranked No. 11 in USA Today’s Super 25, in tackles this fall — a rarity for a defensive end. He had 98 tackles and also had 22 sacks, four forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries as the team allowed just 65 points and only once gave up more than one touchdown in a game.
He will add to those stats when the Panthers play Saturday against Bingham (Utah) in the GEICO State Champions Bowl Series in Phoenix, Ariz. The game will be broadcast live on ESPNU at 6 p.m.
While Anoma is the highest-rated local player to sign as the new early period for football runs Wednesday through Friday, several of the Baltimore area’s other top players also signed.
The rest of the All-Metro defensive line got an early-morning jump on the signing period with McDonogh’s PJ Mustipher headed to Penn State, Gilman’s Thomas Booker to Stanford and Loyola Blakefield’s Evan Boozer to Temple.
Maryland inked two All-Metro players, Panthers offensive lineman Duncan and Calvert Hall linebacker Chance Campbell.
In addition, several local players are headed to service academies. Gilman wide receiver-defensive back Brandon Willis, St. Mary’s linebacker Timber Berzins and Reservoir defensive back Ebissa Sambo are bound for Navy while Archbishop Spalding offensive lineman Cody Winokur is going to Army West Point.