#98 Timmy Horne — The last Wildcat to wear No. 98 was Timmy Horne (98), but with freshman defensive end Chiddi Obiazor now donning it, it’s more likely in the future to conjure memories of past legends such as Ian Campbell and Darren Howard. | Photo by Scott Winters/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

In which BracketCat counts down the 98th day until the 2023 kickoff with a profile of Kansas State defensive end Chiddi Obiazor.

#98 Chiddi Obiazor

True Freshman | 6-6 | 250 lbs. | Eden Prairie, Minnesota

Position: Defensive End
Previous College: None
Projection: Redshirt
Status: On Scholarship

Chiddi Obiazor (b. Aug. 21, 2004) is a talented young defensive end prospect with agility, speed and toughness out of Eden Prairie High School in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. He is K-State’s first signee from Minnesota since linebacker Brandon Archer (St. Paul) in 2002.

Obiazor, who is majoring in communications, prepped under head coach Mike Grant at Eden Prairie, where he was viewed as the 79th-best edge defender in the Class of 2023 by On3, which also ranked him as the sixth-best overall prospect in the state of Minnesota.

He also picked up all-state honors in 2022 from SBLive after tallying 40 tackles, forcing three fumbles and blocking three kicks for the Eagles. A 2022 first-team all-metro performer by The Star Tribune and first-team all-district honoree, Obiazor also competed in basketball.

After posting some promising high school film, he selected K-State over offers from Akron, Incarnate Word, Ohio and Tulane, as well as strong interest from home-state school Minnesota. His primary recruiter was his new position coach, Buddy Wyatt.

Obiazor enrolled early in time for spring practices, which seems to have benefited him immensely, at least according to Van Malone (“I’ve been impressed with Chiddi Obiazor, a guy who was here early and who’s done a good job this spring”) and Joe Klanderman (“Just a side note on all these early enrollee kids — those two guys mentioned, Austin Romaine at linebacker and Chiddi Obiazor at defensive end, I wouldn’t be surprised to see any of those guys playing for us in the fall”). That said, I still think he likely will redshirt in 2023.