Igbinoghene has 'unbelievable upside'

AUBURN | How good can Noah Igbinoghene be? Well, Gus Malzahn couldn’t be much higher on the future of the Auburn wide receiver signee.

“A dynamic guy, we think he’s got unbelievable upside,” Malzahn said. “He’s extremely fast. Both his parents actually ran track in the Olympics. And he’s a young guy, too, as far as age goes. We really think his upside is really big.”

Like his parents, Igbinoghene is also a track star. He recently broke the Alabama indoor state record with a 50-foot, 3-inch triple jump and set the class 7A indoor mark with a 24-foot, 5-inch long jump.

Igbinoghene, who has personal bests of a 6.98 60-meter dash and a 10.76 100-yard dash, will run track in college just like his parents. His mother, Faith, ran track at Alabama and was a bronze medalist for Nigeria in the 400-meter relay in the 1996 Olympics.

His father, Festus, ran track at Mississippi State and participated in the triple jump for Nigeria in the 1992 Olympics.

But it’s on the football field where the 5-foot-11, 190-pound Igbinoghene could leave his biggest mark at Auburn.

An excellent senior season at Hewitt-Trussville and strong showing during the Alabama-Mississippi all-star game helped propel him into a top recruit last fall. He ended up ranked by Rivals as a four-star and the nation’s No. 52 wide receiver.

Igbinoghene caught 55 passes for 712 yards and eight touchdowns and had 94 carries for 751 yards and 10 touchdowns last fall. He was Alabama’s leading receiver with four catches for 44 yards in the all-star game.

“What we got is a playmaker,” Auburn wide receivers coach Kodi Burns said. “It's exciting to have a talent like him coming in. He comes from a great program. He's a great kid. He's a very yes sir, no sir type of kid and comes from a program that has been historically successful so we're excited to have him."

Igbinoghene is scheduled to report to Auburn May 28.