MORGANTOWN — Ben Waibogha always wanted to play on Mountaineer Field during Saturdays in the fall, but things didn’t quite happen the way he originally thought.
While starring as a defensive back and wide receiver at Morgantown High, Waibogha first accepted a preferred walk-on spot at WVU, hoping to play for the hometown team.
But there was something that ate at him — knowing he could earn a scholarship at the Division I level — so he decided to decommit two months later and take the junior college route instead and enrolled at Lackawanna (Pa.) from 2017-18.
After two years there, Waibogha spent a semester at Hampton University (Va.), but finally realized his dream of earning a Division I opportunity at Long Island University in fall 2019.
“I always loved visiting New York City and just the opportunity to go to school there, on top of playing football, was a perfect situation for me,” Waibogha said. “The coaching staff was very honest with me and truthful through the whole recruiting process. On top of that, the academics here are outstanding, so it’s really a win-win situation.”
Waibogha, a junior, is in his third year with the Sharks, and will fulfill his dream of playing at Milan Puskar Stadium when they take on the Mountaineers at 5 p.m. Saturday.
With family, including his parents and girlfiend, and friends from high school expected to be in attendance, Waibogha can’t wait to get on the field.
“I’m very excited for this game,” he said. “This is a dream come true playing in front of my hometown.”
Many who follow the Mohigans may remember Waibogha as a 190-pound defensive back who also sprinted for the MHS track team in the spring.
Now, he is a 217-pound defensive end — quite a contrast from what he played before at MHS, Lackawanna, Hampton and his first two years at LIU.
Because of COVID-19, the fall 2020 FCS season was postponed until the spring, where the Sharks went 2-2, but after that, he sat down with his coaches and it was recommended he gain weight and move down into the box.
“My coaches just want to put the best athletes on the field and I gained 15 pounds in the offseason and still maintained my speed, so my coaches wanted to take advantage of that and move me to defensive end,” Waibogha said. “At first, the position change was difficult just because I’m used to guarding receivers and maybe running backs, but now I’m going against offensive tackles and sacking quarterbacks, so I’m having a little bit more fun down in the trenches.
“They moved me after our spring season so I had about three weeks of practice to get some of the basics down. Over the summer, I devoted everything to learning that new position, but I’m a pretty athletic person so that puts me at an advantage in a lot of situations. But during fall camp, I really developed rather fast at the new position and have been thriving in ever since.”
Waibogha made his debut at defensive end last week when LIU took on Florida International, earning the start and finishing with three tackles. He said to keep an eye out this week, as he expected to get another starting nod against the Mountaineers, donning No. 12.
As for facing WVU tackles Brandon Yates, Parker Moorer and Wyatt Milum, “They’re very quick and athletics — something I’m very excited to go against them.”
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