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Citizen - TTU MAN OF THE YEAR Ordu leads by example
Story by Thomas Corhern
Cookeville Herald-Citizen
COOKEVILLE -- If you listen to several people around the Tennessee
Tech football program, they'll all tell you that senior linebacker
Kelechi Ordu is a quiet person.
That doesn't make him any less of a leader.
In fact, it's quite the opposite, using a take-charge mentality
and just getting work done, leaving him as an inspiration to his
Tech football teammates.
His leadership skills are one of the biggest reasons Ordu has been
selected at Tech Athletics' 2011 Man of the Year.
"I'm honored," Ordu said. "I thank God because he gave me the
skill to play football. Just to be able to win the award, that's a
huge honor."
Ordu beat out seven other nominees for the athletic department's
most prestigious award: Joseph DeLorenzo (cross country), Dustin
Dillehay (football), Jared Dobbs (baseball), Lloyd Harris (tennis),
Charles Newton (basketball), Chad Oberacker (baseball) and Ben
Shassere (cross country).
Ordu is the 12th recipient of the award from the Golden Eagle
football progam, joining some distinctive company: Willie Queen
(1995), Gerald Bentley (1996), Robert Taylor (1997), Jeff Norman
(1998), T.J. Christian (1999), Wes Gallagher (2000), Grant Swallows
(2002), Brett Vavra (2005), David McMahan (2006), Anthony Ash
(2007) and Bradley Thompson (2009).
"I've talked to you about him before," said Tech football coach
Watson Brown. "He's just a great kid. You'd love your children to
be Kelechi. He just does everything right and in a classy way. He's
overcome a lot here and I think the world of him. There's no doubt
about that. Everywhere you turn, you just see one class young
man."
It wasn't a surprise to Ordu as one of the first people on the
field and the last one to come off, and he spent countless hours in
the weight room trying to get better, stronger and faster. His
diligence there earned him a spot as a Strength and Conditioning
All-American.
His weight room efforts even earned him the nickname, "The Freak,"
because of his amazing feats, which landed him on top of the Iron
Eagle leaderboard.
He was also a student of the game, spending just as much time in
the film room, studying formations and coming up with ways to solve
them.
But the side of Ordu that was most impressive was his willingness
to help out and give back. In his hometown of Atlanta, Ordu worked
with a youth group who passed out food and water to the homeless of
the city.
"Doing the outreach program with the homeless was something that
my sister and I started back in Atlanta as a way to show God's
grace," Ordu said. "It was a way to be able to reach out to them
and it was really cool. Doing that and being able to be a light to
people and to my teammates, it's something that I always wanted to
be big on. To take part in what God showed me to do is important
and I've been doing that since my freshman year through football
bible studies and help them grow as young men. That's just
something I've always strived to do."
Brown said, "He's a people person. He wants to help people. I
really believe that he's one of those guys who'd rather help
someone else than help himself. He's a very quiet young man. Yeah,
his off-the-field ways may be even stronger than his on-the-field
ways, yet he's as good of a worker as anyone we have."
His community service wasn't just in his hometown as he also
worked hard around the Tech campus as well. He was active in the
Fellowship of Christian Athletes and the university's Chi Alpha
fraternity, was a race mentor for the Black Cultural Center and was
a department mentor for the Exercise-Physical Wellness
department.
Leadership was a skill Ordu seemed to have as an instinct, knowing
how to inspire his teammates. That made Ordu an obvious pick as one
of the team's captains.
"It's something that I've learned over the years," Ordu said.
"I've also picked it up from the leaders I've had in my life,
people who have been leaders to me and team leaders that I've seen
on the team this year -- I've been able to take bits and pieces of
that and see how they led and learn from it."
Brown said, "Whatever you asked him to do, whatever he thought
would help out the team, he would do those on his own. He wasn't
the rah-rah type at all. He's a quiet kid. He did a lot of things
by example, but everybody on this team, he had their respect.
Everybody. That's a good leader. He played absolutely up to his
abilities. You knew what you were going to get out of Kelechi every
week. He was never one of those up-and-down guys. He played up to
his abilities week-in and week-out, no matter what the competition
was."
Not only did he lead by example, he also led through the teachings
of the Bible. Ordu was the co-leader of the team's Bible studies.
One story told during the selection committee's meeting was that
Ordu would leave inspiring passages in his teammates' lockers,
pumping them up for the game.
June 27, 2011
Hall of Famer Lowell Smith passes away; Services Monday
June 22, 2011
Edwards named honorable mention preseason All-America
May 1, 2011
Off the gridiron; on the job
April 14, 2011
Football team holds annual Spring Game Saturday at 11
February 22, 2011
Save the date: Jim Ragland Bass Tournament scheduled for Saturday, May 7
February 22, 2011
Astronaut, former Golden Eagle Barry Wilmore speaker for Chamber
February 2, 2011
Versatility key in Golden Eagle 2011 football signing class
January 30, 2011
Benford wins Robert Hill Johnson Award, eight others honored
January 21, 2011
Public invited as Golden Eagles holds annual awards dinner Jan. 30
January 11, 2011
Hall of Famer Bill Dupes passes; Services Wednesday in Sweetwater
January 5, 2011
It's Game Week: FCS Champion to be crowned Friday night
December 24, 2010
Golden Eagle receiver Tim Benford named to All-America team
December 18, 2010
Student-athletes, support staff among Saturday's graduates
December 17, 2010
Student-athletes, support staff among Saturday's graduates
November 24, 2010
Benford, Hilliard named all-OVC; Crawford on all-newcomer squad
November 22, 2010
Barnes captures national Player of the Week honors
November 21, 2010
Barnes, Crawford and Tooley honored with weekly OVC awards
November 20, 2010
Golden Eagles stun No. 4 Gamecocks with huge fourth quarter comeback
November 17, 2010
Area students with good grades to be honored at Saturday's game
November 16, 2010
Golden Eagles celebrate Senior Day as No. 4 JSU visits Saturday
November 13, 2010
Golden Eagles downed by EKU Colonels in Homecoming clash
November 10, 2010
HOMECOMING: Golden Eagles host Eastern Kentucky Saturday
November 6, 2010
Opportunistic Murray State upends injury-riddled Tech
November 5, 2010
Nine Golden Eagles, eight starters out Saturday at Murray State
November 3, 2010
Golden Eagles return to action with tough chore at Murray State
October 23, 2010
Golden Eagles get "special" win at Tennessee State
October 22, 2010
Four selected for induction into Tech Sports Hall of Fame Nov. 12
October 19, 2010
Golden Eagles look to make it three-in-a-row Saturday in Nashville
October 18, 2010
Edwards, Mitchell selected as National Players of the Week
October 17, 2010
Edwards, Mitchell and Crawford voted OVC weekly honors
October 16, 2010
Defense dominates as Tech tops Panthers, 34-20
October 15, 2010
From Legacy to fireworks, Saturday's game loaded with entertainment
October 13, 2010
Golden Eagles look for back-to-back wins when EIU visits
October 12, 2010
Watson Brown needs your votes for National Coach of the Year
September 30, 2010
Military Appreciation Night when Tech hosts Skyhawks in York Trophy battle
September 30, 2010
Fireworks to light up sky tonight over Tucker Stadium
September 30, 2010
Golden Eagles edged by Skyhawks in Tucker Stadium, 27-24
September 28, 2010
First Tennessee Bank sponsoring annual Football Poster Night Thursday
September 26, 2010
Nashville band Due West featured Thursday in Magic 98.5 Tailgate Park
September 25, 2010
Late rally not enough as Golden Eagles drop OVC opener, 23-21
September 23, 2010
Tech football schedule ranks as toughest in all of NCAA Division I
September 22, 2010
Watson Brown needs your vote for the Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year poll
September 20, 2010
Golden Eagle conference slate opens Saturday at surprising SEMO
September 16, 2010
Weather halts game early, Golden Eagles earn 43-0 victory over Lane
September 14, 2010
Season opener to finish with fireworks over Tucker Stadium
September 13, 2010
First home game of the season brings Lane Dragons to Tucker Stadium
September 13, 2010
WCTE TV to televise four home games live in 2010
September 11, 2010
Golden Eagle turnovers help No. 4 TCU roll to 62-7 victory
September 9, 2010
Communiversity Night planned at Golden Eagle home opener Thursday
September 9, 2010
Reserve by noon Friday to attend Insider's Lunch Monday
September 8, 2010
Golden Eagles to tackle highest-ranked football foe in OVC history
September 4, 2010
Early lead, solid effort highlight Tech showing at No. 17 Arkansas
September 3, 2010
Five seniors chosen as 2010 Golden Eagle football captains
September 3, 2010
Former players invited back for Football Alumni Reunion Sept. 30
September 1, 2010
Looking Back: A peek into the Golden Eagle photo archives
August 29, 2010
Golden Eagle football guide for 2010 available online
August 27, 2010
OVC finalizes Game of the Week, web streaming plans for football
August 26, 2010
Camp Notebook: Watson Brown Show to air Mondays on TV, radio
August 25, 2010
Camp Notebook: Long snapper Jordan Adams fills key position
August 24, 2010
Camp Notebook: Special events at home games announced
August 21, 2010
Outlook for Golden Eagle success boils down to one word: Depth
August 20, 2010
Camp Notebook: Fans invited to Saturday's Gathering of Eagles
August 15, 2010
First scrimmage gives coaches exactly what they're looking for
August 13, 2010
Who do you think will be Tech's "gamebreaker" this fall?
August 13, 2010
Camp Notebook: First day in pads; Business tickets on sale
August 11, 2010
Looking Back: A peek into the Golden Eagle photo archives
August 10, 2010
Camp Notebook: Golden Eagles to add pads Wednesday
August 9, 2010
Camp Notebook: Spirits soar for Golden Eagles on first day
August 8, 2010
Golden Eagles get fall camp underway Monday morning
August 6, 2010
New feature added to website; Fans can cast votes daily
August 3, 2010
Livingston greets Purple Pride Caravan
August 3, 2010
Watson Brown, Athletics to host weekly Insiders' Lunch
July 27, 2010
Large turnout greets Purple Pride Caravan in Monterey
June 16, 2010
Slade Adams named to preseason FCS All-America team