Israel "Izzy" Adewale Abanikanda (born October 5, 2002) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

for the

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of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

. Abanikanda set the Pitt single game rushing record of 320 yards in a game against Virginia Tech in Week 6 of

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, breaking the record of 303 yards set by Tony Dorsett in 1975. In the same game, he tied a school, and

ACC ACC most often refers to: * Atlantic Coast Conference, an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic conference located in the US *American College of Cardiology, A US-based nonprofit medical association that bestows credentials upon cardiovascular spec ...

conference record of 6 rushing touchdowns in a game.

Early years

Abanikanda attended Abraham Lincoln High School in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. As a senior, he was the

Gatorade Football Player of the Year The Gatorade Player of the Year awards are given annually to up and coming high school student-athletes in the United States. They are given for boys' baseball, boys' and girls' basketball, boys' and girls' cross country, boys' football, boys' a ...

for New York after rushing for 1,350 yards with 20

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether Rush (gridiron football), running, Forward pass, passing, returning a Kickoff (gridiron football), kickoff or Punt (gridiron football), punt, or recovering a Turno ...

. As he entered his senior season of high school, Abanikanda was ranked a three star recruit and received scholarship offers from seventeen schools. On June 24, 2019, Abanikanda committed to the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...

to play

College career

As a true freshman at Pittsburgh in 2020, Abanikanda played in seven games, rushing 28 times for 95 yards and one touchdown. As a sophomore in 2021, he played in all 13 games with six starts and rushed for 651 yards on 123 carries with seven touchdowns. Abanikanda also returned seven kicks for 206 yards, averaging 29.4 yards per attempt. In July 2022, Abanikanda was named to the Paul Hornung Award Preseason Watchlist. Abanikanda returned to Pittsburgh as a starter in 2022. In Week 1 of the 2022 season, at the first

Backyard Brawl The Backyard Brawl is an American college football rivalry between the University of Pittsburgh Panthers and the West Virginia University Mountaineers. The term "Backyard Brawl" has also been used to refer to college basketball games played ann ...

between Pitt and West Virginia since 2011, Abanikanda rushed only sixteen yards on eight carries. Following Rodney Hammond's injury at the game, Abanikanda stepped into a larger role. On September 10, 2022, against

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

, Abanikanda rushed a 76-yard touchdown, Pitt's longest rushing touchdown since 2018. Abanikanda finished the game with a total of 154 rushing yards despite Pitt losing in overtime, 34–27. Abanikanda was named ACC Running Back of the Week for his performance in the game. Against Western Michigan, Abanikanda gained 133 yards on 31 carries and was named to the Paul Hornung Award Honor Roll. On September 24, 2022, Abanikanda rushed nineteen times for a total of 177 yards against the Rhode Island Rams. Following the game, Abanikanda had earned a total of 479 rushing yards and six touchdowns on 83 carries for the season and was ranked second in the nation for all-purpose yards with an average of 180.24 yards. At the end of Week 4, Abanikanda also led the ACC in both rushing yards and all-purpose yards. For his performance against Rhode Island, he was named ACC Running Back of the Week for the second time of the 2022 season. On October 1, 2022, Abanikanda suffered a shoulder injury in the second quarter and had to watch the remainder of the game from the sideline with his shoulder in a sling. Abanikanda recovered in time for the next game, and at Pitt's

homecoming game Homecoming is the tradition of welcoming back alumni or other former members of an organization to celebrate the organization's existence. It is a tradition in many high schools, colleges, and churches in the United States, Canada and Liberia. ...

on October 8, 2022, Pitt beat

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also ...

with a score of 45–29. During the game, Abanikanda rushed for 320 yards, breaking the school record of 303 yards set by Tony Dorsett in 1975. In the same game, Abanikanda garnered six rushing touchdowns, tying the

conference single-game record set in 1981 and the Pitt single-game record set in 1910. Abanikanda received five honors for his performance in the game, including Doak Walker Running Back of the Week, Walter Camp National Offensive Player of the Week, Pro Football Focus National Offensive Player of the Week, ESPN College Football Final "Helmet Sticker", and his third ACC Running Back of the Week in the 2022 season. Abanikanda finished the 2022 season with 1,431 yards and 20 touchdowns. He received the second most votes for ACC Player of the Year. In January 2023, Abanikanda was invited to the

NFL Scouting Combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Footb ...

Statistics

Professional career

Abanikanda was drafted by the

in the fifth round (143rd overall) of the

2023 NFL draft The 2023 NFL Draft will be the 88th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players. The draft is scheduled to be held in the plaza outside of Union Station in Kansas City, Missouri, on April 27–29, ...

. He made his NFL debut in Week 11 against the Bills. As a rookie, he appeared in six games and had 22 carries for 70 rushing yards.

References

External links

New York Jets bioPittsburgh Panthers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abanikanda, Israel 2002 births Living people Players of American football from Brooklyn Abraham Lincoln High School (Brooklyn) alumni American football running backs Pittsburgh Panthers football players New York Jets players