Growing up, Davison Igbinosun thought he would play on the same college football team as his older brother. Instead, he’ll play against him when Ohio State travels to Rutgers on Saturday.
As a high school recruit, Igbinosun nearly followed his brother’s footsteps by playing at Rutgers. The Union, New Jersey native originally committed to the Scarlet Knights before his senior year, having grown up attending Rutgers games in nearby Piscataway.
“If I'm being honest with you, that's all I knew,” Igbinosun said when asked why he initially committed to Rutgers.
However, Igbinosun never ended up signing with Rutgers, instead flipping his commitment to Ole Miss because he wanted to play in the SEC. When Igbinosun entered the transfer portal after just one year with the Rebels, he set his sights on playing for a premier program, eventually choosing Ohio State over Michigan, Tennessee and UCLA.
“We did recruit Davison coming out of high school, and that didn't work out,” Rutgers coach Greg Schiano said this week. “The second time I talked to him, but he was looking to go to a national championship contender, and he didn't feel we were that, so I understood that we weren't what he was looking for.”
Now a starting cornerback for the No. 1-ranked team in the country, Igbinosun is happy with his decision. He’s also glad he’ll finally have the opportunity to share a college football field with his brother on Saturday.
“It’s definitely exciting,” Igbinosun said. “It’s a dream come true.”
Desmond Igbinosun also looks forward to sharing the field with his younger brother.
“We definitely spoke about playing in big-time games (growing up),” Desmond told Rutgers reporters this week. “Did we know it would shake out like this? Not quite, but we always talked about playing in big games, so I’m excited because he’s playing in big games, and I know he’s excited for me because we’re playing a big game.”
Desmond wasn’t as highly touted a recruit as his younger brother, but the three-star safety from the 2021 class has emerged as a standout Big Ten defensive back in his own right. A starter for the Scarlet Knights, Igbinosun leads Rutgers with 5.5 tackles for loss this season and has recorded 34 total tackles while also playing a key role in coverage for a defense that ranks second in the nation with only 156.3 passing yards allowed per game.
Davison credits his older brother, who is one inch taller and 15 pounds heavier (6-3, 205) than Davison (6-2, 190), with helping him become the player he is today.
“He's helped me the most out of anybody. I would credit my skills to him, if I’m being honest,” Davison said. “He was stronger than me. So I just feel like he made me work on the technical aspects of my game because he was stronger than me.”
The two brothers still talk to each other on a weekly basis even though they’re now playing at different schools, though they say those conversations are about life more than football.
“It’s a dream come true.”– Davison Igbinosun on playing against his brother
But there will surely be family bragging rights on the line when both players help lead their respective teams’ secondaries at SHI Stadium on Saturday. While they won’t actually line up against each other on Saturday, they went head-to-head many times in the backyard growing up – and Davison was quick to claim his superiority in those matchups.
“I do,” Davison said with a smile when asked who wins when he and his brother go one-on-one against each other.
The Igbinosuns expect to have a large contingent of family members in attendance to watch them both play on Saturday. Their mother won’t be picking a side, however, as Davison said she is having a half-Ohio State, half-Rutgers jersey made so she can show support to both sons simultaneously.
