NC State senior receiver Emeka Emezie is returning
NC State Wolfpack football received some significantly positive news on Thursday morning when senior receiver Emeka Emezie announced that he will be returning for another year.
Because the NCAA froze eligibility for its fall and winter sports, players like Emezie had the option of repeating their senior years. Emezie becomes the first Wolfpacker to publicly reveal he will take advantage of the opportunity.
Emezie may boast credentials of being an all-conference contender in 2021. He caught 47 passes for 738 yards and five touchdowns in 2020. Emezie now has three of the top 20 single-season reception totals in school history.
His 169 career receptions is fifth all-time at NC State and another season puts the record of 202 by Jaylen Samuels within reach. Emezie has 2,409 receiving yards, which is also fifth, but he would need 977 yards to reach Torry Holt’s mark of 3,379 yards at NC State. Emezie also has 13 career touchdown receptions, which is tied for 12th most for the Wolfpack.
The former product of Marvin Ridge High in Waxhaw, N.C., caught 13 passes as a true freshman in 2017 for 163 yards and a score, but he had his breakout in 2018 when he hauled in 53 receptions for 616 yards and five touchdowns.
He had high expectations in 2019 following the departures from the previous team of NFL receivers Kelvin Harmon and Jakobi Meyers, who had both had over 1,000 yards in 2018, but Emezie admitted by his own standards his junior year fell short of them. He finished that campaign with a career-high 56 catches for 572 yards and two scores.
With Emezie’s return, NC State could potentially return every receiver from 2020. Fifth-year senior C.J. Riley is another that has the option to come back, and it is noteworthy that Riley chose not to walk on Senior Day.
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