UNC football player Gnonkonde not one to give up on

Before Junior Gnonkonde ever put on a helmet for the North Carolina football team, he had aspirations of playing college football in his home state of Georgia.

During his junior year of high school, Gnonkonde, who had just begun playing American football for the first time a few years earlier, committed to Georgia Tech.

But soon after, the 6-foot-4, 260-pound defensive end had his scholarship taken away, a result of what Georgia Tech said were poor test scores.

He would eventually find a home at UNC, but still, feelings of anger and resentment toward the school that swept the rug out from under him persisted.

So when the Tar Heels traveled to Atlanta to take on the Yellow Jackets this past Saturday, it was added motivation that lifted Gnonkonde to one of the best performances of his young career.

“I feel like, every time I have a chance to play against (Georgia Tech), (I need) to give everything and make sure they regret the fact that they dropped me,” he said.

Gnonkonde missed several practices in the week leading up to the game while nursing a back injury, but when the defensive end took the field, there was no sign of any setbacks.

He racked up two tackles for loss in the contest, but the junior’s biggest moment came at the beginning of the fourth quarter.

Georgia Tech was about to find out what it missed out on.

With the ball on the North Carolina 36-yard-line and the Yellow Jackets leading 28-24, Georgia Tech quarterback Justin Thomas rushed to the left side of the field, where UNC’s Cayson Collins met him and stripped the ball loose.

Gnonkonde scooped up the fumble and rumbled 20 yards into Georgia Tech territory.

On the next play, the Tar Heels took a 31-28 lead, one they would not relinquish for the rest of the night.

“I mean, that was a big play for him, and he’s such a great kid,” Coach Larry Fedora said. “To see him make a play in a situation like that, it was huge for this whole football team. Because that was the turning point in the game.”

While many fans and media saw Saturday’s game as a breakout performance for the defensive end, to his teammates, Gnonkonde’s play against the Yellow Jackets was the product of the work he has put in since he arrived in Chapel Hill.

“When he got here you could always see his physical abilities and how big and strong and fast he was, but I don’t think he knew the game as well as he does now,” said redshirt senior linebacker Jeff Schoettmer.

“His football IQ has gotten so much better.”

In just four years, Gnonkonde has gone from being rejected by his dream school to becoming an impact player on the North Carolina defense.

And while his football career is still in its early stages, he has already proven to some, including Georgia Tech, that he is not a player to give up on.

@jbo_vernonsports@dailytarheel.com