‘I’m Just Ready To Go Make Plays’
October 31, 2024 | Football, Joel Coleman
Kelly Akharaiyi has had a unique journey as he’s gone from Nigeria to being a State standout.
STARKVILLE – A young Kelly Akharaiyi heard it a lot growing up.
Oga. It's a word used in Nigeria that means senior or boss.
"It's a good term, but [my mother] used it [another way]," Akharaiyi, who spent close to the first decade of his life in Nigeria, explained. "The way my mom used it was, when I did something bad, she's like, 'Oga, you think you run things?'
"I wasn't a bad kid. I'd just get under my mom's skin every now and then."
These days, Akharaiyi has given his mom a break. He's instead raising the blood pressures of defensive coordinators. After battling through an early-season injury, the Mississippi State senior receiver has become the tremendous offensive playmaker head coach Jeff Lebby and staff thought he could be when they picked Akharaiyi up out of the transfer portal ahead of this year.
Akharaiyi has totaled 18 catches for 266 yards and a pair of touchdowns this season. Half of his receptions and yards, and both of his scores, have come in the last three games.
It seems safe to say Akharaiyi is settling in wearing the Maroon and White.
"It's been a very long and emotional [journey this season], especially being my last year," Akharaiyi said. "But I've just trusted in the process. I just want to thank the training staff – James [Beasley], Thomas [Callans], Chelsea [Best] and all of them for really getting me in the training room and making me feel comfortable that everything was going to be OK. Now that I'm back, I'm just ready to go and make plays for y'all, [the Mississippi State family]."
Plays like the one Akharaiyi made at Georgia, as he dropped jaws with his leaping grab for six points over a Georgia defender – that's the type of athleticism and ability Akharaiyi brings to the table for State. He's a highlight waiting to happen.
It's incredible really, considering Akharaiyi's path to Starkville and the bright lights of Southeastern Conference football.
Akharaiyi didn't even come to America and join his parents in the country until he was around eight or nine years old. Then, once he got to the U.S., he didn't care a thing about football.
Now futbol though, that was another story. Akharaiyi played soccer back in Nigeria and enjoyed it, but essentially wanted nothing to do with American football despite his natural athleticism.
"I just didn't really like messing with football," Akharaiyi said. "I played a little bit in middle school, but I didn't really like it.
"And my parents weren't really big on sports. They put me in other extracurricular activities and math tutoring and things like that."
However, life eventually altered Akharaiyi's view of the gridiron.
At MacArthur High in Irving, Texas, Akharaiyi found himself playing football again. This time, it was just different for whatever reason.
"Senior in high school, it just clicked," Akharaiyi said. "I was like, 'OK, this is what I'm going to do. This is what I want to do.' Ever since, I just fell in love with playing football.
"I said, 'This is what I'm going to do and I'm going to try to make it to [the NFL].' That's what I've been doing ever since."
Now, Akharaiyi's story didn't suddenly turn into a fairytale where his decision to embrace football was accompanied by immediate success. In fact, he saw no action at all in his first year of post-high school football at Tyler Junior College. But everything started to change during his redshirt freshman year in 2021.
Akharaiyi made his presence felt as he led his team in receiving yards, was second in receptions and third in touchdown catches. It earned him the chance to play at UTEP during the 2022 and 2023 seasons, where last year, Akharaiyi led the Miners in receiving yards, yards per game, receptions, yards per catch and touchdown receptions. He was one of only two Conference USA receivers to eclipse the 1,000-yard mark in receiving on the way to receiving All-C-USA First-Team honors.
This year, Akharaiyi was searching for a new football home. He found it in StarkVegas when he saw the chance to help Lebby get his show started at State.
"[The decision to come here was all about] Coach Lebby and the staff he has around him," Akharaiyi said. "I felt like I could bond with them. I could talk to them about anything. At first, I was a little hesitant just because it was Mississippi and I didn't know anything about Mississippi, but then I got in front of everybody and I was like, 'OK. I can see myself playing here.' I love the offense that [we] run and everybody around here just made me feel comfortable."
It certainly appears Akharaiyi is right at home in his Maroon and White, and the best for him might still be yet to come.
Whatever comes, he's enjoying and is grateful for the ride.
"It's all a crazy thing," Akharaiyi said. "It's just all a testament to a great support staff, my parents, my siblings and myself, and not giving up. This is what I want to do. I fell in love with this. I'm going to do whatever I can, and I'm going to do it until I can't anymore."
