Hillside

Georgia

player headshot

Football

Hillside High School coach Barris Grant tells a story to anybody that asks about when he first that Darren Ikinnagbon was going to be special. "He passed the eye test before he even knew what the eye test was," Grant told 247Sports. "He was still a young, young player, but you could see he was the guy you wanted to get off the bus first. He looked that good." Grant said Ikinnagbon has a high ceiling for future development. "He's a long, rangy EDGE," Grant said. "He can really close on the quarterback. He's athletic enough to cover running backs and tight ends. He's just now cracking the surface of his potential. He's just a powerhouse. And he's only going to get better." Ikinnagbon believes playing multiple sports in high school helped him develop into one of the top football players in the country. "I wrestle," Ikinnagbon said. "I used to play basketball. I do track, too. I didn't start playing football until my freshman year and through my sophomore year. Those other sports helped me stick with football. My coaches told me to stick with it and if I stick with it, I’m going to prevail in the long run, after that, I started to like (football) a lot.”