Chidera Uzo-Diribe

He earned All-Region honors from PrepStar and was ranked the No. 37 weak side defensive end by Rivals.com, the No. 102 defensive end by Scout.com and No. 114 defensive end by ESPN. He only played football for two years and he earned a spot in the starting lineup by the second half of his junior season. He earned second-team All-Big VIII league and was named his team’s most valuable linebacker his senior year when he had 69 tackles, 7½ sacks, two forced fumbles and three pass break-ups. He also saw action at tight end and caught eight passes for 120 yards and two touchdowns. He had two catches for 64 yards including a 59-yard touchdown in a 34-3 win over Chino and he also scored a touchdown against Poly with two grabs for 16 yards. Defensively, he had four games with double-figure tackle totals with a high of 11 (nine solo) coming in the season’s last game against Centennial. Against Santiago, he had eight tackles and two sacks, and against Roosevelt he had 13 tackles, a sack and a forced fumble. As a junior, he totaled 20 tackles, including 12 against Roosevelt in his first-ever start. Corona was 2-8 his senior year and 4-6 his junior season under coach John Brandon. He lettered three times in basketball and was the team’s MVP; he won a team award for taking the most charges his junior season. He also participated in track and field (high jump, discus).

He was born May 30, 1992 in Long Beach, Calif. His hobbies include video games, working out and hanging out with friends. His cousin is Osi Umenyiora, the second round choice of the New York Giants in the 2003 NFL Draft; in 10 seasons with the Giants, he appeared in two Pro Bowls and was a member of the 2008 Super Bowl champion team; he is now with the Atlanta Falcons. Another cousin, Charles Saseun, is a senior sprinter on the Cal-Berkeley track team. Nickname in high school was “Yung Hamlet.” (Name is pronounced chee-dera u-zo da-ree-bay).