Two of the best football players in Verbum Dei history, Hardy Nickerson and Kenechi Udeze, are set to return to the Watts campus on Thursday night for a ceremony honoring their contributions.
Nickerson, from the class of 1983, played linebacker at California, then 16 years in the NFL. Udeze, from the class of 2000, was an All-American defensive lineman at USC and later first-round draft choice. Both have since gone into coaching.
Nickerson is in his first year as head coach at JSerra. Udeze is an assistant coach at Florida International.
There also will be a celebrity basketball game at 6 p.m.
Nickerson said, “Verbum Dei helped shape me in so many different ways. Every day I think of something I learned from high school.”
This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com
