ESPN RISE

This summer's biggest movie, "Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen," hit theaters two weeks ago and broke box office records.

Archbishop Carroll's Jeremiah Attaochu made a transformation comparable to that of Optimus Prime in only one season, going from unknown player to national prospect in a matter of months.

"Raw was an understatement," Archbishop Carroll Head Coach Rick Houchens said of his first impressions of Attaochu. "His feet were not real good. He had the frame to develop to be good, but he was very raw and unpolished. From a fundamental technique sense he didn't have a clue what was going on."

Houchens was hired as the new head football coach early in 2008, and spent his time developing his players' fundamentals. By Week 5, Houchens started to see rapid improvement in Attaochu's play.

"Whether the ball came at him or away from him, he was finding the ball and reacting and making plays. That's when you get to see the guy is going to be special," Houchens said. "Most high school players, if the play is on the far sideline, that kid is not running all the way over there. [Attaochu] is running plays down."

Attaochu finished his junior season with 102 tackles and 14 sacks.

For Attaochu, who was born and raised in Nigeria until the age of 8, football seems to have come naturally.

"When I first saw the game I wasn't really into it. When I started getting older and [I saw] the passion of the game, just the drive to push yourself, it got me," Attaochu said. "[On the playground] everybody used to choose me first. I used to intercept passes and everything. People used to tell me to play, so when I got to high school, I decided to try this out and see how it works."

It has worked out well so far.

The skinny, 171-pound freshman, and more recently 191-pound junior, dedicated himself to the weight room.

Eventually, that raw, unpolished freshman developed into a a 6-foot-3, 225-pound national recruit. One that Houchens compares to one of his former players at Eleanor Roosevelt (Greenbelt, Md.) and current Jacksonville Jaguar Derrick Harvey.

"Taking on runs and lead blocks, trap blocks - he has some great abilities that I didn't even see Harvey do," Houchens said. "That's when I started to see that this kid can be really special."

Houchens knew it was going to take some work to take Attaochu's raw talent and turn it into star potential.

"I just smile and nod. I'm a gracious person so I just say thank you Coach Rick," Attaochu said of his comparisons to Harvey. "I don't think about it. I come out and try to get better every day."

Even with Attaochu's Harvey-like qualities, Houchens said Attaochu's small frame kept him under the radar in the recruiting game last season.

"He had a great motor last year. There is great film of him making plays on the other side of the field or down the field. The colleges were impressed with that, but he was 191 pounds and he didn't have the pass-rushing technique," Houchens said. "I knew to take him to that national status and make him special that's when I coached him up with that. He's like a sponge, he soaks up every little thing."

The clincher for college coaches is when they see Attaochu in person. His first offer came from the University of Maryland after Houchens held a team workout at Archbishop Carroll in May. Since that offer, Attaochu has landed 15 college scholarship offers.

Illinois, Kansas State, Virginia, East Carolina, Maryland, Louisville, Duke, Connecticut, Ohio, Pitt, Akron, Kent State, Temple, Syracuse, Towson and Minnesota have all extended offers.

"Coach Rick was like a whole new world for me," Attaochu said. "He's a detail guy. My whole game changed from my sophomore year; it's like I'm a different person."

With a full offseason under Houchens in process, Attaochu's transformation into the kind of player he is looking to become has only just begun.

"Where he is right now, you won't see that on his film. You'll see a skinny guy making tackles and running all over the field making plays, but you won't see the technique that will take this guy to another level," Houchens said. "He's going to prove he's going to be a real major force out there."

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Mike Loveday covers high school sports for ESPNRISE.com. Mike can be reached at Michael.Loveday@espn.com