Northwestern LB Chee Anyanwu retires from football

Northwestern outside linebacker Chee Anyanwu has retired from football for health reasons, according to a program spokesperson.

Anyanwu would have been a redshirt sophomore this season. He never appeared in a game for the Wildcats in two seasons: he redshirted his true freshman year in 2017 and didn't see any game action last season.

An Academic All-Big Ten honoree in 2018, Anyanwu is still enrolled at Northwestern and remains on full scholarship, according to the spokesperson. Northwestern cannot disclose any other information about Anyanwu's injury due to privacy rules.

Anyanwu is the fourth Northwestern player to retire in the last 10 months. Starting tailback Jeremy Larkin was forced to retire last September due to degenerative cervical stenosis, starting superback Cameron Green left the team in February rather than return for a fifth year and risk potential injury, and safety Austin Hiller medically retired in April after surgeries failed to correct his leg condition.

The 6-foot-2, 211-pound Anyanwu was a late addition to Northwestern's 2017 class. He had been committed to Richmond in January of that year when Anthony Walker Jr. decided to leave Northwestern early to enter the NFL Draft.

That opened up a scholarship for Anywanwu, who quickly arranged an official visit, decommitted from Richmond and committed to Northwestern on Jan. 21, just two weeks before national signing day.

Anyanwu came to Northwestern from Buford High School, a Georgia football powerhouse. While at Buford, Anyanwu's teams compiled a 56-4 record, appeared in four state title games and won two state championships. He was a teammate of former Northwestern wide receiver Steven Reese while at Buford.

Anyanwu's retirement will open up another scholarship opportunity for Northwestern's 2020 class.