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WINSTON-SALEM -- Wake Forest cornerback Kenny Okoro plays defense as if it's offense. Any why not?

The News & Record's high school player of the year in 2007, Okoro was a three-way star at Dudley as a defensive back, wide receiver and kick returner. Heck, he even took a few snaps at quarterback.

When he got to Wake Forest, he had to choose. Now, just five games into his playing career, the redshirt freshman from Greensboro has cracked the starting lineup in the Demon Deacons' young secondary.

He played the first four games as Wake's nickel back, then earned his first start last week against N.C. State and All-ACC quarterback Russell Wilson.

"It's kind of funny, but I wasn't nervous at all," Okoro said. "I'm very calm. I think I was actually too calm. I felt at ease coming in and starting. I felt like that was my place, that I should be (starting)."

Okoro made a team-high six tackles -- he has 12, all solos -- and sealed Wake's victory with an interception with 2:02 left in the game. It was Okoro's second interception of the season, which leads the Deacons. He also has two pass break-ups and a forced fumble.

"Kenny Okoro played great on the corner," Wake coach Jim Grobe said. "It was a good day for him. We threw him out there and didn't know how he'd respond, and I thought he responded really well."

Grobe said he was pleased, but not the least bit surprised.

"My sense is he's hoping you throw it his way," Grobe said. "There are a lot of kids who go out there on the corner praying the ball doesn't come in their direction, but Kenny seems to be one of those kids who likes the action and hopes you give him a chance to make a play."

That's true, Okoro said. And it goes back to his high school days, when he played offense as well as defense.

"To be honest, I miss the ball being in my hands," Okoro said. "I guess I'm greedy."

But now the only way he can get the ball is to take it away from the receiver he's covering. Only Okoro doesn't see it that way.

"When I see the ball in the air and we're both running, I feel like the quarterback is throwing it to me," Okoro said. "I feel like I'm the receiver. That's how it feels to me, all the time. When the ball's coming to my side, I feel like it's for me."

Grobe said Okoro's attitude and confidence reminds him of Alphonso Smith, the former Wake star who was the Denver Broncos' second-round pick in this year's NFL draft.

But there are differences: At 6-foot, 190 pounds, Okoro is bigger and stronger than Smith, and Okoro isn't yet the vocal leader or sure tackler Smith was.

Okoro said he learned as much as he could from Smith during his redshirt year.

"Probably like the first three weeks (of last season), it was pretty hard for me not playing," Okoro said. "After that, it was a humbling experience. I felt that I should've not played, that it was a good opportunity for me to learn from Alphonso Smith and those guys. I had to learn the system, learn different ways I could read offenses and read quarterbacks. It was a great experience for me."

Before Smith moved on to the NFL, he had a chance to play some offense at Wake Forest. That's something Okoro said he would "absolutely like to do at some point."

But in the meantime, he'll continue to play defense in Wake's young secondary, where the other starting cornerback, Brandon Ghee, is the only senior. Two sophomores, Josh Bush and Cyhl Quarles, start at the safety positions. And freshman Dominique Tate has taken over Okoro's role as nickel back.

Okoro said what the group lacks in experience it makes up for in pure desire to win. And that, he said, is something they have in common with his old high school.

"That's what I'm used to," Okoro said. "I take great pride coming from Dudley. That's a winning program. I've never had a losing season. Being a winner, you get kind of spoiled. You always want to win. I work hard to win, not just to try to win."

Contact Jeff Mills at 373-7024 or jeff.mills@news-record.com