Former ODU lineman Keion White is a first-round NFL draft hopeful. A position change with the Monarchs sparked his rise.

Keion White almost certainly will hear his name called during the NFL draft’s first or second round this week.

His path from a player with one college scholarship offer to the NFL got ignited at Old Dominion.

White, who played two seasons for ODU before transferring to Georgia Tech, moved from tight end to defensive end under former Monarchs head coach Bobby Wilder.

Now, White is among 17 hopefuls invited to attend the NFL draft, which begins Thursday night in Kansas City. The 6-foot-5, 286-pound defensive end is rated the 31st overall prospect by ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr., and most draft analysts project him to be selected late in the first round or early in the second round.

White played for ODU — the only FBS school to offer him a scholarship — in 2018 and 2019, moving from tight end to defensive end between those seasons. He started eight games at tight end in 2018 and finished with 11 catches for 124 yards, but flourished the following season on defense. He started all 12 games in 2019, finishing with 62 tackles and tying a single-season ODU record with 19 tackles for loss.

“It’s been a good change,” the Garner, North Carolina, native told The Pilot in 2019. “I feel like I’m adjusting well, picking up stuff.”

Between those seasons, White added 30 pounds and became one of ODU’s strongest players, bench-pressing 425 pounds and squatting 650.

“He’s already got NFL numbers,” Wilder said at the time.

ODU did not play in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic, and White transferred to Georgia Tech with two seasons of eligibility remaining. He missed most of the 2021 season with an injury before starting 12 games last season, leading Georgia Tech’s defensive linemen in tackles with 54 and registering team-highs in tackles for loss (14) and sacks (7½).

“For me, I feel like at this point, I’m playing with house money,” White said after Georgia Tech’s pro day, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “First round, second round, third round, I don’t care. Just to have the opportunity because I was so close to not playing college football is big for me. So wherever I get drafted, I’m not going to be one of those guys who’s disappointed because I fell or because I didn’t get drafted where everybody else thought I was.”

Jami Frankenberry, 757-446-2376, jami.frankenberry@pilotonline.com. Twitter @JamiVP