Honors & Awards
» Academic All-Big Ten (2023)
» Nebraska Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll (Fall 2021, 2022; Spring 2023)
» Brook Berringer Citizenship Team (2022, 2023)
» Tom Osborne Citizenship Team (2022, 2023)
2023 (Sophomore)
Mikai Gbayor played in all 12 games as a sophomore with four starts. He totaled 24 tackles with 3.0 tackles for loss and 0.5 sacks. Gbayor helped Nebraska post its best rushing defense (92.9 yards per game), total defense (303.5 yards per game) and scoring defense (18.3 points per game) since the Huskers joined the Big Ten in 2011. NU ranked in the top 20 nationally in each of those three categories.
Gbayor saw action on special teams and defense during his Husker debut at Minnesota, recording his first career tackle on kickoff coverage. Gbayor then earned the start at linebacker at Colorado, where he produced a career-high six tackles, including a three-yard tackle for loss for his first career TFL. Gbayor also started against Northern Illinois and had one tackle and one quarterback hurry. He totaled five tackles against No. 2 Michigan. Gbayor had a nine-yard tackle for loss at Illinois. He also had one tackle against Northwestern and Purdue. He finished with three tackles at Michigan State, including a half sack for his first career sack. Gbayor started against Maryland and had four tackles with a half TFL. He had one tackle against Iowa.
2022 (Redshirt Freshman)
Gbayor did not play in a game in 2022.
2021 (Redshirt)
Gbayor did not play in a game during the 2021 season.
Before Nebraska (Irvington HS)
Gbayor was a standout linebacker for Irvington High School, where he was named a 2020 All-America candidate by Sports Illustrated.
Gbayor made 56 tackles, including 29 for a loss, with nine sacks in his senior season at Irvington. For his efforts, he was named to the USA Today All-New Jersey first team. Gbayor was also a nominee for the 2020 USA Football Heart of a Giant Award. As a junior, Gbayor made 86 tackles with 32 TFLs and 14 sacks. Gbayor was named the Essex County defensive player of the year as a junior.
Gbayor was ranked among the top 10 recruits in the state of New Jersey by 247Sports and was regarded as the nation’s No. 21 inside linebacker by Rivals. Gbayor had offers from several other top schools, and chose Nebraska over Kentucky, Michigan State, Ole Miss and West Virginia.
Personal
Mikai was born on Nov. 23, 2002, and he is the son of Nilsa Gbayor and his guardian is Reggie Torain. Mikai is majoring in criminology and criminal justice. Gbayor has been very active in the community, volunteering his time with the Nebraska Football Road Race, School is Cool, American Education Week, the N-Volved Leadership Group, Elliott Elementary School, Legacy Retirement Home and local Thanksgiving hospital visits.