Nigeria is set to have its deepest showing in NBA Draft history when the league meets at Barclays Center on June 23-24, with as many as 10 players of Nigerian descent expected to hear their names called, according to the report. That total surpasses the 2020 draft class by one and includes two players born in Nigeria and eight born in the diaspora to Nigerian parents.
The two Nigeria-born prospects are Virginia center Ugonna Onyenso and Tennessee center Felix Okpara. Onyenso, born in Owerri, Imo State, in 2004, became one of the youngest players to play for Nigeria’s senior national team before a college career that took him from Kentucky to Kansas State to Virginia; he set the ACC single-tournament record with 21 blocks this spring, including nine against Duke’s Cameron Boozer in the championship game, according to the report. Okpara, born in Lagos in 2004, arrived in the United States to play high school basketball and has had stops at Ohio State and Tennessee; he worked out for the San Antonio Spurs and Washington Wizards after the draft combine and has been noted for his mobility and rim protection.
Eight other prospects carry Nigerian heritage through their parents. St. John’s forward Zuby Ejiofor, born Chukwuebuka Ejiofor in Dallas to parents Sandra and Collins Ejiofor, lived in Nigeria in early childhood before returning to Texas; he swept Big East Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year and Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors this season, the first to do so since Emeka Okafor in 2004. Kentucky guard Otega Oweh was born to Nigerian parents of Urhobo and Igbo heritage; his brother Odafe is a first-round NFL pick with the Washington Commanders. The group also includes Stanford guard Ebuka Okorie, Arizona forward Tobe Awaka (son of Nigerian immigrants Sunny and Henrietta Awaka and the national Sixth Man of the Year), Virginia Tech forward Tobi Lawal, Vanderbilt forward AK Okereke, Gonzaga center Graham Ike and Miami center Ernest Udeh Jr., the report says.
The class would have included 11 players of Nigerian origin, but Florida center Rueben Chinyelu, born in Enugwu-Agidi, Anambra State, withdrew from the draft in May to return for a senior season after winning SEC and Naismith Defensive Player of the Year honors, according to the report. The 2020 draft previously stood as the benchmark, when Precious Achiuwa and Udoka Azubuike, both born in Nigeria, went in the first round alongside seven other players of Nigerian descent.
Of the current group, the report identifies five players with the clearest paths to NBA rosters. Ebuka Okorie is noted as the only prospect firmly in first-round projections after multiple workouts, including looks as high as the teens and a green room invitation; the first-team All-ACC guard averaged 23.2 points per game, scored 40 in a win over Virginia Tech and posted a 2.3 assist-to-turnover ratio, with mock drafts placing him as high as No. 21, according to the report.
