A Presence in the Post

By: D. Scott Fritchen

Immediately after the final buzzer and as Kansas State players began a victory lap around the lip of Bramlage Coliseum to slap hands with their eager fans, the children packed tightly together along the rails in Section 25 saw him coming, and they began chanting his name. "Ugo! Ugo! Ugo!" Ugonna Onyenso, the 7-footer known as "Ugo," smiled wide and shook his head bashfully, touching each of the children's hands as he headed toward the locker room.

The children knew a rising star when they saw one.

Onyenso poured in a career-high 16 points and added four rebounds and one block in just 12 minutes in the Wildcats' 74-56 win over Mississippi Valley State on Tuesday night. Long-legged Onyenso used his 7-foot, 247-pound frame to power inside for layups yet also possessed the finesse to gracefully touch the ball off the glass for a bucket. He caught passes in traffic and was a willing passer to his teammates. He got up and down the floor in a hurry. He adjusted opponent's shots.

"He's 7-feet tall and can run, he has decent hands and a great personality," K-State head coach Jerome Tang said. "It's hard to teach that size. His teammates did a really good job finding him because he ran early and established position. That's something we've been on him about because he's capable. I was happy to see him rewarded tonight."

Onyenso scored K-State's first points on a dunk off a pass from Coleman Hawkins. He hit a layup off a pass from David Castillo. He followed a teammate's missed shot with an offensive rebound and made another layup. Another pass from Hawkins. Another layup. He scored eight of the Wildcats' first 10 points. He was feeling it. He was smiling. He was seemingly unstoppable out there in his fourth game in Manhattan.

It's still early in the season and Tang and his coaching staff continue to tinker with different rotations and groupings on the court, thus the limited minutes, but the potential for Ugonna appears limitless.

"I'm happy I could help the team win," he said. "It's whatever it takes to help the team win. I'm happy I could contribute and just have to keep building."

The building began long before Onyenso arrived at K-State in June. A native of Owerri, Nigeria, Onyenso's early skills were rooted in the NBA Academy Africa student-athlete program in Thies, Senegal for three years. At age 17, he became one of the youngest players ever to play on the Nigerian National Team. In January 2021, he moved to the United States and starred at Putnam Science Academy in Putnam, Connecticut, garnering recognition as a top-25 prospect by all the major scouting services.

He went to Kentucky and developed into one of the top shot blockers over his two seasons in Lexington, posting 82 blocks in 40 games, and his 2.75 blocks per game in 2023-24 ranked fifth in Kentucky history.

He averaged 3.1 points on 54.3% (51-of-94) shooting with 3.9 rebounds and 2.1 blocks in 14.0 minutes per game in his Kentucky career.

Then on April 15, he announced that he was declaring for the NBA Draft. He was ranked by ESPN as a top-70 prospect in the 2024 draft. He eventually opted to return to the college scene and play his junior season. He decided not to return to Kentucky and several other prominent schools came calling — including K-State.

"Coach Tang said they had been looking at me since I was in high school," Ugonna said after signing with K-State. "I was surprised when he said that to me. It was between here and USC for me. For me, I wanted to see the culture for players, how well the players get along, and I came here and the staff and everybody was one big family. That's what I love, especially being away from my family."

Well, he's found a family in Manhattan in Tang, his staff, and teammates who genuinely want to see him succeed on the court.

"If Ugo can block shots, rebound, put pressure on the rim, put fouls on other team's bigs, that's a dominant presence, and I feel like Ugo can be that for us," Hawkins said. "Just finishing around the rim, catching lobs, being a presence down there will really help us and open things up for us. Slowly but surely, he's going to turn into that. I'm not saying he's not dominant, but we all need to find pieces and personnel and be able to exploit areas where we can be successful, and that's what we're working on right now.

"That time will come when he'll be able to exploit what he's good at, and I feel it's blocking shots, rebounding, getting dunks and lobs, and putting pressure on other team's bigs. His time is coming for sure."

His next action will come when K-State faces George Washington in the Paradise Jam at St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands on Friday. Then he and the Wildcats will face either Liberty or Louisiana on either Saturday or Sunday.

"I'm all packed," Ugonna said. "I already checked the weather. It's going to be really hot out there. I'm ready to go."

Ready to go, ready to run, and eager to perform.

His performance on Tuesday night certainly made some fans in the Little Apple as the children chanted his name, "Ugo! Ugo! Ugo!"

There's a good chance we'll be hearing his name again and again this season.

Kansas State University Athletics

Players Mentioned

David Castillo

Coleman Hawkins

Ugonna Onyenso

Related Videos