"He's the future" - Nigerian captain Ike Diogu about Ugonna Kingsley Onyenso
"He's the future" - Nigerian captain Ike Diogu about Ugonna Kingsley Onyenso
Nigerian captain Ike Diogu calls 17-year-old Ugonna Kingsley Onyenso "the future" of Nigerian basketball.
Mark the date … November 28, 2021. Ike Diogu has informed all of us. You’ve seen the future. You’ve seen Ugonna Kingsley Onyenso!
Nigeria’s veteran national team captain Diogu dropped some major praise on the 17-year-old 7-footer, who made his Nigeria debut at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 African Qualifiers.
“He’s the future. Plain and simple. I’m telling you guys now. He’s the future.” - Diogu about Onyenso
Diogu made the comments after Nigeria’s final game in the November 2021 window - a 95-69 win over Uganda.
Onyenso, who only turned 17 on September 25, collected 10 points on 5-of-8 shooting, 4 rebounds and 2 blocks in 16 minutes.
The 38-year-old Diogu was asked afterwards what he has been telling the country’s next star.
“I don’t really try to talk to him too much because he’s so young and you don’t want to overwhelm him. So you want his natural ability to take over,” he said. “But man, he’s very special as you’ve seen out there.”
Onyenso actually was a major force already in Nigeria’s first game - a 79-71 loss to Cape Verde. He picked up 4 points on 2-of-3 shooting, 3 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 block in 10:33 minutes. And his +/- for the game was 8, making him the only Nigerian player with a positive stat in that category.
In between, Onyenso missed two shots in 3 minutes against Mali. But Diogu had seen enough.
“He’s probably going to continue to keep growing. He’s still young. He’s 17. He’s very skilled. He’s an above-the-rim athlete. He’s going to be a problem defensively, especially once he starts to fill out. It’s gonna be his team pretty soon. It’s gonna be exciting to watch.”
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