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Ejike Obinna making strides toward high-major recruitment

07/16/2015, 12:15pm EDT

By Ari Rosenfeld

Ari Rosenfeld (@realA_rosenfeld)
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A lot has changed since Ejike Obinna first hit the AAU circuit about a year ago.

The first thing that stands out is that he no longer goes by his first name, Simon. He’s since opted to go by Ejike, one of his middle names, which identifies him as a member of the Ibo tribe in his native Nigeria.

What you won’t notice quite as quickly as his name change is that Obinna has gone from the long-term project with some local mid-major looks that he was last summer--his first in the United States--to someone who looks like he could impact a high-major program as soon as his freshman year.

Make no mistake: Obinna is still incredibly raw at this point. But the 6-foot-10 center has begun to make strides on the offensive end, and still brings the same intensity to defense and rebounding that he did when he first arrived in the United States in October of 2013.

“Since he came over one of the biggest improvements is that he’s doing a lot of better moves, he’s finishing a lot better,” his Uncommon Bulls AAU coach, Duval Simmonds, said at the Elevate Hoops Showdown at Philly U this past weekend. “He’s still got to work on finishing. His rebounding is better and he’s been an excellent rim protector.”

Obinna played basketball for six months in Nigeria, after a growth spurt made him to decide to switch over from soccer. Shortly before coming over, he attended a camp in his native country to help connect local players with people who could facilitate moves to the U.S, at which point a man from California--Obinna couldn’t recall his name off hand--helped get him set up at Virginia Academy.

By last AAU season, after having played for less than a year, he was already a master glass-eater and an intimidating rim protector, blocking numerous shots and altering countless others.

“I just had been strong, and I think that comes with being strong, and knowing your job and doing it during the game,” Obinna said. “Once you box out and go for the rebound, you’re gonna get it, so it just comes from playing hard, and that’s what I try to do every single time.”

As impressive as Obinna has been on the court, he’s equally remarkable outside of the lines as well. He speaks nearly flawless English, and after some initial struggles, he now maintains a 3.5 GPA in the classroom.

His host father, Ray Matthews, said Obinna is intent on earning a college degree no matter what, and that welcoming Obinna into his family has been more of a blessing to the latter than to anything or anyone else.

All of that is just supplementary, though, as Obinna’s play will be all he needs to impress college coaches. He still gets most of his offense on scrap points, but those generally come as a result of his non-stop motor that propels him to chase every available offensive board and run the floor tirelessly.

This weekend, however, he started to show flashes of a more advanced skillset, getting a few buckets with his back to the basket and displaying a workable face-up game.

“I’ve been working on everything actually. I’m working on shooting and driving the ball and going to the basket,” Obinna said. “I’ve just developed getting stronger in the paint and I try to play more of an outside game, being able to shoot and stuff. I’m trying to work more and more on my offensive game.”

High-major schools have been paying attention to the rapidly developing center for months, and with his performance early in the live periods, he’s started to parlay some of that interest into offers. He’s held an offer from George Mason for over a year, but in the past week has garnered additional scholarship opportunities from Seton Hall, Saint Joseph’s, and Howard.

He couldn’t remember all of the schools that have expressed interest, but noted Xavier, Penn State, Temple and Georgetown as schools that had been in touch with him the most since they could begin contacting rising juniors directly on June 15.

One of Obinna’s recent offers was a particularly special moment for Simmonds, who has worked closely with Obinna since he arrived from Nigeria both with the Bulls and at Virginia Academy. Having been a forward for Phil Martelli’s Hawks in the late 90’s, it was extremely impactful for him to see his former coach offer one of his players.

“It’s beautiful because coach Martelli is like a dad [to me] almost, so it’s beautiful for him to give an offer to Ejike,” Simmonds said. “It shows him a lot, and it really means a lot because coach Martelli knows basketball, and he knows upside and he knows potential. So it’s huge for St. Joe’s to give one of my guys an offer.”

The connection doesn’t make St. Joe’s a favorite to ultimately land Obinna’s services, as Simmonds said it’s still an “open recruitment”, but Obinna was certainly proud to earn an offer from his mentor’s alma mater.

“I was happy,” he said. “I just thank God for the offer, and I’m gonna keep working. It feels great, that’s all I can say.”

Whether it be Martelli, or any one of the bevy of coaches that will surely be pursuing Obinna over the next two years, whatever coach scores his commitment will be getting a player ready to impact a program both on and off the court. Obinna’s work ethic and motor will be assets to any locker room, and his rim protection and rebounding will surely have him competing for minutes as soon as he steps foot on a college campus.

And if his game improves in the next two years as much as it has in the two and a half since he first picked up a basketball in his home country, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Obinna listed as an elite recruit by every recruiting service out there.

“The other stuff that we have to work on is the offensive skillset, which will make him hopefully a top-100 player,” Simmonds said. “He’s gonna be there. Remember, he’s only gonna be a junior. He has another two years of high school, so the next two years we’re just gonna go at it full tilt.

“In due time he’ll probably be one of the best centers in the U.S.”