City of Basketball Love

By Olivia Valania
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Kachi Nzeh has finally found his footing at the collegiate level.

The George School alum, who previously played his freshman year at Xavier then sophomore year at Penn State, has taken off at the University of Arkansas-Little Rock this season, showing he is still the player that impressed the Philly area during his time dominating the Friends’ Schools League. 

A 6-foot-8, 225-pound forward, Nzeh is currently averaging 11.8 points and 4.5 rebounds in 26.8 minutes per game for the Trojans, having started all 20 games so far this season. That’s a big jump from his first two collegiate seasons, where he was part of the rotation with both the Musketeers and the Nittany Lions, but his role — and production — wasn’t nearly what it has been this year.

“I think the changes that I’ve made in terms of myself are on the mental side, just being confident in what I can do,” he told CoBL. “I’m in the gym a lot so in terms of what is being shown on the court I feel like I’ve had that, it’s just been growing up and developing it [...] change my (mentality) and be more confident in myself that I can do it in front of people on the college level.”

An Upper Darby native, Nzeh flashed some real potential in two years with the Royals, but it wasn’t until he transferred to play for Ben Luber at the George School and repeated his sophomore year that he really started to make waves as a prospect. As a senior at George School, Nzeh came to signing day with 20 Division I offers, having publicly narrowed down to VCU, Saint Louis, Iowa, and Xavier. 

When he officially signed with the Musketeers, joining a top recruiting class, he was eager to get on the floor. But Xavier had a veteran frontcourt featuring 6-10 senior Abou Ousmane and 6-7 senior Gytis Nemeiksa, who took up a lot of minutes up front. Nzeh got in 19 games with four starts, averaging 2.5 ppg and 2.5 rpg

Transferring to Penn State last season, he found similar problems, with numerous veteran bigs ahead of him in the Nittany Lions’ frontcourt. He got in 29 games with two starts but put up similar numbers, averaging 2.6 ppg and 2.2 rpg. 

Entering the transfer portal for the second time he was looking for a program that really fit. He wanted a program where he could play his game and actually make an impact as well as finding a team that he could connect with. 

He found Arkansas-Little Rock, a public research university of around 8,000 total students between undergraduate and graduate programs. The Trojans, under the direction of eighth-year head coach Darrell Walker, have been competing in the Ohio Valley Conference the last four years, winning a combined 40 games between 2023-24 and 2024-25.

“When I entered the transfer portal it was really just about fit,” Nzeh said. “I feel like I made two decisions at first with Xavier and Penn State that weren’t the best fit for me as the need for my ability wasn’t there. I feel like with Little Rock there was an opportunity to play minutes, earn a spot, and be able to play my play style. With that, I felt like Little Rock was the best choice.”

Nzeh played only 15 minutes in his Little Rock debut in a romp over a non-Division I opponent, scoring 10 points; he struggled in his next three, averaging fewer than five points and five rebounds per game against Milwaukee, Marquette and Ball State. 

He broke out with a 30-point, five-rebound outing against Arkansas State on Dec. 6, and hasn’t looked back. Over that game and the 11 since, he’s averaging 14.8 ppg and 5.0 rpg, hitting double figures in his last six games at the time of this writing. 

On the season, he’s hitting better than 50% from the floor and most surprisingly is 28-of-61 (45.9%) from the 3-point arc, after not taking a 3-pointer each of the last two years. The Trojans are currently 9-11 overall and 6-3 in OVC play, having won seven of their last nine after a seven-game non-conference losing skid.

“I think I am fitting in — I had to adjust to it at first, you know, new team,” Nzeh said. “They are using me more as a shooting threat this year, there’s a lot of confidence in my shooting abilities so I can help the team that way. With my skill and what I’ve been doing, we’ve been able to win some games and score a lot more.”

Learning to change and adjust is not something new to Nzeh; he has done it from the start of his basketball career. From giving up being a track star after winning gold in the 400 meters in the junior Olympics in 8th grade and picking up basketball in 10th grade to transferring from Upper Darby to George School to entering the transfer portal twice, he has been able to adapt to new situations. 

This has helped him in his adjustment and success at Little Rock, especially as he has matured as a player and continues to develop himself. 

“As a freshman and a sophomore you’re antsy to get in the game, antsy to prove a point so when you’re in the game at times you might feel rushed or you’re rushing,” Nzeh said. “This year I feel like when I came from the summer I just really wanted to focus on being able to slow down and being able to play. Whatever position Coach puts me in I’m able to understand what to do in those moments. So I feel like definitely mentally I’ve grown as a player from freshman year to now.”

Though basketball was not his original plan, in his few years playing it has become his life and something he wants to continue for as long as he can. Starting at Upper Darby to his journey to Little Rock, it seems he has found his stride and is ready to work to better his game and one day reach his goal of playing professionally. 

“Honestly with basketball the ultimate goal for me is to be a pro, whatever level that is NBA or overseas,” Nzeh said. “I just want to keep playing basketball, set up my future through basketball and be able to help myself, help my family. I really love basketball, it’s something that I’ve been doing for a few years now so I don’t really see myself doing anything else at the moment.”