6/12/2023 basketball Edit

Educational Basketball talks Ogbole's journey from Nigeria to Rutgers

Richie O'Leary • TheKnightReport

Publisher

Rutgers Basketball recently landed their third commit of the 2023 cycle as one of Nigeria’s top prospects, Emmanuel Ogbole, committed to the program after one year on the JUCO circuit with Monroe College.

Not too long after the commitment, The Knight Report spoke with coaches Olutobi Adepitan and Iseolupo Adepitan of Educational Basketball, Africa’s first premier player development program, to help break down how they got started and what Ogbole could be for the Scarlet Knights.

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“So we are a player development program in Nigeria that started back in 2015 and we want to get guys over here opportunities to attend college in the United States and offer a chance to give back to the community,” the coaches said. “We had one guy go to Louisville in Emmanuel Okorafor, who was the first big athlete we worked with and he started with us back in November 2018 before leaving us for the NBA Academy last year. He just signed with them recently and is expected to play a lot early on. Along with him, we worked with Rueben Chinyelu who just signed with Washington State, we actually just worked out with him again this morning.”

“As for football, it’s been crazy for us since we just started football training in November 2021. We connected with former New York Giants defensive lineman Osi Umenyiora and he wanted to find out how he could get guys more invested in American football and now we work together. We had a good group of guys who played hoops from 18-23, but when we saw these guys we just knew they were football players and we got them in the NFL Africa camp and even sent seven to the NFL International Combine in London. So far we’ve had guys like Jason Godrick go to the Chiefs and Kenneth Odumegwu go to the Packers recently. We also helped to develop Emmanuel Okoye, who came to us as a top hoops player, but we told him football was the better route for him and he finished with 20+ offers and signed with Tennessee.”

Now how did the Educational Basketball coaches find Ogbole? It was partially thanks to one of those NFL players that the program previously helped to train.

“Emmanuel was actually recommended to us through another one of the guys we train in David Agohua of the Las Vegas Raiders.

“He is a former hoops player that now plays american football. He trains in Nigeria with us and some time in the middle of class last year he told us about this kid from his area in Emmanuel (Ogbole). He mentioned how he’s huge and needs to train with us because he is a very good athlete. He lived about two hours away, but when we saw him we were just amazed about his size and willingness to learn. He had never been taught the game before so when we first started working with him he was raw, but when we gave him the tools he really grew with us. After that we were in touch with HC Bryan Bender and he was supposed to go to his Junior College, but he ended up getting a new job, so Emmanuel ended up at Monroe instead and that’s where Rutgers saw him. He did really well there in his one year and even had Draft Express reaching out about his recruitment. After that he visited Rutgers and just told us that the school was for him and the staff loves him.”

The coaches at Educational Basketball went on to break down Ogbole's game and talk a little more in depth on what he brings to the hardwood.

“For me personally, he’s one of the best prospects to come out of Africa today,” said the coaches. “He is going to be very successful defensively at the next level. He has the longest arms we’ve ever seen, he’s fast, can cover in space and is an imposing presence in the paint. Once he gets into the weight room, he will be even more dominant. As for his offense, he is tough down low and has good mechanics, but he could develop similar to a Kawhi Leonard type who comes in as a great defender and the rest of his game will fill out offensively later on. He’s probably the best underrated gem I’ve ever seen. He can run the pick and roll, is good with put backs and he will make serious noise at Rutgers.”

Ogbole is set enroll at Rutgers and join the team this summer and offers the Scarlet Knights some much needed big man depth behind star center Cliff Omoruyi.