Big 12 Basketball: Ranking the Top 12 Incoming Players
By Ryan Noel
Udoka Azubuike – Kansas, Freshman
The enormous Nigerian comes to Kansas with quite a bit of hype already. He finished the year ranked in the Top 40 on nearly all rankings sites, and has a reputation for being a ferocious dunker capable of bringing down entire goals.
What Kansas is getting in Udoka is an immediate backup to starting center Landen Lucas. Udoka is huge – Kansas listed him as 7’0″ and 275lbs when he signed – and will likely go unmatched for size in the Big 12 this year. To go with that size, he has great hands and surprisingly good agility.
We listed Azubuike a few spots lower than most would probably expect because he comes into Kansas lacking a lot of polish. Offensively, Azubuike lacks an offensive game outside of brute-force dunks. He overpowers defenders with his size and strength right now, but likely won’t be able to do that initially in the Big 12. He will need to work on developing a few moves in order to get points, though his ability to seal in the post should fit nicely into the Kansas offensive system.
Defensively, he is a deterrent in the lane because of his size, but he’s not yet a rim protector. In our viewings of him, he did not show great instincts as a shot-blocker and mostly got his blocks because of his significant size advantage rather than timing or ability.
Next: Longhorns Add Size with James Banks