Ochai Agbaji ‘never’ envisioned the career he’d have with KU Jayhawks. Here’s why
Ochai Agbaji had no idea during his senior year at Oak Park High School that he’d someday be a 1,000-point scorer at the University of Kansas.
“Never,” Agbaji, KU’s 6-foot-5, 215-pound senior men’s basketball guard said recently, asked if he envisioned himself as a potential All-America candidate and NBA prospect during the winter of 2017.
That’s when as a prep senior and Rivals.com’s No. 145-ranked player nationally, he entertained just one college scholarship offer — from the hometown Kansas City Roos.
“Obviously I was kind of recruited as a four-year player to come in and finally by your senior year, once I was at Kansas, I would have this role,” stated Agbaji, who after opening the season with scoring outputs of 29, 25 and 25 points, has 999 career points heading into Thursday’s first-round ESPN Events Invitational contest against North Texas in HP Field House at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Kissimmee, Florida.
Tipoff is 1:30 p.m. Central time, or 30 minutes after an 11 a.m. contest between Miami and Dayton.
“Now actually being in the role and seeing, looking back on that (senior year at Oak Park) and my four years here, it’s been really special. I only can be thankful for this opportunity I’ve had,” added Agbaji, vying to officially become the 63rd player in KU history to score 1,000 points and 17th in the 19-year Bill Self era.
.Agbaji — he emerged as a Division I prospect while playing spring and summer ball for MOKAN Elite AAU — started attracting the attention of major college coaches after putting up several 20-point outings his final season at Oak Park.
He scored 29 points and grabbed 14 boards one night with KU coach Self and former KU coach, now Memphis assistant Larry Brown, in the building.
Self offered Agbaji a scholarship on Saturday, Feb. 3, 2018 and he committed to Self a day later and announced his choice in his high school’s gym on Feb. 8. By then, he also had been offered by Nebraska, Oregon, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M and Wisconsin.
“Ochai … we would have never anticipated when he was a high school senior he would be an NBA guy before his eligibility was done. We’d have hoped he’d be,” Self said. “I don’t think that was ever (considered a possibility). Ochai has probably surpassed a lot of our personal expectations.”
Agbaji — he has started 80 consecutive games at KU (in 86 total games played in four seasons) entering the North Texas contest — advanced so rapidly it was only natural he test the NBA Draft waters last spring.
Agbaji, who averaged 14.1 points and 3.7 rebounds a game his junior season, attended the NBA Combine and worked out for several teams prior to announcing plans to return for a senior campaign at KU on July 6.
“I learned a lot from that camp and just from training throughout the summer, those two months leading to the Combine,” Agbaji said.
“At the Combine I learned you are not going to get the most time (minutes, opportunities) to shine, whether it’s in the games or the drills. Taking that stuff seriously, which I did, but now I’ll know to take it even more seriously. Now that I have that mindset, going back next year (to Combine after final year at KU) it will be important to go there and really focus on those (individual drills) even more than the games.”
NBA front office officials advised him to work on some things before the 2022 Combine and NBA Draft.
“Not really much,” he said of tips given. “The biggest thing was seeing the conditioning and shape that I have gotten in with the whole process — working out two or three times a day even, just seeing how far I can push my body. Coming back to KU with the tools and everything I’ve learned about the pace of the NBA game compared to the college game … I learned a lot of things and watched a lot of film.
“The trainer I was working out with (last spring and early summer in Phoenix), his main guy is (NBA player) Damian Lillard. He was always talking about his (Lillard’s) workouts, how hard he worked two to three times a day. The pace and work ethic of his (Lillard’s) workouts were 100% every single time, every single rep. Seeing that at the highest level of an all-star, that’s special.”
Agbaji entered the draft process after last season rated as a possible second-round pick.
“I learned myself that professional basketball is a business,” Agbaji said. He worked out individually for the New Orleans Pelicans, Atlanta Hawks and Toronto Raptors. “There’s a lot more mentality wise than just being physical because everyone has the same talents, everyone has the same gifts. It’s mentally challenging more than anything. That’s something I learned (through testing the waters).”
He was told there was a chance he’d be drafted. But there were no guarantees from any individual general managers.
“Hearing that stuff … you hear different things every year,” Agbaji said. “Like my freshman year, when I came out of my redshirt (during season) you hear, ‘Oh yeah he’s on the draft boards now.’ You hear a lot of stuff. Really you just have to focus on winning games because at the end of the day success for everybody is success for me too.”
It was not a no-brainer for him to return to KU.
“I’d say I decided three or four days before the deadline,” Agbaji said. “I was working out for the Raptors. I was out in Tampa. I kind of made my decision. Talking to my parents, talking to my friends, my family. I was really weighing my options. I could have gone. I stayed. I made the right decision coming back.”
Raptors’ officials gave him tangible things to work on during the 2021-22 season.
“It was after my last workout with the Raptors. I sat down with the GM and the front office people. I told them I was still learning on going in or going back to school. They told me if you go back to school this is the one thing: being assertive, assert yourself more. ... On the defensive end, offensive end, just being more aggressive about my game and my mentality.”
Agbaji, who indeed has looked aggressive on the court in hitting 30 of 52 shots (57.7%) in three games, in early July gave Self the good news he’d be back for a final season.
“He was happy, excited. He, Coach Rob (Norm Roberts) and Coach T (Kurtis Townsend) called me the second I made my decision official,” Agbaji said.
Agbaji said his personal goals for his final KU campaign include, “to be myself, get better, progress throughout the season, to be as successful as I want to be.”
“Personally I need to keep my body in better shape, being able to last longer so I can play better. I feel like late in the second half, sometimes late in the first half when I’ve been in a while, I kind of get tired, make those mental mistakes, don’t hit that shot, have a turnover here. If I’m in better shape I can feel more confident going into games because I’m ready for that,” added Agbaji.
Self has called Agbaji the “fastest player on the team.”
It helps that he considers himself, “in the best shape of my life.”
“Nothing really has changed. I’m just focusing more on my diet, taking better care of my body, recovery, the importance of that is something I’ve learned this summer, too,” Agbaji said. “Taking care of my body so I can last throughout the season. Once we get into February and March, when you are trying to make that final push, it’s key to keep your body fresh and healthy. A lot of things come with conditioning, decision making, shooting, getting to the basket, getting to the free throw line, different things like that come with conditioning.”
He’s reported for duty his senior year the same weight as last season — 215 pounds.
“Coming back, I have a lot of guys surrounding me that are talented that want to get better just like me and have the same mindset and goal, getting to the league. It’s really nice having guys around you that are hungry for the same goal,” Agbaji said.
Of course he has team goals in mind.
The Jayhawks went 28-3 his sophomore season, won the Big 12 title and were primed to enter the NCAAs as the overall No. 1 seed prior to the tourney being wiped out because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Last year, KU went 21-9, placed second in the Big 12, exited the Big 12 tourney after one victory because of COVID-19 restrictions, then went 1-1 in the NCAAs.
“David (McCormack) was talking about how the summer is really important. Last year we didn’t have a summer,” Agbaji said.
COVID-19 kept the Jayhawks home until August prior to the start of the 2020-21 school year. This year most of the team assembled in June, Agbaji and Jalen Wilson returning in July after dropping out of the draft.
“It really does make a difference in building that chemistry. We are riding that chemistry. Everybody is close to each other,” Agbaji said.
He likes the potential of the Jayhawks, who enter the ESPN Events Invitational at 3-0 and the No. 4-rated team in the country.
“To be successful we push ourselves at practice every single day, train for those pressure moments that come during the season when the title is on the line, when things mean most so practicing that way and getting reps that way is the base and we’re starting to do that,” he said.
What should the expectations be for this season?
“Win. Win at all costs. Everything ... Big 12 championship, Big 12 tournament championship, Final Four, national championship, the highest expectation standards that we always have. Nothing less than that,” Agbaji said.
If Agbaji continues playing at his current level, he could be a candidate for national honors which would not surprise his teammates.
“Ochai is crazy. He’s just a freak athlete. I mean, that’s what he does. He’s just a pretty amazing player. He’s an unbelievable player,” said freshman forward Zach Clemence. “He’s a leader of our team and has personally helped me a lot.”
Noted Agbaji’s senior roommate, Remy Martin: “He’s a great player, athletic, can shoot the ball, rebound. Personally he is a great dude. We clicked right off the bat. He is a great guy, loves music. I love music and stuff. I’m happy to be able to room with him and have him on my team.”
This story was originally published November 24, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
