Ochai Agbaji’s early performance for Kansas Jayhawks has been noticed by ‘NBA guys’
Ochai Agbaji’s sizzling start to his senior season has caught the attention of Kansas’ men’s basketball players and coaches who regularly praise the Jayhawks’ leading scorer in interviews with the media.
One other group of individuals also has been impressed with the performance of the 6-foot-5, 215-pound Oak Park High graduate who averages a team-leading 22.4 points a game on 57.5% shooting (49.1% from three and 72.4% from the line).
“I’ve had so many NBA guys call me and say, ‘Gosh we are happy for that kid. We just want that kid to keep playing the way he’s playing,’’’ KU assistant coach Norm Roberts said Tuesday night in filling in for Bill Self on Self’s weekly Hawk Talk radio show.
“So many have told me, ‘He works so hard, we’re really happy for that kid,’’’ Roberts added of pro scouts and front office types.
Agbaji worked out for several NBA teams last spring and summer before ultimately deciding to return to school for a final season instead of keeping his name in the 2021 NBA Draft.
“Ochai is such a good kid,” Roberts said. “He’s a sweet kid, almost too sweet. What happened is after he worked out, NBA people all came back and said, ‘You have the body. You have the athleticism. You have the shot. You have the demeanor. Every pro team would want to have somebody like you.’
But according to Roberts, the NBA officials added, ‘You’ve got to get that fire and that confidence.’
“I think the light has come on and he has that,” Roberts stated.
Roberts gave an example of confident play from Agbaji from Saturday’s 102-65 win over Missouri in which the guard scored 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting (5-of-7 from three).
“I remember in the second half of the game Missouri shot and we rebounded. He (Agbaji) took off like a rocket down the right side of the floor because he can really run,” Roberts related. “Remy (Martin) pitched ahead to him. Ochai took one dribble between his legs and hit a stepback 25-footer. Coach (Self) looked at us (assistants) and said, ‘Is that guy confident or what? Wow.’
“You could see he is very confident in what he is doing and we need him to be,” Roberts added of Agbaji, who also has averaged 4.1 rebounds and 1.7 assists for 8-1 KU.
Roberts also cited Saturday’s contributions of sophomore point guard Dajuan Harris, who tied a career high with 13 points and also hit three three-pointers, including back-to-back threes early.
“Dajuan Harris has been tremendous running the team,” Roberts said of the 6-1 native of Columbia, Missouri.
“He does so many subtle things that don’t go on the stat sheet — a tip pass here and there, getting in the passing lane, making the correct play. His play is infectious. We really need him out there.”
Harris hit 3 of 4 threes to snap an 0-for-7 start from beyond the arc this season.
“That’s good for us because we need him to be able to make open shots,” Roberts said. “He deserved to have it (that type of game) on his (21st) birthday, to play so well. He’s a tremendous kid. We’re happy for him.”
The Jayhawks are currently in finals week — a week that leads up to Saturday’s 7 p.m. home game against Stephen F. Austin of the Western Athletic Conference.
“We cut practice a little bit. We try to go an hour and 15, an hour 30 minutes and get ‘em out (of gym),” Roberts said. “We do practice around their tests. If a lot have tests early we won’t practice until later on. If they have them later on we’ll practice earlier to give them more time to study.”
This story was originally published December 14, 2021 at 9:30 PM.
