Ugonna Kingsley Onyenso | Scouting Report
I’m Kuzey, 19. I’ve been writing about basketball since I was 9. I have been working in Eurosport Turkey for the last 1,5 years. I have written on various sites and magazines before. I’ve been working as a freelance scout for three years. I worked as a consultant. I have interviewed dozens of prospects such as Theo Maledon, Deni Avdija, Henri Drell, Aleksej Pokusevski, Arturs Kurucs, Yves Pons, and dozens of notable basketball people such as Luis Scola, Xavi Pascual, Jonathan Givony, Dimitris Itoudis, Sasa Obradovic, Joan Plaza, Sarunas Jasikevicius, Derrick Williams. I write an article every day. I live in Turkey, I go to all the Euroleague and Youth League games. My main areas are all of age group in Africa and from U12 to U20 European and NCAA. MY BIGGEST GOAL IS SCOUTING! Anyway, don’t forget to follow me on Twitter and feel free to DM!
Born: 2004
Nationality: Nigeria
Height: 6–10
Wingspan: 7-foot-1
Position: C
Physical
Standing 6-foot-10 with near 7-foot-1 wingspan with lack of elite strength 210-pound frame, Ugonna Kingsley Onyenso has a good body base for a 16 years-old African player but lack of strength hurt his stock in my opinion. Wide shoulders, strong arms, quick footwork but lack of strength on his core muscles, chests, legs, shoulders, back hurt his post-up games, face-up defenses, and explosive athleticism package in my opinion. Playing a significant role as the NBA Academy Africa’s painted area games, Ugonna Kingsley Onyenso does the majority of his athlectisim on smoothness. I mean, most of 6-foot-10 and other African bigs plays with great vertical pop and athleticism but Ugonna has a different thing. His quick hips, great lateral movement, his momentum which he gains from his legs, wide wingspan, and defensive ballhandling skills make him a smooth athlete around the basket in my opinion. And it’s a very good thing. Because with it, he has great potential as a floor spacer, I mean, he can take the ball and reverse to the basket, while doing it, he creating spacing for others. But he has a lot of room to get stronger, also, I think he should learn balanced vertical pop and open court dunks. Because at the end of the day, he will need these two things in my opinion.
Offense
A talented big man with an excellent feel for the game, high-level motor, Kingsley Onyenso shows himself as a lob threat, catch-and-finisher, impactful rebounder, and elite post threat. I think he is a really good post-up weapon for all teams. I think Onyenso has footwork well above his age. After taking the ball, he can create a shield around the ball, read the opponent’s defensive stance, create his own angle of attack, find the right balance, and if necessary, he can reverse spin and go to the basket. Also, UKO can use his body to giving fake against the help defense from the weak side and uses short hooks from the strong side. A true inside threat, the 16-year old is a good catch-and-finish player in my opinion. He is not like a Joshua Ojianwuna, Nelly Joseph, or Dick Sano but his smoothness around the basket makes him a good on it. After taking the ball, he can raise his floater pocket very quickly, Ugonna Kingsley Onyenso does speed-body changes well, he can score with a soft touch by not stepping back in contact game and making intelligent movements against his opponents. He is not an above the rim player, also as I mentioned, he doesn’t have a good vertical pop but I think he knows how to use the rim to gain momentum and that’s very important. Because he is 6-foot-10 and has a good BBIQ, so he can score against physical, explosive rim protectors. Not a great pick-and-roll player, has to learn how rolling after screen in my opinion. Ugonna’s biggest problems on the offensive end are dribbling, passing, and shooting in my opinion. He showed some flashes as a half-court dribbler as a reliable handler but not consistent. Made simple mistakes on it. As a passer, he showed very promising flashes. He can find open man after he creates spacing for them thanks to his post-up threat. However, sometimes forcing the game too much. As a shooter, he has a lot of room. He is bad all of the shooting types in my opinion but he is just a 16-year old player, so has a good time in my opinion. He always fights on the offensive end, his awareness is high, when he is in off the ball motions he can make good screens for shooters like Tyrese Proctor and Giovanetti to run on sets such as staggers and chin lines.
Defense
Showing good mobility stepping out to slide on the perimeter, fighting for position in the paint, and using verticality well on occasion, also, with all the tools to be a difference-maker inside, Ugonna Kingsley Onyenso does much of his best work offensively guarding opposing big men around the basket. On it, he is a bad post-up defender, lack of elite strength and lack of experience hurt him here (look his game at Szent Istvan Basketball Cup 2020 games and Pole of France). But his rim protection ability with using his length, mobility, quick hips, game reading ability, timing, smoothness, and his defensive awarenesses are notable. He is not an excellent shot blocker but showed on it some flashes, more importantly, he showed impressive mobility sliding his feet on the perimeter for his size. His mobility and footwork really dazzling on the defensive end in my opinion. Most of 16-year old European and African prospects have serious problems on it but I think Ugonna Kingsley Onyenso has not. Knows how to change his speed-body balance against all types of players; quick guards, physical forwards, etc. He can’t run transitions well, I don’t think that he has a good deflection repertoire. Also, he has to improve on off the ball motions. Sometimes, the 16-year old player does unnecessary help to the weak-side. I think UKO has interesting potential as a switchable defender. He can’t stand against quick guards on hill and wings despite his stiff stance but he’s good at using his body and switching in general game tempo. I think the most important thing to develop in his defense package is the post-up. He can sometimes be very weak in this regard. As a rebounder, he is excellent. A good area rebounder whose length helps him challenge shots, Ugonna Kingsley Onyenso grabs a lot of rebounds both on the defense and on the offense. He hasn’t a great vertical pop but his length and second jump timing and quickness makes up it for him in my opinion.
Summary
Ugonna Kingsley Onyenso’s post-up threat on offense, his ability to combine his promising ballhandling and fluency with his BBIQ; his defensive effort, interesting switch potential, and excellent rebounding ability make him a valuable prospect in my opinion. But I think dribbling, scoring instinct, shooting, post-up defense, and gain strength are his cons where he has to improve