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Date Posted: 14:36:43 05/01/04 Sat
Author: JCard
Subject: Okey Mbanugo is a Bronco...
In reply to:
Bronco66
's message, "As we wait for Spring Signing News -- A Look Ahead" on 19:56:03 04/21/04 Wed
Eagles' Mbanugo set to be a Bronco
Santa Clara awards scholarship to American star
By Steve R. Waterhouse, STAFF WRITER
Argus Online
FREMONT -- It seems like just yesterday American High boys basketball player Okey Mbanugo made his permanent residence in Fremont.
But in all actuality it's been nearly four years since he moved here from Nigeria.
And in those four years, two at the varsity level, Mbanugo has turned into one of the Mission Valley Athletic League's top centers.
Today, the 6-foot-81/2 center will sign officially with Santa Clara. He's already verbally accepted a scholarship offer and is just waiting to sign on the dotted line.
"I think he's going to get so much better," American coach Steve Kline said. "He's going to learn an awful lot."
When Mbanugo began playing basketball at American, he was just tall, with nearly no skills. Kline said he could barely catch the ball when he first got here.
Four years later and with a scholarship in hand, this All-MVAL first-teamer is striving to make a name for himself in the basketball world.
"I always knew I was a Division I player," Mbanugo said. "I didn't get that much publicity so no one really heard of me."
It was thought, for most of the year, that Mbanugo was too raw to play at the Division I level, that junior college was going to be his destination. But then came a late charge by Bowling Green, Santa Clara and San Jose State.
"All three were here (Wednesday night) at open gym," Kline said. "Santa Clara came to about three games this year that weren't his best, but they saw film on him. It seems everything happened in the last two weeks."
Mbanugo averaged 10 points and 10 rebounds last season as the Eagles went 15-11 overall and 5-7 in league play.
"It would have been nice to make NCS (North Coast Section) playoffs," Mbanugo said. "but overall it was a good year."
Both of Mbanugo's parents are from Nigeria, though they're now divorced. And while his mom has made a permanent residence in Fremont, his dad still lives in Nigeria.
As a kid, Mbanugo split time between Nigeria, where he lived with his aunt, and Fremont. His first trip to Fremont came when he was just a week old. Then in 2000, his permanent home became Fremont, where he lives with his mom.
Mbanugo downplays the route to Fremont, which now leads to endless possibilities at Santa Clara.
"It wasn't difficult,," Mbanugo said of the transition. "Where I used to live it was nearly the same. I mean the they're not up to speed technology-wise, but we're about the same."
Mbanugo isn't sure if he'll redshirt next year.
"It's still up in the air right now," Mbanugo said.
JCard thought:
This more understandable than Parham...Rivals.com decribes Mbanugo as a compelling combination of "size and athleticism", and while raw he has 4-5 years of upside. With Parham in the fold, I suspect that a redshirt year is a almost assured. From the article he progressed a lot at American; I'm betting we see a quantam improvement in Mr. Mbanugo during his SCU tenure as well. FOr the long haul i like this pick up; This also means we dance with "what brung us" for next year along with Messers. Henke, Parham and Angley.
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Re: Okey Mbanugo is a Bronco... -- gobroncs, 20:06:25 05/02/04 Sun
Seems like a decent recruit. He may be a project but any kid who averages 10 boards in 32 minute HS games clearly has some immediate value.
In retrospect, a recruiting class is evaluated on how the best 1-2 kids turn out, not the average of 4-5 guys. Since Henke seems to be a legit star in the making and Angley good too, this could turn out to be a decent class.
As for next season, it's difficult to see any substantial improvement from this year. I doubt any of these kids will be a major impact next year. Our depth chart looks like:
PG: Bailey (how we do next year depends most on how Bailey, who plays the most important position does ... hopefully better than his bad stretchs of last year and I pray he learns to stop shooting so darn much.) Angley seems likely to get 5-10 minutes as his back up and start the next year.
Wing: Perkins, Rohe, Rohde, Dougherty. I like this group a lot. Perkins is great, and a healthier Rohe can be dangerous. Rohde is solid and Dougherty is a sleeper.
Bigs: Nieson, Denison, Legge, Borchardt, Tibbets, Parham. Nice depth here and we'll need it. The key is for someone bigger that Nieson to develop as a go-to guy. That means Denison or maybe Borchardt, who always looks like a player to me.
I'm not sure where Henke fits in as I forget how tall he is. Overall we should be fine but not great ... a very typical Santa Clara team.
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Next year -- JCard, 23:03:02 05/02/04 Sun
Can't disagree with your analysis much. Henke is 6'6"-6'7" and played 2, 3, and 4 in high school. Again everything is based on reports since I haven't seen him, but I think, like Neisen, he'll be starting by his sophomore year, if not before.
I agree that KB will be the cornerstone of any Bronco success; if he can distribute, cut down the TOs, and be consistent (none of this 30 points followed by 3 for 12 shooting nights), I think he'll be ok. Angley was dominant his sophomore and jr. years in high school; he'll need to be at a higher level at D1 where everyone is going to be be bigger and quicker than the NCS. from what I've read, he'll make the transistion by sheer strengh of will and effort.Rohe's back was apparently a mess last season , which hopefully explained his regression-- I think he'll be solid if healthy. Although KB's success at point is essential, Perkins will be the man next year, the "go to" guy SCU's lacked since BJ.
As to the bigs, Denison will need to win a second straight most improved player award and Niesen has to develop a consistent right hand. Growing a couple inches would be great too. I agree about Borchart looking like a player. He was highly thought of out of high school. Injuries to his feet and shoulders have taken a toll. A CIF ref friend thought he was a likely 3 and a steal when he left Chaminade. That was 20 pounds and a number of surgeries ago. If he couid become healthy and regain his mobility he could be an asset. He has a very good mid range game and moves well without the ball (when he can move).Tibbets showed promise at the end of the season, which hopefuly continues next year.(Of course, I remember thinking the same thing about Von Buchwalt in a WCC tournament game v. USF. That improvement didn't happen). Maybe Parham will contribute in defending big, athletic 4s that have victimized SCU for years and Mbanugo's contributions are likely a season down the road.There are a lot of "hopefullys" and "ifs" here.
I think that given Perkins, Niesen and Denison now have established roles and Perkins was a better player at season's end will lead to a few more wins than last season.As I've opined earlier 18 seems attainable. It'll be fun to talk about.
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Re: Okey Mbanugo is a Bronco... -- 
Bronco66, 07:02:30 05/03/04 Mon
thanks for digging it out ....
here's a bit more I found ...
April 28, 2004
Sleeper Big Man Will Sign with WCC School
----------------------------------------------------
Lorenzo Harris
RivalsHoops.com
When it comes to the recruiting game, the combination of size and athleticism makes a compelling prospect. Such is the case with Okey Mbanugo from American High School in Fremont (Calif.). The 6-foot-9 post managed to slip under the radar and now says he will stay close to home and sign with a West Coast Conference school.
nice to know that while our friends in Spokane were talking/joking about a big Nigerian the Broncos found one..
Congratulations to Mr. Mbanugo on the prospects of a fine D1 education both off and on the court. In my years at SCU we had a very impressive Nigerian ... not a basketball player but a truly fine individual ... who almost missed graduation because he had to go back home and get his wife and child out before one of the civil wars there caught up with them ... Louis was (I believe he passed away far too early a few years ago)a wonderful human being and the type of graduate SCU has always been proud about ... I wish the same for Okey ... also nice to know we will continue to have "local" talent on the team ...
Last edited by author: Mon May 03, 2004 07:15:12
Edited 3 times.
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Re: Okey Mbanugo is a Bronco...SCU website link -- JCard, 20:20:13 05/04/04 Tue
http://santaclarabroncos.collegesports.c à%× Á http://santaclarabroncos.collegesports.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/050404aaa.html
