Former Kentucky center commits to Kansas State
Ugonna Onyenso will play for Jerome Tang and Kansas State next season.
After withdrawing from the NBA Draft, former Kentucky center Ugonna Onyenso announced his commitment to head coach Jerome Tang and Kansas State out of the transfer portal Tuesday.
Onyenso, a native of Nigeria, who appears to have since had a change of heart, signed with the Wildcats as a four-star prospect on Aug. 1, 2022, ranking as the 39th best player in the class of 2022 and America’s ninth-best center.
In his freshmen season with the Wildcats, he appeared in 16 games off the bench, where in an average of 6.9 minutes of action, he averaged 2.5 points per game, 2.6 rebounds, and 1.0 blocks while shooting 52.9 percent from the field. He did not appear in UK’s SEC Tournament loss to Vanderbilt or in either of the Cats’ NCAA Tournament games.
After briefly entering the transfer portal after his freshman season, Onyenso opted to return to Lexington for the 2023-24 campaign.
Ahead of the team’s four-game trip to Toronto for Globl Jam, Onyenso suffered a fractured foot, which wound up forcing him to miss Kentucky’s first eight regular season contests.
He returned on Dec. 16 to help Kentucky beat UNC in the CBS Sports Classic. After a six-point, four-rebound, and three-block performance at Arkansas on Jan. 27, he was moved into the starting center spot for the remainder of the season.
In his first career start, Onyenso posted career-highs with 13 points and 16 rebounds while also blocking eight shots in an overtime loss to Florida. Two weeks later, he set a Rupp Arena Wildcat record with 10 blocks in a win over Ole Miss.
Onyenso finished the season averaging 3.6 points per game with 4.8 rebounds and 2.8 blocks while shooting 55.0 percent from the field. His 66 blocks on the season rank 24th in UK single-season history, while his 82 blocks as a Wildcat rank 27th in program history.
He is the transfer portal’s 177th ranked player and 29th best center.
With Onyenso now committed, all seven 2023-24 Wildcats to enter the transfer portal this offseason have found new homes.
