Who’s the surprise player on this Kentucky basketball team? It’s not even close.
Going solely by preseason expectations, there can’t be much debate over who the surprise player on Kentucky’s team has been through a couple of exhibition games and Monday’s opener.
Ugonna Onyenso didn’t come to the United States until January, didn’t arrive on campus until late August, didn’t turn 18 years old until late September, and wasn’t even supposed to be a contributor for the Wildcats until later in his college basketball career.
So much for that.
“Ugonna, I mean, come on. Kid walks in and just starts blocking balls.”
That was John Calipari after the Wildcats’ season opener, 95-63 victory over Howard University on Monday night. With reigning national player of the year Oscar Tshiebwe sidelined, junior big man Lance Ware started in his place. And Onyenso — a 6-foot-11 freshman from Nigeria — once again provided the defensive highlights, blocking four shots in 20 minutes.
It’s safe to say that no one — inside or outside of Kentucky’s program, Calipari included — expected Onyenso to make such an immediate impact for the Wildcats. When he committed to UK in early August, it was seen largely as an addition for Kentucky’s future.
With Tshiebwe back, Onyenso was viewed more as a talented practice player than a real contributor for the 2022-23 Wildcats. There was even speculation that he might redshirt this season.
Tshiebwe’s absence, however, gave Onyenso more time on the court. He’s made good use of it.
Onyenso tallied five blocks in the first half of UK’s exhibition opener against Missouri Western State. Three days later against Kentucky State, he grabbed 11 rebounds (and blocked four more shots) in 18 minutes of playing time. Then came Monday night, when Onyenso checked in right after the first TV timeout of the game and blocked his first shot 40 seconds later.
“Obviously, he’s going to make mistakes. The speed of the game might be a lot different for him. And just the style of play is different for him,” Ware said after the KSU game. “But the fact that he’s doing the stuff that got him here — some people they change up. If they’re a shot blocker, ‘Oh, I’m in college now, I need to score.’ No. He’s still doing the stuff that got him here.”
Ugonna vs. Oscar
The mutually beneficial battles between Tshiebwe and Onyenso in Kentucky’s preseason practices have been talked about before. Onyenso — 6-11 with a 7-4 wingspan — offers the reigning national player of the year a unique look. Tshiebwe — listed at 260 pounds with a motor that never turns off — offers the freshman a physical challenge.
And while Tshiebwe often gets the better of his younger teammate, the matchup has apparently offered some humbling moments for college basketball’s top player.
Ware said, at the beginning, Tshiebwe would try a jump hook on Onyenso, who would block that shot right into the wall of UK’s practice gym.
At the team’s media day a couple of weeks ago, Tshiebwe talked about the frustrations of going up against guys like Onyenso, Daimion Collins and Jacob Toppin in the preseason.
“I got blocked a couple of times, and I get pissed off in the practice,” he said. “Why they keep blocking me? But the good thing about me — I study a lot. I’ll go watch film. ‘Oh, this is what I’m doing wrong, and he’s blocking me.’ I’m getting better. We’re going to meet a lot of people at the rim, because we’ve got so many people who jump and do crazy things.”
No one on this team can do it quite like Onyenso, and it’s brought out the fire in Tshiebwe.
“It is challenging,” Tshiebwe said. “He block me, and I say, ‘Man, you’re going against a machine, man.’”
So what does Tshiebwe do from there? He runs Onyenso up and down the court, tries to tire out the near-7-footer who was still working on his conditioning when he came to Kentucky.
Tshiebwe chuckles as he reflects on the back and forth.
“And he’ll be on the side, ‘Bro, can you stop running a little bit?’ I say, ‘No, you gotta get better. Because in a game, you’re gonna need to run. You’re not gonna tell somebody you’re going against, stop running. So let’s go. I came here to make you better.’”
And that sparks the fire in Onyenso.
“So then I go up and try to shoot,” Tshiebwe continues. “He blocks me. And I tell him, ‘Bro, can you not jump?’”
That gets a big laugh.
“We challenge each other. And we’re getting better,” Tshiebwe finishes. “Right now, he came to me and he said, ‘Oscar, I’m resting when you are hurt. Because you always make me run too much.’ So we are good. We are blessed. We’re making each other better. That’s what I love about this place.”
Onyenso is soaking up the knowledge from the veteran bigs around him. Calipari said he had Tshiebwe on the bench with the freshman during the Howard game, coaching him up on what to do when he got on the floor. UK assistant coach Orlando Antigua said Ware and Toppin have taken Onyenso under their wing, acting as mentors inside and outside of practice. Antigua added he’s spent quite a bit of one-on-one time himself with the big man.
Antigua was instrumental in Onyenso’s recruitment to Kentucky, and it sounds like the Cats ended up with a player who’s even better than they realized.
“Really, really intelligent,” Antigua said. “Runs the floor really hard, and, obviously, at 7-foot, he’s got great timing defensively, in terms of going and blocking shots. He’s still a puppy. He’s learning a lot. He’s learning on the fly. …
“His IQ and his feel has been something that — obviously, you can’t tell when you’re recruiting a kid until you actually start working with them. He’s picking up concepts really, really quickly, and that’s impressive.”
What’s next for Onyenso?
The Kentucky freshman last spoke to reporters a few days after his five-block performance against Missouri Western State. Onyenso said then that he wasn’t surprised by that showing, though he was in awe of playing in Rupp Arena for the first time.
“I haven’t played in an environment like that,” he said. “So I was a little bit nervous when I first stepped on the floor. But I said to myself, ‘If you do what you know how to do best — you’ll be fine.’
“Everything about Kentucky’s a big stage for me. Playing (in front of) that much crowd, I’m going to be nervous whenever I step onto the floor. I just have to calm myself down and tell myself, ‘You’ve been doing this for a very long time, so you don’t have a reason to be nervous.’”
When it was noted that Rupp wasn’t anywhere close to capacity — half full, at best — for that exhibition, Onyenso laughed. What will those feelings be when the place is packed?
“We’ll see. We’ll see,” he said, still smiling.
When Tshiebwe returns from injury, Onyenso’s usage will surely go down. There will be a limited amount of minutes in the frontcourt once this team is fully healthy. And the freshman has plenty to work on, namely his offensive game, which has provided flashes of potential but — on the whole — needs ample improvement. Onyenso is the first to acknowledge that.
“He’s got the tools,” Antigua said. “It’s just understanding how to utilize them. And getting stronger and getting more confident. And finding the timing and the spacing to be able to utilize those abilities.”
Tshiebwe being out has given Kentucky’s coaches a better look at what Onyenso can bring in the present, however. And it’s clear they like what they’re seeing. Calipari scanned the box score after Monday’s game.
“He had four blocks,” the UK coach said. “That’s big. Changes the game.”
Onyenso isn’t sure what’s in store when Tshiebwe is back in the lineup. Ware will need minutes, too. Toppin and Collins could play the “5” spot in certain situations. But no one on this team can do exactly what Onyenso does. And everyone seems to know it.
“When I get an opportunity to play, I just do what I do best.”
Next game
Duquesne at No. 4 Kentucky
When: 7 p.m. Friday
TV: SEC Network
Radio: WLAP-AM 630, WBUL-FM 98.1
Records: Duquesne 0-0, UK 1-0
Series: UK leads 2-0
Last meeting: UK won 93-59 on Nov. 20, 2016, in Lexington
