In a change of plans, Ugonna Onyenso will be back with Kentucky basketball next season
.JPG "Ugonna Onyenso tallied 16 blocked shots in just 110 minutes on the court during the 2022-23 season.")
A few weeks before his name showed up in the college basketball transfer portal, Kentucky freshman Ugonna Onyenso made it clear that he wanted to spend next season with the Wildcats.
And now he’ll be back in Lexington, after all.
Onyenso — a 6-foot-11 center from Nigeria — is out of the portal and will return to UK for the 2023-24 season. He played only 110 minutes over 16 games during his freshman year, averaging 2.5 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.0 blocked shots and showing flashes of considerable potential after arriving on Kentucky’s campus late in the summer.
Toward the end of the 2022-23 season, UK Coach John Calipari teased a possible breakout sophomore year for Onyenso, who was just 17 years old when he joined the Wildcats’ program last August and missed much of the team’s preseason workouts — including the summer exhibition trip to the Bahamas — due to his late arrival.
“At the end of the day, my guess is he’ll be — if not the best — one of the best big guys in the country next year,” Calipari said last month.
Onyenso told the Herald-Leader at the NCAA Tournament that he understood his lack of playing time as a freshman — he played in just one game over the final eight weeks of the season — and enjoyed his first year with the Cats anyway, feeling he’d gained a great introduction to college basketball and had learned a lot practicing against reigning national player of the year Oscar Tshiebwe and other UK frontcourt players.
“It’s like a dream come true. I’ve been wanting to play for Kentucky,” he said in an interview with the Herald-Leader the day after UK’s victory over Providence. “And I know I’m not really playing now, but I’m waiting for my time. I understand that I’ve got seniors in front of me. I understand giving them the time to play. At the end of the day, I know that I’m a freshman, and I have to wait for my time to come.”
Onyenso also declared in that interview that he would definitely be back at Kentucky next season. Calipari was also on the record saying he saw a bright future for Onyenso at UK beginning with a much bigger role for the 2023-24 season.
But there was buzz elsewhere in college basketball that some in the teenager’s circle were already advising him to enter the transfer portal and explore options outside of Kentucky. Sure enough, Onyenso’s name popped up in the transfer portal last week, though it was notable that neither the player nor Calipari made any public comment or acknowledgment that he planned to transfer.
Behind the scenes, it was clear that Onyenso still wanted to return to Lexington and Calipari still hoped to have him for next season’s roster. And that’s what is going to happen.
“I’m back and looking forward to chasing my dream of winning a national championship with my brothers! Go Cats!” Onyenso said in announcing his intention to return to Kentucky on Wednesday night.
Onyenso will join incoming recruit Aaron Bradshaw — a 7-footer from Camden, N.J. — in the Wildcats’ frontcourt, which still has a few question marks as offseason roster moves continue.
Tshiebwe has declared for the NBA Draft, but he’s keeping his option to return to college basketball open and is not widely projected as a pick this year. Junior power forward Lance Ware is expected to return for a fourth season at Kentucky, and sophomore forward Daimion Collins — a former McDonald’s All-American — has still not made a decision on his future, though he could enter the transfer portal.
The deadline to enter the portal is May 11, while the deadline for players like Tshiebwe to remove their name from the NBA Draft and retain NCAA eligibility is May 31.
With Onyenso and Bradshaw, the Cats could have a formidable — if unproven — frontcourt tandem for the 2023-24 campaign. Onyenso is viewed as a potentially elite shot-blocker and has continued to work on his offensive game, including extending his jump shot further into the mid-range. Bradshaw is the No. 2 overall recruit in the 2023 class, according to 247Sports, and he has the reputation as a versatile offensive player with the potential to be a top-notch defender.
UK’s coaches, including Calipari, have talked about the possibility of playing both players at the same time next season.
