Ugonna Onyenso, Kentucky basketball forward, hiring agent and entering 2024 NBA Draft
LEXINGTON — Ugonna Onyenso decided two years in college are enough. Onyenso, a sophomore forward at Kentucky, announced Monday he will enter the 2024 NBA Draft.
He revealed his decision to ESPN, telling the network he planned to hire an agent and cap his college career.
"I'm ready to go to the next level," Onyenso told ESPN NBA draft analyst, Jonathan Givony. "I'm not thinking about coming back to play college basketball. I'm 100% focused on the NBA."
There's no guarantee he'll be selected, though.
In recent mock drafts from five different outlets — USA TODAY, ESPN, Bleacher Report, The Ringer and NBAdraft.net — only one projected Onyenso will be taken in the 58-pick draft. ESPN predicted he'll go in the second round, with the 45th overall pick, to the Los Angeles Clippers.
After missing UK's trip to Toronto for the GLOBL JAM tournament, as well as both preseason exhibitions and the first nine regular-season games in 2023-24 because of a foot injury, Onyenso saw his first action Dec. 16 against North Carolina at the CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta, playing 10 minutes and notching three blocks off the bench. After continuing to work his way into form, Onyenso made his first start of the season versus Florida on Jan. 31. Though the Wildcats lost in overtime to the Gators, Onyenso had the best showing of his career to that point, setting career highs in points (13) and blocks (eight).
He was even better against Ole Miss in February, tying a Rupp Arena record — set by Hall of Famer David Robinson in 1987 — with 10 blocks.
During the 2023-24 campaign, Onyenso appeared in 24 contests, making 14 starts for former coach John Calipari and the Wildcats.
He finished the season averaging 3.6 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.8 blocks in 18.7 minutes per game. Among UK players with at least 30 blocks in a season, Onyenso's blocks-per-game average (2.80) is the fifth-best mark in program history, trailing Anthony Davis (4.65 in 2011-12), Nerlens Noel (4.42 in 2012-13), Willie Cauley-Stein (2.86 in 2013-14) and Sam Bowie (2.86 in 1980-81).
As a freshman in 2022-23, Onyenso appeared in 16 games, averaging 6.9 minutes an outing. He averaged one block per game.
Per Sports-Reference.com, Onyenso's block percentage — a measure estimating the percentage of an opponent's two-point field-goal attempts blocked by a player while on the floor — of 15.9 in 2022-23 would have been the ninth-best season by a Division I player since the statistic started being tracked in 2009-10 had he played enough to qualify.
Onyenso committed to the Wildcats in August 2022. He initially was in the 2023 class but reclassified and enrolled early as part of Kentucky's 2022 recruiting haul. Onyenso was rated a four-star prospect by Rivals, 247Sports and ESPN, but On3 gave him five stars. Per the 247Sports Composite, Onyenso was a four-star prospect, ranked as the No. 36 overall player in the 2022 cycle and the country's No. 9 center.
Reach Kentucky men’s basketball and football reporter Ryan Black at rblack@gannett.com and follow him on X at @RyanABlack.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky basketball forward Ugonna Onyenso to enter NBA draft 2024
