Kansas Player Preview: Udoka Azubuike

After a surprising commitment to Kansas, freshman center Udoka Azubuike has drawn rave reviews at summer scrimmages and fall practice. What should Kansas fans expect from the big man?

KU basketball fans should be very excited to have Udoka Azubuike in the program. Not only does he have tremendous size at 7’ and around 275 pounds, he is an extraordinary athlete and very young for his class. Azubuike just turned 17 in September, and will not be draft eligible until the 2018 draft. After he signed his letter of intent with the Jayhawks, head coach Bill Self did not hold back in his praise for the talented center, “We feel Udoka is as good as a big-man prospect as there is in the country. He’s got size, strength, explosiveness and is so young. Being only 16 years old, his best ball is well ahead of him. One fortunate thing about Udoka’s age is we know he has to be in school for at least two years due to the NBA minimum age requirements. We see him as an impact guy right off the bat with a high ceiling.”

I am in full agreement with Self’s assessment. At the Bill Self Basketball Camp scrimmages, I had the opportunity to watch Azubuike play in a semi-structured environment against current and former Kansas players. In those games, Udoka showed very good feet and athleticism. He even showed better post moves than I had seen before. However, he was not good on defense, though in a scrimmage nobody was. He was half or full step slow to every position, and was constantly beat by wily veteran Landen Lucas. Based on his length (7’5” wingspan) and soft hands, he should be a good rebounder on both ends. He has continued to impress at camp, taking very well to strength and conditioning coach Andrea Hudy’s program, and rapidly progressing in the skill department.

When actual games start, I have modest expectations for the big man. Thankfully for Kansas fans, Landen Lucas will likely play the vast majority of minutes (25-28 per game) at the five spot. How much Azubuike plays, as opposed to junior Dwight Coleby or freshman Mitch Lightfoot, depends on how he defends and his propensity to foul. From his high school and AAU days, Udoka was very foul-prone because of his size and lack of basketball IQ on defense. I expect some of the same struggles in his freshman campaign. He is also a terrible free throw shooter, shooting 41% over his high school career. Based on that, I don’t expect more than 10-15 minutes per game for the talented big man, especially early on. On the high end, I can see Udoka scoring six points and pulling down four rebounds per game. On the low end, I can see a line of three points and three rebounds.

As talented Azubuike is, he will have some growing pains in adjusting to college basketball. Fans should keep their expectations in check. However, I think Udoka is the most talented center Kansas has had since Joel Embiid. Look for continuous improvement, and breakout games later in the season.