All-star center Joel Embiid made an appearance at the Davis Center on Thursday, and Nico Onyekwere shared it on his Instagram. As you can see in the photo, Onyekwere is all of his listed 7’1” height.
Onyekwere is from Nigeria, so it would make sense that he holds an even higher regard for Embiid,
who is from Cameroon. Nigeria is just a short 1.5-hour flight from Cameroon. Embiid, while a polarizing figure to some, can certainly impart many insights to the redshirt freshman as he tries to become part of the rotation this upcoming season.
Potentially lost in all of this is that former Rutgers center Emmanuel Ogbole was also on campus.
Ogbole is currently in the transfer portal and seeking a fifth season. The 6’10” big man, who also is from Nigeria, started 30 of 34 games a year ago for the Scarlet Knights, averaging 4.7 points, 6 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game. If Villanova is unsuccessful in bringing back Duke Brennan, Ogbole could be a nice consolation prize at this stage of the game. With his size and experience, he would be an ideal back-up for Luigi Suigo.
At worst, Onyekwere got to spend time with an NBA star who plays the same position as he does. At best, perhaps the Wildcats had a future rotation player on campus. With all of the uncertainty regarding eligibility right now, it will be interesting to see how this all plays out.
