Jerome Tang and the Kansas State Wildcats made a big splash in the transfer portal on Tuesday, adding Kentucky transfer center Ugonna Onyenso.
Onyenso, a 7-foot, 247-pound center from Nigeria, withdrew his name from the NBA Draft process prior to the deadline and became a hot commodity in the transfer portal.
The sophomore big man played just 18.4 minutes per game in his second season of college basketball but quickly emerged as one of the top shot blockers in the nation. Last season at Kentucky, Onyenso posted 3.6 points and 4.8 rebounds per game while sending back 2.8 blocks per game, which would have placed inside of the top five had the Nigeria native met the minimum minutes requirement.
Coming out of Putnam Science Academy in the Class of 2022, Onyenso was listed as a four-star prospect by the 247Sports index and the nation’s 36th-ranked prospect. He also checked in as the ninth-ranked player at his position and the top-ranked player in the state of Connecticut.
With his commitment, Onyenso became the Wildcats’ seventh addition through the transfer portal this offseason, joining Michigan’s Dug McDaniel, Samford’s Achor Achor, Arkansas’ Baye Fall, Villanova’s Brendan Hausen, UIC’s CJ Jones, and Cal State Fullerton’s Max Jones.
While the Wildcats may not have had the season they envisioned in Jerome Tang’s second year with the program, with the addition of Ugonna Onyenso and the nation’s 22nd-ranked transfer portal class, Kansas State is doing everything they can to field a championship roster in 2024-25.
