Ochai Agbaji


Ochai Young Agbaji is an American college basketball player for the Kansas Jayhawks of the Big 12 Conference.

High school career

Agbaji was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He grew up playing soccer, upon his father's encouragement, and played club soccer and Amateur Athletic Union basketball from a young age. Agbaji stopped playing soccer as a sophomore at Oak Park High School in Kansas City, Missouri. He grew nine inches between his freshman and junior years. In his basketball career at Oak Park, Agbaji did not receive offers from any Power Five college programs until his senior season. As a senior, he averaged 27.6 points and 8.6 rebounds per game for Oak Park and was named Kansas City Star All-Metro player of the year. Agbaji was considered a three-star recruit by 247Sports and Rivals. On February 8, 2018, he committed to play college basketball for Kansas over offers from Texas A&M and Wisconsin.

College career

Agbaji started his freshman season with Kansas as a redshirt and was a member of the scout team. In early January 2019, his redshirt was lifted because Kansas needed depth after Udoka Azubuike suffered a season-ending injury and Silvio De Sousa faced eligibility issues. On January 29, Agbaji made his first career start and scored 24 points, seven rebounds, and two steals in a loss to Texas. In his next game, he recorded his first double-double in a win over Texas Tech. Agbaji was named Big 12 Conference Newcomer of the Week for the two performances. Agbaji averaged 8.5 points and 4.6 rebounds per game in 22 games including 16 starts as a freshman.
On November 5, 2019, Agbaji made his sophomore season debut and scored 15 points in a loss to fourth-ranked Duke at the Champions Classic. He was named Honorable Mention All-Big 12. As a sophomore, Agbaji averaged 10 points and 4.2 rebounds per game and finished second on the team with 46 three-pointers.

Career statistics

College

Personal life

Agbaji's father, Olofu, is from Nigeria and is a city planner in Kansas City, Missouri. His mother, Erica, is from Wisconsin and is a kindergarten teacher in Kansas City. Both of Agbaji's parents played basketball at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. His older sister, Orie, plays volleyball for Texas.