Udoka Azubuike was the youngest of five, with two older brothers and two older sisters. His father, Fabian, was a police officer, and his mother, Florence, was a middle school teacher. Azubuike lost his father to an undiagnosed disease at the age of 10. Nigerian-born, he caught the attention of recruiters with Basketball Without Borders and was offered a scholarship to play basketball in the United States despite not playing the game until he was 13. He is not related to Kelenna Azubuike, who played parts of four seasons for the Golden State Warriors and is currently the color analyst for their television broadcasts.
In his freshman season he started in six of the 11 games he played in before tearing ligaments in his left wrist, which ended his season. Before the injury, he averaged 5.0 points, 4.4 rebounds, 1.6 blocks, and 62.9% field goal percentage.
Sophomore year
For the 2017–2018 season, Kansas' coach Bill Self recruited Kansas football player James Sosinski to defend Azubuike during practice. Udoka started every game of the regular season but missed the Big 12 tournament after spraining his left MCL. He returned for the NCAA tournament until KU's loss to eventual champion Villanova in the Final Four. He averaged 13.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, 1.7 blocks, and led the nation with a 77% field goal percentage for the season. His field goal percentage broke the single-season record for Kansas and the Big 12 Conference. This high percentage was in part due to the majority of his field goals being slam dunks, which typically have a higher completion percentage than jump shots or layups. He had more dunks than any other college player going back to the 2009–2010 season. He was awarded All-Big 12 third team by the conference's coaches and second team by the AP. On 20 April 2018, Azubuike announced his intention to the 2018 NBA Draft. He did not initially hire an agent, which would allow him to return before the combine. Azubuike was one of a record-high 69 prospects invited to the NBA Draft Combine that year. On May 17, he measured out to be a near 7' tall center weighing in at 274 pounds and holding the second-longest wingspan at 7'7", behind only Mohamed Bamba. On 30 May 2018, he announced his intent to withdraw from the draft and return to Kansas for his junior season.
Junior year
Azubuike was selected as an honorable mention to the 2018–2019 All-Big 12 preseason team. On 4 December 2018, he severely sprained his right ankle against Wofford and missed the following four games. On 5 January 2019, Azubuike injured his wrist during practice. An MRI revealed he tore a ligament in his right hand. He underwent season-ending surgery on January 9, 2019. Kansas won all nine games Azubuike played including against top ten teams Tennessee and Michigan State. He finished the season averaging 13.4 points and 6.8 rebounds. On 22 April 2019, Azubuike announced he would return to Kansas for his senior season. According to KU coach Bill Self, “We’re all very excited about Udoka making the decision not to enter the draft.” "Unfortunately for him, injury is the reason as he still cannot participate what would be the NBA combine or workouts for the NBA teams."
Senior year
Azubuike scored a career-high 29 points in a 90–84 overtime win over Dayton on 27 November 2019. On 22 February 2020, Azubuike scored 23 points and had a career-high 19 rebounds in a 64–61 win over top-ranked Baylor. At the conclusion of the regular season, Azubuike was named the Big 12 Player of the Year. Azubuike averaged 13.7 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 2.6 blocks per game as a senior. Azubuike's career field goal percentage of 74.9% is the highest in NCAA history.
