Age

21.8

Height

6'10"

Weight

225

Workload

MIN%

52.2

USG%

19.5

TS%

58.4

Per 70 Possession Stats

PTS

16.0

REB

11.5

AST

1.2

STL

1.8

BLK

3.6

TOV

2.0

Efficiency

RIM FG%

74.5

MID FG%

36.4

3PT FG%

23.1

FT%

78.9

Efe Abogidi

Big G League Ignite

Rim running big with a growing jumper and elite rim protection.

Age

21.8

Height

6'10"

Weight

225

Per 70 Possession Stats

PTS

16.0

REB

11.5

AST

1.2

STL

1.8

BLK

3.6

Positions Defended

Offensive Role

 

Defensive Role

   

Meet Efe Abogidi.

Efe Abogidi out of Delta State, Nigeria is G League Ignite’s 2nd prospect from their African global academies. Abogidi played his last two seasons for the Washington State Cougars. While there, he made Pac-12 All-Freshman and led the Cougars to an NIT Final Four. After going through the draft process last season, Efe decided to delay entering the draft one more year. However, he decided to forego his remaining NCAA eligibility, opting to sign for G League Ignite. The 6’10” mobile big man brings on a versatile skillset for a rim runner, and provides team Ignite with a defensive anchor in the paint. His shot-blocking prowess may be one of the best in this class. He will look to showcase it against the many skilled big men in the G League.

Offense

Some of the most important things a big man can do on the offensive end are set screens, rim run and crash the offensive boards. Efe excels at these attributes, and also has some fun folds in his offensive game. Efe is a strong screen setter, and moves quickly and with intent towards the rim in the PnR. Alongside Scoot Henderson, Efe will be getting plenty of opportunities to show his strength as a lob threat in the PnR, and his ability to impact the game with his screen setting.

Efe’s soft touch makes him a great post threat. He showed this off with a few post fadeaways and hook shots early in the GLI season. Efe also has shown to be able to hit the midrange jumper, which he’s become more accustomed to with GLI. Last season at WSU, Abogidi shot 36.4% on 77 attempts, showing that he is at least capable of hitting the shot and a willing shooter. His 79% free throw percentage bodes well for hopes that Efe will be able to develop this shot, and maybe even a 3 pointer, to make him a more versatile player than your average rim runner.

Defense

Abogidi is a premier shot blocker, however sometimes to his detriment. An issue with many great shot blockers is they tend to assume that they’ll be able to block any shot. This sometimes leads to allowing a player to get past you in order to get a better angle on the block, rather than getting the best contest on a shot. Some players that exhibit this often are Myles Turner and Walker Kessler. While this can be effective in the stat sheets, it occasionally leads to blow-bys and open looks at the rim. Abogidi falls into this style of defense more often than not. However unlike Turner and Kessler, Abogidi is much more mobile. His 7’4″ wingspan and ability to get into a low wide stance make him switchable onto wings or larger guards. His quick foot speed helps him recover when he does get beat. Abogidi averaged 3.6 blocks per 70 possessions last season at WSU.

Efe excels by not sagging too close to the rim and using his long wing span to contest any pull up jumpers in drop coverage. Showing high could also attribute to the block chasing, but Abogidi is athletic enough to recover when beat off the dribble. This leads to many emphatic blocks. While not the perfect defender, it’s hard to ignore Abogidi’s impact around the rim, and the presence he imposes defensively.

Conclusion

There’s no better player for a center than an elite point guard, and playing next to Scoot Henderson will open many opportunities for Efe Abogidi. The Scoot and Efe pick and roll has already been unleashed in the G League, and will be a go-to for team Ignite. With consistency in his jumper and adequately anchoring the Ignite defense, Abogidi could prove to be one of the better big men in this year’s class.

Related Players

Related Articles

aj-early-season-scouting-notes
December 17, 2024
With college basketball well underway we now have enough of a sample size to have real takeaways from the early portion of the season. There’s still a lot of basketball…
johann-grunloh
October 22, 2024
Last season, NBA scouts regularly made their way to the small town of Vechta, Lower Saxony, to observe the young, big man. Johann Grünloh, still a student at the time…
meet-landyn-colyer
October 3, 2024
Getting to know Landyn Colyer (SFA’s 6’6″ 4-Star Wing) and his Head Coach, Jaleel Sanders + Scouting Jalen Reece, Jamier Jones, Zay Mosley, Traevon Koch, and Landyn in Fall Ball…
prospect-focus-zvonimir-ivisic
September 18, 2024
Zvonimir Ivisic is a skilled seven-footer following John Calipari from Kentucky to Arkansas. The Croatian big lit up Georgia in the first minutes of his season back in January, pouring…
prospect-focus-johni-broome
September 9, 2024
Broome 6’10 C at Auburn Broome is one of the top returning draft prospects coming into the 2024-25 college season. But there is a reason Broome is back at Auburn…
June 24, 2024
One of the more polarising prospects in the 2024 NBA Draft comes via Mega Basket in Serbia. Nikola Djurisic is a 20-year-old small forward who is seen by some as…