Ochai Agbaji

BIOGRAPHY

Ochai Agbaji was born April 20, 2000 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He is a shooting guard in the NBA.

Agbaji started his freshman season at the University of 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, scoring 24 points, bringing in seven rebounds, and stealing the ball twice 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 scoring 15 points in a loss to fourth-ranked Duke at the Champions Classic. During the aforementioned sophomore season, Agbaji 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. He averaged 14.1 points per game as a junior, shooting 42 percent from the field. On April 8, 2021, he declared for the 2021 NBA draft while maintaining his college eligibility.

Agbaji made his senior season debut on November 9, 2021, recording 29 points in an 87–74 win against Michigan State at the Champions Classic. On January 24, 2022, he scored a career-high 37 points in a 94–91 double overtime win over Texas Tech. At the close of the season, Agbaji was voted the Big 12 Player of the Year and was named a consensus first-team All-American. Kansas won the 2022 NCAA Tournament, and he scored 12 points in the championship game and was named the tournament MOP. On April 24, Agbaji declared for the 2022 NBA draft.

On June 2022, Agbaji was selected with the 14th overall pick in the NBA draft by Cleveland Cavaliers. He was traded on September 1 to the Utah Jazz in a package for Donovan Mitchell.