Joy Ighovodja 6'4 G 2023 Nigeria a Shocker!

[Atxshoxfan]

Just watched a full game of Ighovadja :

Full games from the NBA Academy Africa tourny last summer are here if your interested :

Joy was on team NBA Academy Africa - blue

https://games.nbaacademy.nba.com/fed...26539/schedule

After seeing a little of this, I'm a bit discouraged. But I still feel the coaches see or know more than I.

Oops. Maybe not discouraged. I was watching the wrong kid. I'll try again tomorrow.

[Aargh]

After seeing a little of this, I'm a bit discouraged. But I still feel the coaches see or know more than I.

Oops. Maybe not discouraged. I was watching the wrong kid. I'll try again tomorrow.

You're not going to see much. Joy mentioned that he learned a lot practicing with the Nigerian pros, but he didn't get many minutes.

[SubGod22]

You're not going to see much. Joy mentioned that he learned a lot practicing with the Nigerian pros, but he didn't get many minutes.

The videos posted above are from the global NBA programs and games were in Atlanta. Those are not videos of him playing in the Basketball Africa League with pros. The NBA Academy stuff is what got him placed on those pro teams.

I haven't watched yet, but if he wasn't overly impressive in these games then he's probably more of a project than we had hoped. Maybe it pays off in a year or two. Maybe he makes huge strides over the summer or whenever he gets here. But it sounds like the film on him from this week long event isn't overly encouraging outside of the raw athleticism.

Also, he hasn't necessarily played with Nigerian pros. He played one year for a team in Rwanda and this last year with a team in Senegal. There might have been some other Nigerians on either team, but it's Africans from all over. Just a point of clarification.

[Stickboy46]

The negativity is getting a little tiresome. It's fine to point out that you disagree with the way recruiting is going. But going on and on and on is something completely different. It's like you're trying to convince SN that Saal made a bad hire. That doesn't seem like something constructive to the discussion.

IT DOESN'T MATTER if Saal made a bad hire, and some of the opinions out here REALLY don't matter. The hard cold facts are that Mills is our coach and we have to assume he's not intentionally doing bad recruiting. Mills is WSU's coach, and until he shows on the court that he's in over his head I'm going to support him.

Ron Baker and Austin Reaves were lightly recruited guys. Lightly recruited doesn't mean diddly squat when it's players who weren't seen by everybody on the AAU circuit. VanVleet was lightly recruited until he committed to WSU. Early was lightly recruited.

Joy is almost certain to be a bench player because he's behind a lot of players with significant D1 experience. Bench players can be contributors, role players, minute eaters or mop-up only guys. There is room on rosters for young, mop-up guys. 13 "ready for the floor" guys is locker room poison. There have to be 4 or 5 deep bench guys who accept that role.

Cortes was a STUD HS guy playing behind a 5th year Sr. in the toughest conference in the nation. Beverly was coming off an injury last year when he came off the bench. Saying those guys aren't "starter level" because they came off the bench appears to be ignorance based on bias.

If anybody thinks we're going to be signing P5 starters out of the portal, I'd encourage you to become fans of another school. There are very few schools that can do that and WSU isn't one of them. WSU can sign lower level starters and higher level bench players., and that's been the recruiting pattern until Joy was signed. Joy may be an end-of-the bench player. We certainly don't know that yet. If he is, he's likely to be here a few more years and that has to be the goal in signing Freshmen.

If you don't want to hear others opinions.. Log off. It's a message board. The constant "you have to say something positive or say nothing at all" is even more tiring than people expressing their opinion.

No one thinks he's intentionally doing bad recruiting. That's just dumb. Some just aren't blown away by the recruiting results early on. Good thing for Mills is he has 4 scholarships and several months to fix that. Also, no one is not supporting him (well at least not me). I've mailed my SASO and season ticket renewal this week. You don't have to be a constant positive voice to support someone.

I'm not going to battle the rest of your post because we've already done this before. You think players that have spent multiple years on the bench in D1 are starters. I say they haven't been yet. They might end up starters by default... Doesn't mean they should or the team will be good if they do.

If you don't think we should be competing with p5s for high level transfers, I suggest you become a fan of another school. Maybe a nice Missouri valley school. Then you can properly "accept your place" at the kiddie table.

[LetsGoShockers2021]

If you don't want to hear others opinions.. Log off. It's a message board. The constant "you have to say something positive or say nothing at all" is even more tiring than people expressing their opinion.

No one thinks he's intentionally doing bad recruiting. That's just dumb. Some just aren't blown away by the recruiting results early on. Good thing for Mills is he has 4 scholarships and several months to fix that. Also, no one is not supporting him (well at least not me). I've mailed my SASO and season ticket renewal this week. You don't have to be a constant positive voice to support someone.

I'm not going to battle the rest of your post because we've already done this before. You think players that have spent multiple years on the bench in D1 are starters. I say they haven't been yet. They might end up starters by default... Doesn't mean they should or the team will be good if they do.

If you don't think we should be competing with p5s for high level transfers, I suggest you become a fan of another school. Maybe a nice Missouri valley school. Then you can properly "accept your place" at the kiddie table.

Stick, one shining light for me is Beverly. He started for 2 years for a power 5 powerhouse and logged near 30 mins a game starting his sophomore year. Now fully healthy, from the film I’ve studied my personal expectations of his stats should be similar to Council year 2. He’s that good SN shall soon see.

[LetsGoShockers2021]

You're not going to see much. Joy mentioned that he learned a lot practicing with the Nigerian pros, but he didn't get many minutes.

Take a watch AARGH. Plays about half the minutes in these games ; the one I watched dated the 7th he scored his most points of this tournament (14). He is number 12 and comes off the bench.

[Stickboy46]

Stick, one shining light for me is Beverly. He started for 2 years for a power 5 powerhouse and logged near 30 mins a game starting his sophomore year. Now fully healthy, from the film I’ve studied my personal expectations of his stats should be similar to Council year 2. He’s that good SN shall soon see.

I do agree Beverly has potential. My biggest complaint with him is his shooting numbers are pretty bad for his career. In 4 years he's a 39/22/63% shooter. His last year was definitely trending in the right direction. So I do think he could take that next step. Not sure I'm expecting the next RC4, but hopefully someone that can hold their own against the Memphis type teams on our schedule.

[Shockm]

I'd rather have a basketball project from a foreign country than America. Probably fewer people in his ear, and he cannot take NIL money so he's more likely to be loyal. We still have two American projects (Abidde and Ricks) who have yet borne "fruit", so we will wait on them.

[Bluzrover]

Usually when we sign a big strong athletic guy who is a project ; they end up as a bust for WSU. Can think of 3/4 past 10 yrs.

the fact he has only played basketball since the age of 14 is a major red flag for me. Players are so good in this conference ; you may not be ready til your final year if ever.

It’s not being negative it’s just truthful so I’ll go ahead and say it… Not happy about this signing.

You’re just mad you didn’t break the news…

[Kung Wu]

I watched the Thursday, July 07 game against Select Red.

Highlights
---
He is an excellent off-ball verbal and non-verbal communicator, especially on defense (calls marks very well).

He was quicker than most other players on the court, both in sprinting and lateral movement.

Very solid defender.

When he's dialed in, he can hit back-to-back-to-back threes.


Defense
---
Plays the 2/3 but defended the PG more often than not.

He is very defense minded.

He reads the play defensively extremely well.

He is on balance defensively and able to move laterally in anticipation quickly.

He has long arms and he uses them.

Recognizes when teammates have lost their mark or have been beat and helps.

- He needs to learn when to focus more on the immediate threat than his man.

- His spacing is solid, but he will need it to be a half step or full step tighter against D1 guards.


Offense
---
Played the 2/3.

Smooth stroke, and good rhythm when shooting.

Aggressive player in transition.

Gets open early and wide, recognizes when he is not open and moves.

Has really good vision for the pass, and executes the pass very well.

He's confident with the ball in his hands and on the dribble.

- Didn't get to see much inside game

- Not sure if he can take it to the hoop -- the game didn't lend itself to that

[LetsGoShockers2021]

You’re just mad you didn’t break the news…

You’re just mad out of 2199 posts you haven’t broken any news…

[Bluzrover]

You’re just mad out of 2199 posts you haven’t broken any news…

Ouch

[forevershockerfan]

I watched the Thursday, July 07 game against Select Red.

Highlights
---
He is an excellent off-ball verbal and non-verbal communicator, especially on defense (calls marks very well).

He was quicker than most other players on the court, both in sprinting and lateral movement.

Very solid defender.

When he's dialed in, he can hit back-to-back-to-back threes.


Defense
---
Plays the 2/3 but defended the PG more often than not.

He is very defense minded.

He reads the play defensively extremely well.

He is on balance defensively and able to move laterally in anticipation quickly.

He has long arms and he uses them.

Recognizes when teammates have lost their mark or have been beat and helps.

- He needs to learn when to focus more on the immediate threat than his man.

- His spacing is solid, but he will need it to be a half step or full step tighter against D1 guards.


Offense
---
Played the 2/3.

Smooth stroke, and good rhythm when shooting.

Aggressive player in transition.

Gets open early and wide, recognizes when he is not open and moves.

Has really good vision for the pass, and executes the pass very well.

He's confident with the ball in his hands and on the dribble.

- Didn't get to see much inside game

- Not sure if he can take it to the hoop -- the game didn't lend itself to that

Thank you for sharing this MTXE scoop with us Kung Wu.

[moshock]

Ouch

Pay no attention -

[shock]

You’re just mad out of 2199 posts you haven’t broken any news…

He also hasn’t broken wrong news.