• Basketball
  • UTEP Transfer Ze'Rik Onyema Makes It Official And Signs To Play For The Texas Longhorns

UTEP Transfer Ze'Rik Onyema Makes It Official And Signs To Play For The Texas Longhorns

Details
Basketball

Ze'Rik Onyema has signed an Athletic Scholarship Agreement to play basketball next season at The University of Texas, head coach Rodney Terry announced.

Onyema, who spent the last three years at UTEP, will join the Longhorns for the upcoming 2023-24 season and have two seasons of eligibility remaining.

Onyema (6-8, 230), a forward from El Paso, Texas, played in 61 career games (32 starts) and registered 285 points (4.7 ppg) and 184 rebounds (3.0 rpg) in 872 minutes (14.3 mpg) over the last three seasons at UTEP. He converted 57.4-percent (120-209) from the floor during his time with the Miners.

During his redshirt sophomore season in 2022-23, Onyema played in all 32 contests (31 starts), tied for the team lead in blocked shots (16) and ranked second in rebounding (4.4 rpg) and sixth in scoring (7.1 ppg) while playing 20.1 minutes per contest. He converted a team-best 55.4-percent (92-166) from the floor and reached double figures in scoring 12 times last year. Onyema registered a pair of double-doubles last season, including a 10-point, 10-rebound effort against Alcorn State (Nov. 22) and an 11-point, 11-rebound performance at Florida Atlantic (Feb. 25). He recorded a career-best 19 points (career-high 8-10 FG) in a career-high 31 minutes at FIU (Feb. 23).

As a redshirt freshman in 2021-22, Onyema played in 24 of a possible 34 games (one start) as UTEP registered a 20-14 record (11-7 C-USA) and reached the second round of the Basketball Classic. He averaged 2.0 points and 1.7 rebounds in 8.8 minutes per contest and converted 65.7-percent (23-35) from the field on the year. Onyema appeared in five games and logged 13 minutes during his freshman season in 2020-21, but he was granted a redshirt year.

After growing up in El Paso, Onyema and his family moved to San Antonio prior to starting high school. He played at John Jay High School (San Antonio, Texas) and led his team in scoring (18.1 ppg), rebounding (12.2 rpg) and blocked shots (2.2 bpg) while earning first-team All-District 28-6A and Academic All-State accolades as a senior in 2019-20. Onyema recorded 20 double-doubles and converted 62.0-percent (217-350) from the floor during his senior season. He tallied 22 points and 20 rebounds against San Antonio Taft High School in his senior year.