• Basketball
  • Kansas State Men's Basketball Adds NJCAA All-American Guard Chimobi Ikegwuruka

Kansas State Men's Basketball Adds NJCAA All-American Guard Chimobi Ikegwuruka

Details
Basketball

Kansas State head coach Jerome Tang made another key addition to his team for the 2024-25 season with the signing of NJCAA All-American guard Chimobi (Mobi) Ikegwuruka (Galway, Ireland/Ellsworth [Iowa] Community College) to a Financial Aid Agreement.

The 6-foot-6, 205-pound guard who has experience playing internationally, including with the Irish U16 National Team, arrives at K-State after a redshirt freshman season at Ellsworth Community College in Iowa Falls, Iowa in 2023-24. He averaged a double-double (19.0 ppg., 10.3 rpg.) in leading the Panthers to a fourth-place finish at the NJCAA Division II Championship with a 29-8 record. It was the school's first national tournament appearance in 38 seasons and their highest national finish since 1977 when they placed third.

"It's always a great day to be a Wildcat and we're excited to welcome Mobi and his family to K-State," said head coach Jerome Tang. "He is an athletic wing who is a big-time acrobatic finisher that will be exciting to watch in the open court. He is also a versatile defender who can switch and guard 1-4. He has significant international experience with 3 years of eligibility remaining. Our fan base will love getting to know Mobi, who speaks four languages fluently and has a variety of interests including fashion and photography."

Ikegwuruka was a 2024 NJCAA Division II Second Team All-American and a First Team All-Region XI performer at Ellsworth, playing for head coach Bryan Bender. He played in 21 games with 13 starts for the Panthers, averaging 19.0 points on 59.4 percent (155-of-261) shooting, including 50 percent (3-of-6) from 3-point range, to go with 10.3 rebounds, 2.2 blocks, 2.1 steals and 1.5 assists in 26.9 minutes per game. He led the team in several categories, including scoring, field goal percentage, rebounding, steals and blocks.

In addition to his All-America and All-Region honors, Ikegwuruka was named a Fab 50 Freshman by JUCORecruiting.com.

Ikegwuruka scored 20 or more points in 13 games, including a career-high 27 points on 10-of-16 field goals and 7-of-8 free throws at Western Iowa Tech on Dec. 9, 2023. He rattled off seven consecutive 20-point games to end the regular season. He also collected 10 double-doubles, including in back-to-back games against Monroe Community College and Milwaukee Area Tech at the NJCAA Division II Championship. He posted 21 points and 10 rebounds in the win over Milwaukee Area Tech that sent Ellsworth to the Final Four for the first time since 1977.

Ikegwuruka nearly averaged a double-double in Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) play, posting 19.3 points on 58.8 percent (120-of-204) shooting with 9.8 rebounds per game.

Ikegwuruka has a variety of international experience, having played for the Irish U16 National Team at the 2019 FIBA European U16 Championships as well as for two club teams in the Czech Republic. In 8 games at the FIBA U16 Championships, he averaged 11.3 points, 5.9 rebounds, 2.6 steals and 1.4 assists in 23.1 minutes per game. He scored in double figures in 4 games, including 25 points against the Republic of Georgia on August 9, 2019. He followed that with a double-double (12 points, 11 rebounds) against Portugal on August 10, 2019.

Ikegwuruka played for Czech U19 squads – GBA Lions Jindrichuv Hradec and Sojky Pelhrimov – as well as the main GBA Lions in the 1Liga from 2020-23. He played in 51 games for GBA Lions, Sojky P and Pelhrimov at various levels from 2020-22 with 44 of those 51 games coming during the 2021-22 season. His best stretch came in 13 games with Pelhrimov, averaging 14.7 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 2.8 steals in 26.4 minutes per game.

Ikeywuruka played in 7 games for the GBA Lions Jindrichuv Hradec in the 1Liga in 2022-23, averaging 14.1 points on 55.1 percent (38-of-69) shooting with 8.7 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.1 blocks in 21.7 minutes per game. He produced 3 20-point games, including a season-best 28 points against SP Basket on 11-of-13 field goals and 6-of-7 free throws on Dec. 9, 2022, to go with 3 double-doubles.

Ikegwuruka is the seventh player to sign with the Wildcats for the 2024-25 season, including the first junior college player. He joins Division I transfers Dug McDaniel(Washington, D.C./St. Paul VI Catholic VI/Michigan), Christian (C.J.) Jones(East St. Louis, Ill./East St. Louis/UIC), Max Jones(Clearwater, Fla./Clearwater/University of Tampa/Cal State Fullerton), Brendan Hausen(Amarillo, Texas/Amarillo/Villanova) and Baye Fall(Dakar, Senegal/ Accelerated Prep [Colo.]/Arkansas). The six transfers join top-50 high school prospect David Castillo(Bartlesville, Okla./Sunrise Christian Academy [Kan.]), who signed during the early signing period on Nov. 8.

K-State finished the 2023-24 season with a 19-15 record, including a tie for ninth in the Big 12 with an 8-10 mark, and advanced to the NIT. Among the Wildcats' 19 victories were 4 over Top 25 teams, including 3 in the Top 10. The team has won 45 games in head coach Jerome Tang's tenure, including consecutive postseason appearances.