OU Basketball: Oklahoma Adds JC Shotmaker With 'Extreme Toughness' in Jeff Nwankwo

Sooners coach Porter Moser says he appreciates Nwankwo's background as a college football player and calls him a "relentless" rebounder with "shot-making ability."

John E. Hoover | May 24, 2024

Jeff Nwankwo / Jeff Nwankwo via Twitter/X

By OU Media Relations

Oklahoma head men’s basketball coach Porter Moser announced the addition of Cowley College (KS) transfer Jeff Nwankwo on Friday. He committed to OU on May 15.

Nwankwo played two seasons at Cowley (2022-24) and started his collegiate career at Tulane (2021) with the football program. He is the No. 2 ranked junior college transfer in the nation, according to JUCORecruiting.com and 247Sports.

“Jeff is a powerful, athletic wing who plays with extreme toughness,” Moser said. “He has a great journey, starting his college career as a DI football player at Tulane and now playing basketball in the SEC. Jeff plays with a competitive edge every time he steps on the court. I love his shot-making ability, recording 68 made 3-pointers last season, and relentless rebounding effort.”

As a sophomore, Nwankwo was named the 2023-24 Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference (KJCCC) Player of the Year. He earned a spot on the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division I All-America first team, leading Cowley to a 28-6 mark and a NJCAA DI Sweet Sixteen appearance.

The Oklahoma City product started 34 games for the Tigers in 2023-24, averaging 18.6 points, 7.6 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.9 steals per outing. He shot 48.9 percent (218-446) from the field, 37.0 percent (68-184) from behind the arc and 73.8 percent (127-172) from the line. Nwankwo finished the season with 631 points, ranking as the ninth-most points in a single season in Cowley history.

He scored 20-plus points on 14 occasions, including a trio of 30-point outings. Nwankwo poured in a career-high 37 points on 15-of-23 shooting with six 3-pointers against Butler Community College. He recorded seven double-doubles and pulled down 10-plus boards eight times.

As a freshman at Cowley, Nwankwo appeared in 19 games and made 16 starts, playing 25.4 minutes per outing. He averaged 10.7 points, 7.0 rebounds, 1.4 steals and 1.1 assists per contest. Nwankwo shot 42.9 percent (72-168) from the field and 34.8 percent (24-69) from deep. He wrangled 10-plus boards on four occasions, finishing with three double-doubles.

Before his return to basketball, he started his collegiate career as a football student-athlete at Tulane in 2021.

Nwankwo prepped at Putnam City (OK) North High School, playing basketball and football. He competed on the gridiron for one season, earning all-conference, all-district and all-state honors. On the court, Nwankwo was a two-time all-district selection (2019, 2020).

Published May 24, 2024

JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.