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2020 Pirate Player Preview: Jeff Ngandu

Date: June 16, 2020

By: Justin Morris

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Adam Zagoria

Delgado. Sanogo. Gill. Ngandu?

The slew of Seton Hall basketball’s recent big men have left nothing up to questioning when it comes to the breadth of their unparalleled achievements – all of which nearly rival the troupe in combined stature when it comes to literal height itself.

A 2016 Big-East Championship All-Tournament Team nod, followed by a crucial professional role with the Brooklyn-affiliated Long Island Nets were the claims to fame for Sanogo, while Gill’s storied ascension from a lowly reserve role into the Big East’s arguable most feared rim presence, and a 2020 conference Defensive Player of the Year tabbing marked one of the most beloved stories of transformation in program history.

And Delgado? Just the nation’s best center during his senior campaign – the 2018 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar award honoree topped off his unrivaled Hall career with a G-League Rookie of the Year award with the Agua Caliente Clippers the following year.

There’s just been something special about the players that have manned the post in Pirate blue the past few seasons, and the Hall big men’s coach Grant Billmeier has another exciting project on his hands with newly committed Canada product Jeff Ngandu.

If the aforementioned names don’t provide any inklings of the type of potential tutelage the regime he’ll be under will provide for him, perhaps Ngandu’s personal basketball past serves as his own due diligence of the bright future that could be become of the newest player-coach pairing in Seton-town. And man, is it a deep one, and unusual by most accounts of top prep players on the high school circuit.

In fact, basketball wasn’t even his primary sport growing up. Originally a native of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ngandu grew up a soccer lover, and was an avid competitor in the sport, up until his body began to outgrow usual normalities for the football pitch. He grew from 6’1 to 6’6 in just two years.

Sensing his lanky frame would be better served elsewhere, friends introduced him to the game of basketball, which became a match made in heaven for the young athlete, and ultimately netted him the opportunity of a lifetime to play in the states once scouts discovered him at an international camp.

His North American journey would begin in small town Idaho, before he migrated to Utah on a student-visa to join an AAU squad called Exum Elite (named after former Jazz guard Dante Exum).

The visa lasted just a year though, and Ngandu was forced out of the country to continue his journey in avoidance of ineligibility rules within the US. That led him to Orangeville Prep (the same school current Pirate four-man Tyrese Samuel attended). He battled an MCL tear through a portion of his senior season, but when healthy, he was instrumental in their quest to an undefeated 19-0 mark and an Ontario Scholastic Basketball Association Championship last winter, solidifying their backline with a mammoth rebounding and defensive presence, and scoring when needed to boot.

He averaged 6.1 points per game, adding 5.3 rebounds and 1.4 blocks through the campaign. Ngandu poses strikingly similar qualities to Gill when breaking down the focal points of his game. He measures out at just 6’9 (compared to Gill’s 7’2 stature), but his wingspan is a whopping 7’5, while his standing reach nearly allows him to touch the rim with both feet still planted on the ground, at 9’2.

He’s a veracious rebounder and tantalizing shot blocker, and coach Willard has already spoken extremely highly of his seemingly never-ceasing motor, which Willard hypothesized would fit seamlessly into the hard-nosed, grit and grind style of play the Pirates so fiercely implore into their players.

He also shows a pick-and-roll sense beyond his years with quick feet, heady decision-making and explosive diving flashes to the rim so powerful that they have potential to freeze college defenders in year one. His shooting touch, while minimally utilized in high school, is more than polished for a player of his tenure, as well.

He’ll need to face seasoned competition to grasp a full feel for the strength and speed the college game poses, but the intangibles and size are already there – and those aspects are entirely un-coachable.

Ngandu’s post game has not yet been seasoned into full-course heartiness, and while there are drastic holes in that specific area, it’s one that Seton Hall coaches thrive in the most. Repetition will come aplenty in terms of practice opportunities for offensive work, and in addition to Billmeier, Willard himself has a formidable reputation for shot-making development at all positions.

“I really think he is one of the best coaches in college basketball,” Ngandu said about the Pirate’s head coach. “He does a great job with developing players and based on where I’m at with my game, I believe he can help me improve. Also, he emphasized building a strong relationship on and off the court.”

As far as what he can add to team, Ngandu’s answer is simple:  I can bring energy on the defensive side and hard rebounding and shot blocking.”

All more than necessary supplements with the departure of Gill, and just one returning center from last year’s squad in Ike Obiagu.

Fun fact: Ngandu is fluent in six different languages including Spanish and three distinctive African tongues, and has even had a few conversations in French with Samuel already as their budding relationship continues to blossom.

He’s already shown flashes of an endeared locker room presence, but savvy linguistics aside, only one language will truly matter in terms of Ngandu’s impact once he touches down in South Orange: winning. And all signs point to him effecting those efforts immediately.

Justin Morris is an Assistant Sports Director for WSOU Sports and can be reached at justin.morris@student.shu.edu.

Posted in: Men's Basketball, Sports, WSOU

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