2021 Pirate Player Preview: Ike Obiagu

Date: August 3, 2021

By: Joe Matthews

Ike Obiagu goes up for a block during a Seton Hall men's basketball game.

Seton Hall Athletics

Ike Obiagu is the best-kept secret in college basketball.

As Seton Hall fans, we all know who he is, and how outstanding of a player he can be. But the rest of the nation might not realize just how lethal of a weapon is hiding in the paint for the Pirates. So it’s time to put the country on notice, and let them know who Obiagu is, and why he’s going to dominate this season.

Obiagu is an absolute block machine. This past year, he tallied 77 overall blocks, good for 2.9 per-game. Both of those numbers paced the entire Big East. His 2.9 average ranked him ninth in the entirety of Division I.

Ike Obiagu tries to block his opponent during a Seton Hall men's basketball game.

Seton Hall Athletics

On the Dec. 23 matchup against Georgetown, Obiagu notched a career-high with nine rejections. That nine-block performance was also tied for the most blocks in a single-game across the entirety of Division I basketball in the 2020-21 season. The shot blocking was also there for him in big games. In the first round of the Big East tourney against St. John’s, he recorded seven, tying Pirate legend Samuel Dalembert for the most by a Seton Hall player in a Big East tournament game.

tried to come up with a caption but Ike Obiagu blocked it pic.twitter.com/LjIPUgkJ1H
— #BIGEASThoops (@BIGEASTMBB) March 11, 2021

Rim-protection will not be an issue for the Pirates when Obiagu is on the floor. He’s already made his case as one of the best shot blockers in both the nation, and in Seton Hall history, and there’s no signs that he’ll slow down in that regard.

With Sandro Mamukelashvili leaving Seton Hall for the reigning NBA Champion Milwaukee Bucks, there’s now a 6-foot-11 sized hole down low on the Pirates’ roster. And while it will be hard to replicate the impact Mamu had on this Pirates team, there is one aspect of his game that Obiagu can step up and make up for. Rebounding.

Last year, “Mamu” averaged 7.6 rebounds-per-game, slotting him fifth in the Big East. Seton Hall was already one of the weaker teams on the glass in the conference, with a 34.9 rebounds-per-game average last year that ranked them ninth out of the 11 Big East members. With their leading rebounder leaving, it’s going to have to be a big point of emphasis for the Pirates this season. The addition of transfer Alexis Yetna should help, but Obiagu more than has the potential to develop into a true monster on the glass.

Ike Obiagu dunks the basketball with two hands during a Seton Hall men's basketball game.

Vincent Carchietta/USA TODAY Sports

Obiagu saw a huge minutes jump from his first season as a Pirate to last year, averaging 10.5 in 2019-20, and 22.3 in 2020-21. With Mamukelashvili gone, there will be many more minutes up for grabs down low, and while he may have to compete with Yetna and rising junior Tyrese Samuel, Obiagu is the elder statesman down low, and could very well see north of 30 minutes-per-game.

With more time, Obiagu will have more opportunities to show off his skillset, and his numbers could increase big-time across all categories. And the jump doesn’t even have to be monumental. Hypothetically, say he jumps up to playing 27 minutes-per-game. In the seven games last year where he played at least 27 minutes, he averaged 4.7 blocks-per-game.

Granted, it is a small sample size, but it’s not at all unrealistic to think the center could average well north of three blocks-per-game with a minutes boost. He was already clawing at that mark in 22 minutes-per-game this past year, as previously discussed. That’s what makes him the best-kept secret in the nation. We haven’t even seen him play as much as he really can.

Seton Hall's Ike Obiagu wrestles for a loose ball during a Seton Hall men's basketball game.

Vincent Carchietta/USA TODAY Sports

I mentioned earlier that he was ranked ninth in the nation for blocks-per-game. But looking at the leaderboard, Obiagu saw the least amount of floor-time of any player in the top 12. The closest to his 22.3 mark was Minnesota’s Liam Robbins with 24.7, but every other player in that top tier logged at least 26 minutes. We’ve seen the teases of the kind of numbers Obiagu can put up when he gets a lot of time on the floor, but this season he should be playing big minutes the entire year. And those big minutes mean big numbers.

If you want to delve into his scoring stats, he averaged 8.2 points-per-game in games where he saw at least 27 minutes last season.

But again, what about his rebounding? Obiagu has already more than doubled his rebounding average since arriving at Seton Hall. He posted a 2.0 average in 2019-20, and a 4.5 average this past year. And if you count those same seven games where he saw at least 27 minutes, he recorded an average of 6.3-per-game. The 7-foot-2 big man is already an incredibly imposing presence on the court, and if he can become a true glass cleaner, he’ll be one of the most valuable big men in the conference, especially on the defensive end.

@ike_obiagu is having a block party against Georgetown with SEVEN already in the first half for @SetonHallMBB! pic.twitter.com/uM8042UNfu
— FOX College Hoops (@CBBonFOX) December 23, 2020

Last season, the Big East Defensive Player of the Year award was given to both St. John’s Posh Alexander and UConn’s Isaiah Whaley. Both players are returning and will certainly be favorites to repeat, but Obiagu has shown more than enough to add his name to the favorites list as well.

Just look at last season. It’s hard to compare Obiagu to Alexander, seeing as they play different positions, but you could make the case that he actually deserved last year’s award just as much as Whaley, a fellow big man. Obiagu outpaced Whaley in blocks-per-game and did so while averaging less minutes-per-game, and less fouls-per-game. This year, with another year of experience under his belt, and more playing time? Whaley better keep his eyes at the back of his head while he tries to defend his DPOY crown, because Obiagu is coming to chase him down.

The Seton Hall center is only just beginning to scratch the surface of his potential. The Pirates have given the rest of the basketball world a taste of Obiagu, but this year he can finally be unleashed and begin to wreak havoc on the rest of the Big East, and potentially the rest of the nation come March.

Ike Obiagu shoots a free throw during a Seton Hall men's basketball game.

Seton Hall Athletics

I’ll even propose a hypothetical stat-line for you:

7.8 points-per-game, 3.9 rebounds-per-game, and 3.2 blocks-per-game.

Doesn’t sound too unrealistic, right? Well that’s the stat-line that Romaro Gill put up in 2019-20 for the Pirates, when he won Big East Defensive Player of the Year and got attention as one of the best big men in the nation.

We all know how great of a season Gill had that year, and this year, Obiagu is going to be doing that, and possibly even more.

So this year, when you come to the Prudential Center, be sure to dress your best, and put on some dancing shoes because there’s going to be a lot of parties. Block parties.

Who’s hosting them you might ask? Why, the next Big East Defensive Player of the Year of course.

The best-kept secret in college basketball.

Joe Matthews is an Assistant Sports Director for WSOU Sports and can be reached at joseph.matthews@student.shu.edu.

Posted in: Men's Basketball, Sports, WSOU