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Recruit Profile: 2016 Eddie Ekiyor
Who is Eddie Ekiyor?
Eddie Ekiyor is a member of the class of 2016 and a native of Canada. He enrolled at the New Hampton School this fall and is making his debut on the prep school scene in the United States this season with the Huskies. Ekiyor was a member of Canada’s U17 national team that competed in the 2014 FIBA U17 World Championships last summer and he runs with Canadian grassroots team CIA Bounce. He started 19 of the 20 games he played on the Nike EYBL circuit with CIA Bounce in the spring and summer of 2014.
Ekiyor’s Canada team never played Team USA in the FIBA U17 World Championships where Ed Cooley was an assistant coach on Billy Donovan’s USA U17 staff. In the 7 games he played he averaged 28.3 minutes/game, 10.6 points/game, 7.0 rebounds/game and 1.1 blocks/game. He started all 7 games that Canada played en route to a 4-3 record overall. The Canadians lost in the quarterfinals to Serbia, 71-64. Serbia went on to lose to the USA in the semifinals the next day.
During the EYBL regular season and playoffs Ekiyor averaged 20.9 minutes/game, 6.3 points/game, 5.2 rebounds/game and 0.8 blocks/game. His high scoring game was 16 points which he did in the last game of the regular season against Meanstreets (IL) which was a game Providence commit Ryan Fazekas scored a game-high 21 points in but CIA Bounce won.
Evaluation
Having never seen Eddie Ekiyor play before I don’t have a baseline to compare how his game has progressed or changed but he did get heavy minutes in New Hampton’s game against Brewster Academy that I attended on January 16th. Brewster Academy also has some very talented big men on their roster with Marcus Derrickson (Georgetown), Alex Illikainen (Wisconsin) and Jarred Reuter (Virginia).
Ekiyor held his own against the talented Brewster front line and played the lion’s share of minutes in the second half. He is very active on defense and aggressive hedging the ball handler on screens. He even got under the skin of Derrickson enough to force the big man into an ill-advised technical foul for pushing Ekiyor after Derrickson was called for a charge.
On the offensive end his game seems to be limited to scores around the rim resulting from offensive rebounds and passes from teammates at this point. His shooting motion is deliberate with the ball going almost behind his head. That likely explains his 47.2% free throw shooting percentage in EYBL play.
Overall, I really liked Ekiyor and can see why he has been getting high major interest the last 6 or 7 months. He is far from a finished product but the tools, athleticism and motor all seem to be in place. He is athletic and certainly could turn into a face-up 4 man at 6’8 with some work on his shooting form and release. Like most 6’8 players his age he needs to add strength but he is further along than some other big men in that regard.
Offers and Interest
Ekiyor’s grassroots play garnered some high major interest and a few offers before he even enrolled at New Hampton. His current list of offers is Duquesne, Kansas State, Massachusetts, Miami (FL), Oregon, Providence, Vanderbilt, Villanova, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest. There have been reports of recent interest from Duke, Florida and Michigan.
As of January 8th, Jackson Fambrough’s 2016 PASR Recruiting Forecast shows the following for Ekiyor: Wake Forest (38%), Providence (33%), Duquesne (19%), Massachusetts (7%) and Kansas State (3%).
I do expect those numbers to change once some of his newer offers come into play. Also, it remains to be seen how this forecasting method handles Canadian players who don’t have a “hometown team” for NCAA basketball.
Highlights
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDy0uVswtjc]
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[…] ICYMI – Recruit Profile: 2016 Eddie Ekiyor […]
[…] Eddie Ekiyor is new to the USA prep school basketball scene. Prior to enrolling at the New Hampton School in September, Ekiyor’s only time playing in the US was when he traveled here with CIA Bounce to play in tournaments. I saw Ekiyor play live in January when New Hampton played Brewster Academy and I came away impressed by how he held up against a very talented Brewster front line. He has a high motor and is very active on the defensive end, both on the glass and hedging ball screens. His offensive game is fairly limited at this point and his shooting stroke needs work. You can read my full recruit profile from January here. […]