| #21 Arinze Onuaku |
| 6'9" | 255 lbs | Forward |
| HS: Episcopal High School | Lanham, MD |
| HS: Duval High School | Lanham, MD |
| Born: 7/13/1987 | Lanham, MD |
| Season | Cl | Pos | G | GS | Min | FG | FGA | % | FT | FTA | % | 3Pt | 3PA | % | Asst | Reb | DReb | OReb | Fls | DQ | TO | ST | BS | Pts | PPG | APG | RPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fr | F/C | 29 |
0
|
243
|
23
|
41
|
56.1%
|
12
|
27
|
44.4%
|
0
|
0
|
---
|
4
|
80
|
48
|
32
|
31
|
2
|
13
|
5
|
13
|
58
|
2.0 |
0.1 |
2.8 |
|
--- |
DNP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | --- |
0 | 0 | --- |
0 | 0 | --- |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | --- |
--- |
--- |
|
| So | C | 35 | 35 | 1070 | 186 | 296 | 62.8% | 73 | 164 | 44.5% | 0 | 0 | --- |
26 | 284 | 170 | 114 | 108 | 4 | 67 | 36 | 47 | 445 | 12.7 | 0.7 | 8.1 | |
| Jr | C | 38 | 37 | 1017 | 178 | 267 | 66.7% | 37 | 124 | 29.8% | 0 | 0 | --- |
23 | 276 | 168 | 108 | 90 | 2 | 59 | 18 | 53 | 393 | 10.3 | 0.6 | 7.3 | |
| Career | 102 | 72 |
2330 | 387 | 604 | 64.1% | 122 | 315 | 38.7% | 0 |
0 |
--- | 53 | 649 | 386 | 254 | 229 | 8 | 139 | 59 | 113 | 896 | 8.8 | 0.5 | 6.4 |
Arinze Onuaku was a strong burly center for Syracuse University.
Onuaku was of Nigerian descent, but born in the United states. He played two years at Episcopal High School, after transferring from Duval High School, where he was relatively unknown.
His freshman year, he played in most every game as a backup to Darryl Watkins and Terrence Roberts, typically seeing seven to eight minutes a game. Onuaku was a raw talent his freshman year, with tremendous rebounding skills, and a high shooting percentage due to mostly scoring on dunks. He was also foul prone, and would pick up penalties very quickly. He would hurt his toe in December, and would miss some action as a result.
Onuaku would hurt his left knee over the summer, and have surgery on it early in the fall. He would end up missing the entire 2006-07 season, red shirting to recuperate.
Onuaku would be a pleasant surprise for the Orange his sophomore season. He was fully recovered from his knee surgery and showed the team he was capable of being a low post scoring threat. He showed the ability to be light on his feet despite being a very large player. His field goal shooting was nearly 63% a game, and he became a solid rebounder with several double digit games. Onuaku played very well against some of the best big name players in the country, both offensively and defensively. Unfortunately, he would also disappear in other games against lessor opponents, and have no impact in those games. He was also a terrible liability at the free throw line shooting a woeful 44.5%.
Onuaku returned for his junior season after a hard summer workout, a little bit heavier but with a lot more muscle, and less fat. He was looking to make more of an impact on this inside game for Syracuse, and he did. He would set a school record making 66.7% of his field goal attempts. Unfortunately he would see a reduction in playing time, which impacted his overall effectiveness. His free throw shooting digressed over the course of the season, and by the season's end he had shot only 38.7% from the charity stripe. This forced coach Jim Boeheim to keep him on the bench during close games, as he was a liability who would be quickly fouled by the opposition.
© RLYoung 2006-2009