GoldenEagleFan Posted October 12, 2022 Share Posted October 12, 2022 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUTerry Posted October 12, 2022 Share Posted October 12, 2022 Ighovodjia is a highly versatile defender with FIBA and NBA BAL experience. Sounds a bit like Yemi Ogunoye…. Long wingspan and defensively minded 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUTerry Posted October 12, 2022 Share Posted October 12, 2022 https://nbaacademy.nba.com/location/africa/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUalum Posted October 12, 2022 Share Posted October 12, 2022 View this post on Instagram A post shared by Joy Igho (@joy_ighovodja) View this post on Instagram A post shared by Joy Igho (@joy_ighovodja) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Titan Posted October 13, 2022 Share Posted October 13, 2022 18 hours ago, GoldenEagleFan said: Not sure if it's already been mentioned, but someone in the comments of this tweet says Joy is NBA All-Star Andre Iguodala's son. Need confirmation on what could just be troll droppings; I can find nothing online substantiating that claim. Joy's Twitter account (https://twitter.com/Joyigho6) notes "Senegal" as if that is home. He's attended basketball academy in Nigeria growing up, though, and played for Nigeria's U16 national team. Love his compact, push-back jumper; reminiscent of former ORU great Obi Emegano. Will be interesting to see if both players make the Nigerian national team roster for the 2024 Paris Olympics (Obi played significant minutes for the Nigerian squad that famously upset Team USA in Las Vegas leading up to the 2020/21 Olympics in Tokyo). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUalum Posted October 13, 2022 Share Posted October 13, 2022 i saw that and took it as an attempt at humor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUTerry Posted October 13, 2022 Share Posted October 13, 2022 Yeah, I think the comment was in jest. I do like the athleticism this kid has. Doc pointed out to me that Mwamba was previously part of this NBA Academy Africa squad. Wonder if he had a part in this recruitment? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ting Posted October 13, 2022 Share Posted October 13, 2022 Interesting thought Terry. If that is true that would be a good connection. Is this the first ORU commit that has Jon Givony coverage? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenEagleFan Posted October 14, 2022 Author Share Posted October 14, 2022 3 hours ago, Ting said: Is this the first ORU commit that has Jon Givony coverage? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ting Posted October 14, 2022 Share Posted October 14, 2022 Lol. Looks like mixed outcomes on those… hopefully Givony moves to a 67% score after this one 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keenan Henderson Posted November 9, 2022 Share Posted November 9, 2022 It's offical, ORU signs Joy today. We could all use a little more joy in our lives (sorry bad joke) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theeagleman5 Posted November 10, 2022 Share Posted November 10, 2022 JOY to the world!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Titan Posted November 10, 2022 Share Posted November 10, 2022 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theeagleman5 Posted November 10, 2022 Share Posted November 10, 2022 Obi Emigano II.....welcome to ORU in 2023!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUTex Posted February 21, 2023 Share Posted February 21, 2023 Nice article on ESPN last week about Joy and 3 other players from the African NBA Academy: https://www.espn.com/espn/story/_/id/35678624/african-nba-academy-bal-stars-add-global-flair-us-college-landscape. If he turns out to be a star, this could be another example of finding a gold nugget that others overlooked. Excerpts, with emphasis added (note that they mention ORU with UConn and Louisville, and leave out Washington State): The US college basketball landscape has become even more global this season as four high-profile African prospects joined Division 1 teams, with the likes of UConn, Oral Roberts, and Louisville reaping the benefits of the NBA Academy and Basketball Africa League's efforts. Nigeria's Emmanuel Okorafor has had an impressive start to life at Louisville, while countrymen Joy Ighovodja (Oral Roberts) and Rueben Chinyelu (Washington State), as well as Egypt's Jana El Alfy (UConn), are preparing to bring even more African flair to the NCAA Division I in 2023. Although he was not as aggressively scouted as NBA Academy peers like Chinyelu and El Alfy, Ighovodja (18) is another player who has learned from an isolating experience in his career before. He featured for Rwanda Energy Group (REG) at the BAL under Robert Pack in 2022, but while Chinyelu played an important role for Mozambique's Ferroviário da Beira and Okorafor for Espoir Fukash, Ighovodja only played bit parts. Nevertheless, the 6'4" small forward/guard found a way to make the most of his first professional experience in basketball, which he earned via the BAL Elevate program which assigned one NBA Africa Academy prospect to each of the 12 teams. Ighovodja told ESPN: "BAL was a great experience because I was around professionals. I learned a lot even though I wasn't given [much of a] chance to play, maybe because of trust or the way they looked at me as a young player. "Being around those guys, they helped me grow. If I had any questions, their rooms were always open for me to ask questions and go through videos to learn more about the game. "In practice, they always pushed me like: 'You can do this. Just see yourself in this position. Everything is all about your mind - how to play big. Don't think you are too small to do something. You can always do anything and fix your mistakes.' BAL helped me a lot and when I went back to the academy, I [had] grown in my mind." Ighovodja was used to being overlooked, but Oral Roberts won him over by treating him as a special talent. He added: "Training was hard for me because I was a lefty and it was like I was different from others. I didn't really have many offers to play basketball, but after the [NBA Academy Games] in Atlanta, I had a few schools [interested in me], but it was Oral Roberts pressuring me, telling me what they want, how they would love to work with me. "They were the first school that organised my official visit. I didn't see myself going for any visits [in 2022], because I thought maybe I wasn't there yet, but they made it possible and I went there. I went to see how the program was. The school was lovely. My teammates were playing great basketball. I didn't want to waste time waiting for or choosing any other school." 3 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Cornelius Posted February 21, 2023 Share Posted February 21, 2023 Great find! @ORUTex ! Looking forward to seeing Joy develop in the program! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Titan Posted February 23, 2023 Share Posted February 23, 2023 Surprised the author made no mention (and probably is not aware} of Patrcik Mwamba, who when he signed with UTA was the first product of the NBA Academy Africa to sign with a D1 school. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
titansforever Posted March 28, 2023 Share Posted March 28, 2023 Revisiting this post and wondering if Ighovodja will stay now that Coach Mills is gone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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