Cal Basketball

Bears Add JC All-American Wing Jeff Nwankwo

Former Tulane receiver and JC hoops standout brings length and athleticism to program as Bears' 2nd portal addition of the 2024 class
By Jim McGill
April 13, 2024
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15 Comments
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Photo by X / Jeff Nwankwo

The Bears added a nice piece in their 2024 recruiting class rebuild with the pickup of Cowley County (Arkansas City, Kansas) JC All-Amercian wing Jeff Nwankwo.

The 6-6/210 wing was initially a wide receiver signee with Tulane out of Oklahoma City before transferring to Marist to play basketball in the spring of his frosh season where he averaged 10.7 points and 7 rebounds. Following his abbreviated frosh season, Nwankwo transferred to Cowley, averaging 18.6 points and 7.6 rebounds as a soph while earning JC All-American status.

The Bears beat out LSU, Arkansas, Ole Miss, ASU, Colorado and more for Nwankwo’s services.

https://twitter.com/NwankwoJeff

https://twitter.com/NwankwoJeff/status/1777725677380243635

https://twitter.com/OKCCBSSPORTS105/status/1728796306204713101

15 Comments
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Jeff Nwankwo 2024-25 Cal Basketball 2024-25 Cal Basketball recruiting Basketball Basketball Recruiting
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Bears Add JC All-American Wing Jeff Nwankwo

16,022 Views | 15 Replies | Last: 2 yr ago by calumnus
01Bear
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12:10p, 4/13/24
Has he signed a NLI?
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BC Calfan
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12:47p, 4/13/24
Didn't realize he already played D-1. 10ppg and 7rpg (!!) as a frosh at Marist ain't bad, encouraging!
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Big C
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2:04p, 4/13/24

Welcome to the Cal family, Jeff! We can't wait to see you play and cheer you on in... only seven months!. Go Bears!!!
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bear2034
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2:58p, 4/13/24
Looks very decisive with the ball in his hands.
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Pittstop
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2:59p, 4/13/24
Beat out Calipari at Arkansas for him. That must be pretty good.
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concernedparent
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3:41p, 4/13/24
Love this pick up. His athleticism, strength and raw talent stands out in just a few plays.
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SFCityBear
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4:25p, 4/13/24
In his tapes, he looks like a carbon copy of Tyson, except that he has not played much or at all against Major D1 level competition. Marist probably plays maybe one or two teams like that in a season. It is only a mixtape, but I like his shot selection, as he shoots from different sides and areas of the floor, and not does not favor one side or area.

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RedlessWardrobe
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In reply to SFCityBear • 4:32p, 4/13/24
SFCityBear said:
In his tapes, he looks like a carbon copy of Tyson, except that he has not played much or at all against Major D1 level competition. Marist probably plays maybe one or two teams like that in a season. It is only a mixtape, but I like his shot selection, as he shoots from different sides and areas of the floor, and not does not favor one side or area.

Just to add to that, (and again against lower competition) I think his outside shot has a much quicker release than Tyson has, based on the footage.
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Oakbear
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4:49p, 4/13/24
is he more or less Celestine's replacement?
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BearoutEast67
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5:04p, 4/13/24
Awesome get!
Donate to Cal's NIL at https://calegends.com/donation/
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SFCityBear
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6:04p, 4/14/24
There seems to be something amiss about this young man's record. I searched everywhere I could think of, and I can't find a record of him attending or playing basketball at Marist during his freshman year. Or any year. I looked at all the Marist website records, and he is not on the roster for any years prior to his time at Cowling JC. I looked at Marist rosters on sports-reference.com, but I could not find any record of him playing at Marist.

I looked at the Cowling JC records and he is listed as playing there for two years, with his first year averaging 10.7 ppg.

He never played on a D1 level team or played against a D1 level team. So that 10.7 ppg claim in the original story was not against D1 Level teams, but against JC level teams

He was a JC All American as a sophomore. That I can respect, and do. There is once in a while a real basketball gem in the Junior Colleges. I don't know where the Marist story came from, but I think it is false.
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Pittstop
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In reply to BC Calfan • 6:30p, 4/14/24
BC Calfan said:
Didn't realize he already played D-1. 10ppg and 7rpg (!!) as a frosh at Marist ain't bad, encouraging!


I thought he played his frosh year, and averaged 10.7 ppg, at Tulane. Then transfered to Marist, but never played a game before transferring to JC for his Soph season, where he was JC All America. Maybe I've got it wrong.
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sluggo
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7:09p, 4/14/24
What I think is the correct story is at the link below. Football for one season at Tulane. Then JC for basketball where he averaged 10.7 as a freshman. Then transferred to Marist but not play and went back to JC for a second season of basketball. And now Cal, we hope.

https://www.si.com/college/cal/nwankwocommitstocal
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SFCityBear
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In reply to sluggo • 4:36p, 4/15/24
sluggo said:
What I think is the correct story is at the link below. Football for one season at Tulane. Then JC for basketball where he averaged 10.7 as a freshman. Then transferred to Marist but not play and went back to JC for a second season of basketball. And now Cal, we hope.

https://www.si.com/college/cal/nwankwocommitstocal
Here is a nice article on him, which corroborates what you say:

https://cowleytigers.com/sports/mbkb/2022-23/releases/20230419el78bw

Off topic:

I checked the Tulane football roster on sportsreference and he is listed on the 2021 roster as one of 19 wide receivers. Only 6 of them caught a pass, and he was not listed as having caught one. I wonder how much eligibility he has left? Likely 2 for basketball. Could he also transfer at some point to another school, and play 3 more years of football there?
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calumnus
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In reply to SFCityBear • 6:02p, 4/15/24
SFCityBear said:
sluggo said:
What I think is the correct story is at the link below. Football for one season at Tulane. Then JC for basketball where he averaged 10.7 as a freshman. Then transferred to Marist but not play and went back to JC for a second season of basketball. And now Cal, we hope.

https://www.si.com/college/cal/nwankwocommitstocal
Here is a nice article on him, which corroborates what you say:

https://cowleytigers.com/sports/mbkb/2022-23/releases/20230419el78bw

Off topic:

I checked the Tulane football roster on sportsreference and he is listed on the 2021 roster as one of 19 wide receivers. Only 6 of them caught a pass, and he was not listed as having caught one. I wonder how much eligibility he has left? Likely 2 for basketball. Could he also transfer at some point to another school, and play 3 more years of football there?


He probably has 4 years of football eligibility left. There used to be an age limit of 25 for eligibility unless you served in the US military (not Israeli, sorry Tamir) or went on an LDS mission (but not any other religion or purpose). I doubt the age limit would stand in court if challenged. I think he would have to be a grad student.
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