Ochai Agbaji

2022 - 4 - 2

Post cover — Image courtesy of "fox4kc.com"

Ochai Agbaji, David McCormack saving their best games for the end ... (fox4kc.com)

The seniors saved the best performances of their college careers for the end and it has their already historic squad in the national championship.

Ochai Agbaji steps up, leads Kansas past Villanova at Final Four (Sporting News)

NEW ORLEANS – There were 50.2 seconds left in the Final Four semifinal game between Kansas and Villanova, and Ochai Agbaji was in complete command.

A 10-5 surge in the first 3:10 – which included Agbaji’s fifth 3-pointer without a miss – pushed the KU lead right back up to 50-34. The Jayhawks scored the game’s first 10 points, with Agbaji striking twice from the right win and center McCormack powering inside for two layups the smaller Wildcats could not bother. “He’s been our guy from the jump,” Self said. The smaller Wildcats were overwhelmed inside by KU center David McCormack, who has battled through physical challenges this season that Self said often demanded two or three hours of treatment merely for him to play. He slapped 29 on Michigan State that night, and thus began the journey to what is known in the game as “Monday Night.” And then this year, obviously, just to step up and be that man.” “I came in just being a contributor, a guy off the bench … As the years went by, my scoring was needed more on the team. This time, he will be the one entering the game with the best active college player. He always has looked the part of a basketball player. The fans in the stands already were singing, “Rock Chalk” because they knew this was over, but above that haunting melody KU’s reigning All-American was directing his teammates on the positions to take against and opposing press that had no chance of succeeding. “I think how we shoot, it in large part, probably depends on Ochai in many ways,” KU coach Bill Self told the media Saturday evening. NEW ORLEANS – There were 50.2 seconds left in the Final Four semifinal game between Kansas and Villanova, and Ochai Agbaji was in complete command.

Ochai Agbaji's six threes lift KU Jayhawks to title game: 'We've got ... (Kansas City Star)

Kansas Jayhawks All-American delivered key long-range shots in 81-65 win over Villanova Wildcats in men's NCAA Tournament Final Four semifinal in New ...

“In warmups and everything, having all the shootarounds, everything leading up to the game, (I) just felt relaxed,” he said. He is a great player,” Agbaji said. I dropped my shoulders and I’m like, I want everybody to see me there and be like, ‘That’s the national player of the year,’ instead of me not winning it. “This is what I play for. “I’d rather have a national championship over that accolade.” “I dropped my shoulders and I wasn’t going to say it then because it was too early. This is my final game here at Kansas. I wouldn’t want to close another way.” This is what you want in the summer. To actually be in the game and be in this moment is surreal now,” said Agbaji, KU’s 6-foot-5 senior guard out of Oak Park High School in Kansas City. This year was like a little bit of revenge but it wasn’t.” Everyone is kind of ‘national championship, national championship.’ Every player at every school can say ‘national championship’ in the summer. “The Final Four is cool.

Ochai Agbaji, Kansas Offense Unleashing Its Peak to Reach 2022 ... (Bleacher Report)

Through the first 140 minutes of March Madness, the Kansas Jayhawks' dangerous offense wasn't all that impressive. After cruising past the No.

For good measure, Dajaun Harris hit three triples against Villanova and dished four assists in each of the last two games. Agbaji sparked the Jayhawks' second-half dominance of Miami, scoring 12 more points to close the 76-50 win. Perhaps the perfectly timed surge doesn't continue Monday night when Kansas takes aim at the program's first national title since 2008. KU, nonetheless, kept finding ways to win despite the shaky stretch. Kansas had played at a much higher level throughout the season. After cruising past the No. 16 Texas Southern Tigers, Kansas held off the No. 9 Creighton Bluejays 79-72.

'This is your game to shine': KU's Ochai Agbaji's family proud of his ... (KSHB)

Kansas City's very own Ochai Agbaji is playing in his last NCAA Tournament this weekend. His family says they couldn't be more proud of what he has done for ...

"He has been working very, very hard for this. "Very excited to be here and everything, but knowing that this is his last two games in his college career, it's a little sad," Erica Agbaji said. NEW ORLEANS — Kansas City's very own Ochai Agbaji is playing in his last NCAA Tournament this weekend.

As KU basketball continues to win in different ways, Ochai Agbaji ... (The Topeka Capital-Journal)

Ochai Agbaji played like someone who could potentially be named the player of the year, and it's part of why Kansas will play for a national title.

“Everyone’s kind of like, ‘National championship.’ Every school can say, ‘National championship.’ But then, actually to be in the game and in the moment, it’s actually surreal now. Agbaji understands the expectations there are at Kansas, that teams reach the Final Four. He remembers what it was like to be eliminated in the round of 32 of the NCAA tournament in 2019 after the program reached the Final Four the year prior. Whether it’s a practice or a game, McCormack watches Agbaji go in with the mentality that he’s not going to force anything and let the game come to him. Kansas didn’t know its opponent for Monday’s national title game when its players and coaches walked off the court Saturday. Duke and North Carolina had yet to tip off. He just wants to win and he knows that if we win that’s going to be the best situation for him. “Did we go 13-of-24, maybe, against K-State?” said Self, whose team actually went 15-for-24 on 3s in February against those Wildcats. “But we just shot it so well, and I think the guys like shooting in this building, to be honest, just because the depth perception doesn’t seem like it’s different, even though it is. “You would never notice,” said junior guard Christian Braun, asked what Agbaji was like behind the scenes earlier in the tournament when he wasn’t scoring like he usually does. In that moment, while it was too early in the game to say it, he wanted people to see him and see the national player of the year. A day after Kentucky’s Oscar Tshiebwe was recognized at the Caesars Superdome with a national player of the year honor, Agbaji played like someone deserving of that honor. The Jayhawks had won the opening tip, and while Agbaji didn’t get the lob pass he was looking for a handful of seconds earlier, the ball still found its way to him eventually. For a player who’d struggled at times to consistently hit shots in this NCAA tournament, especially from behind the arc, it was a sign that the night would go much differently. “We’ll throw our cards and place our cards in that moment … This is what I play for.

JayhawkSlant - Notebook: David McCormack, Ochai Agbaji shine in ... (Rivals.com - Kansas)

New Orleans – David McCormack was arguably the biggest X-factor in Kansas' 81-65 win over 2-seed Villanova in the Final Four semifinal round.

And it opened shot opportunities for my teammates to know that way I could get a couple of assists and get more baskets for myself.”The Jayhawks will meet 8-seed North Carolina in the national title game slated for April 4th in New Orleans.Hear everything the players said after the game on SLANT TV. “In the Elite Eight, we were saying we come to Kansas for big games, but you don't come to Kansas to play the Elite Eight. Then we win the Final Four game and we're saying we don't come to Kansas to win the Final Four, we came to win the national championship.” “Once the first fell and the second fell, I knew I could just kind of dominate the game inside. Holding Villanova to just 39% from the field and outrebounding the Wildcats 25-17 on the opposing glass, the Jayhawks were all business in New Orleans.Citing the Jayhawks’ gradually improved defensive effort, McCormack believes this KU team puts its defense at the core of its operation.“I want to say from the start, we always hang our hat on defense,” McCormack said.“And I think that's what got our energy into us,” McCormack added. The senior said it’s the outlook now with everything placed before them.“That's everyone's attitude,” Agbaji said. And just playing unselfish is just the biggest thing."