LEXINGTON, Ky. — The announcement that Ugonna Onyenso — a highly touted center from Nigeria — would be joining the University of Kentucky basketball team for the 2022-23 season came on Aug. 1, just a few days before his future teammates were headed to the Bahamas for a series of exhibition games.
Onyenso’s commitment happened after the Wildcats had already gone through extensive offseason practices. The 6-foot-11 post player wasn’t there for those workouts, wouldn’t be able to make the Bahamas trip, and wouldn’t even be on UK’s campus until about three weeks later.
In just about any other year, Onyenso would have been walking into the unenviable situation of needing to catch up in a hurry. In this case, however, the circumstances couldn’t have been much better.
