Six players of Nigerian origin heard their names called across the two rounds of the 2026 NBA Draft this week at Barclays Center, making it the second-highest total for players of Nigerian descent selected in one draft class.
Only the 2020 draft class has more, with nine.
Two of those players were selected in the first round, making it only the fourth time two or more players of Nigerian descent have been taken in the first round, and the first time since 2020, when seven were taken off the board in the first round.
First to hear his name called was Stanford guard Ebuka Okorie, who went 17th overall, taken by the Oklahoma City Thunder before being dealt to the Detroit Pistons, who gave up the No. 21 pick and three future second-round picks to move up and get him.
Okorie averaged 23.2 points, 3.6 assists, 3.6 rebounds and 1.6 steals as a freshman, leading the ACC in scoring and ranking seventh nationally while shooting 46.5 percent from the field and 35.4 percent from three.
He scored 719 points on the season, the second-most by a freshman in Stanford history, and broke the program's freshman single-game scoring record three times, capped by a 40-point outing against Georgia Tech on 12-for-21 shooting.
Pistons president of basketball operations Trajan Langdon did not hide his enthusiasm afterward: "Super excited about Ebuka.
"I've watched him for a while, and then he just exploded onto the scene."
Okorie, raised in Nashua, New Hampshire, to Nigerian parents, called the moment overwhelming. "A lot of emotions, just grateful for this opportunity," he said.
"I am not going to take this for granted. I'm going to keep working every day. I feel like playing alongside Cade [Cunningham], I'll just be another playmaker on the floor."
He was followed soon after by St. John's forward Zuby Ejiofor, who went six spots later at No. 23 to the Atlanta Hawks, ending a long drought for his program. He became St. John's first NBA Draft pick since 2015 and its first first-rounder since 2012.
Ejiofor averaged 16.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 2.1 blocks and 1.2 steals as a senior while shooting 53.6 percent from the field, numbers that helped him sweep Big East Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year and Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors, a feat last accomplished by fellow player of Nigerian descent Emeka Okafor in 2004.
His 7-foot-2 wingspan and 1.68 assist-to-turnover ratio out of the post stood out enough to NBA scouts that the Hawks drafted him despite never bringing him in for a pre-draft workout.
Ejiofor, born in Dallas to Nigerian parents, watched the selection unfold at a family celebration in Garland, Texas, rather than the draft green room and expressed his post draft feelings as: "Overwhelming tears of joy, excitement, and it just felt like a weight off my shoulders.
"It's like a dream come true. One of those things, is this really happening moment?"
Asked what kind of player Atlanta was getting, Ejiofor said: "A player that is willing to do it all on both sides of the ball."
The second round produced four more picks. Kentucky guard Otega Oweh was selected 41st by Miami Heat's slot before being traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder, where he will share a backcourt with two former Kentucky teammates in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Cason Wallace.
Oweh scored 1,255 points across his two seasons at Kentucky, the most by any player in his first two seasons in program history, earning back-to-back All-SEC Second Team honours and authoring a 35-point NCAA Tournament performance against Santa Clara that included a buzzer-beater to force overtime.
Oweh said before the draft that he expected the patience that built his college career to carry over: "I feel like I'm going to have a real successful NBA career.
"My biggest thing is making an impact on whatever team I'm on. My brothers, they always said the cream will rise to the top. So it's just continue to do what you do, continue to work, and you're gonna be seen. That's just been my mindset all my life."
Tennessee Volunteers center Felix Okpara, born in Lagos, went 46th to Orlando's slot before being traded to the Washington Wizards. Okpara picked up basketball only shortly before moving to the United States in 2018, and his draft profile centered entirely on his length and rim protection rather than polish.
Virginia Tech forward Tobi Lawal, raised in London, went 48th to the Dallas Mavericks, where he will have to leapfrog Daniel Gafford and Dereck Lively for minutes behind Kyrie Irving.
And Virginia Cavaliers center Ugonna Onyenso, born in Owerri, Imo State, was stunned to hear his name called with the 53rd selection on a pick that bounced from Houston to the Knicks before landing with Detroit, giving the Pistons two Nigerian-origin rookies in the same draft.
Onyenso's surprised reaction drew laughs on the broadcast when he was asked what the moment meant for his mother back home. The clip of the moment circulated widely afterward under the caption: "Go call your mom and tell her you got drafted to the NBA, Ugonna!!"
Six in a single class is the highest since 2020 when Precious Achiuwa and Udoka Azubuike, both born in Nigeria, were selected alongside Isaac Okoro, Onyeka Okongwu, Zeke Nnaji, Desmond Bane, Aaron Nesmith, Daniel Oturu and Jordan Nwora.
Players of Nigerian origin have now been drafted in the first round 27 times since Hakeem Olajuwon went No. 1 overall in 1984, an average of roughly one every other year across 42 drafts, but the distribution is heavily back-loaded: 14 of those 27 first-round selections, have come since 2013.
Across all rounds, over 40 players of Nigerian origin have been drafted into the NBA since 1984.
Detroit's picking of two Nigerian-origin rookies in Okorie and Onyenso, picked 36 spots apart, is itself a small piece of history, the first time a single team has drafted two Nigerian-origin players in the same draft.
Four more players of Nigerian descent went undrafted. Arizona forward Tobe Awaka, signed a two-way deal with the Chicago Bulls, while Vanderbilt forward AK Okereke did the same with the Los Angeles Lakers. Gonzaga center Graham Ike and Miami center Ernest Udeh Jr. both went unsigned.