Azubuike bouncing back from injury
As quickly as Nike Team Florida center Udoka Azubuike began making his
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mark in the Nike EYBL, he was sidelined with a shin injury that caused him to
miss the July live period. An injury that kept him somewhat idle until this past
weekend when we caught up to him at The Workout, an annual event hosted by Tom
Topping, the Director of Nike Team Florida.
"The doctor said I couldn't run around or do any jumping, so I just tried to go
to the gym and take some shots without jumping," Azubuike said.
Ranked the No. 14 player in the Rivals150 for the class of 2016, Azubuike was
the highest ranked player at The Workout and even though he said he's not in
good shape yet, he made his presence known.
"I was trying to compete like I always do," he said. "I'm trying to get back in
shape to prove to that I can still play so I just came out and played my game."
Not only did the Nigerian native compete, he also showed new wrinkles to his
offensive skills. We watched as Azubuike hit a 10-foot jumper on one possession,
then saw him put the ball on the deck out on the wing and get to the rim for a
reverse dunk on another possession. Something that he never would have tried
last season.
"This time last year I wasn't comfortable coming outside the paint and teams
tried to move me out of my comfort zone," said Azubuike. "So this time around
I'm trying to shoot a jump shot, trying to make a hook shot."
Unfortunately his injury prevented him from putting in as much work as he would
have liked to.
"It has not been a good summer for me because of my shin injury," he said. "I
haven't been playing but I'm going to the gym now, I'm working on trying to
shoot better because I keep getting a lot of double-teams and I want to be able
to hit that jump shot and I'm working on my hook shot. I'm just trying to get
better."
Azubuike listed offers from Wake Forest, Florida State,
Kentucky have been to Potter's House Christian Academy (Jacksonville,
Fla.) recently to see him and believes they are both close to offering him.
Duke.
We asked the junior how he was handling all of the attention he's receiving from
college coaches.
"It's not really a big distraction to me because I allow my host parents and my
coaches to handle most of that stuff," he said. "Right now I'm just trying to
get to know them better. I'm trying to get a better understanding of their team,
their style of play and things like that. How they use their big man. I'm
looking for a school that suits me and my style of play."
Young for his class, he just turned 15 years old two weeks ago; Azubuike told us
he's still growing.
"I'm like 6-11 and a half when they measured me so I'm close to 7-foot," he
said. "I'm trying to lose some weight; I'm up to 260 right now."
At The Workout, Azubuike's wing span was measured at 7-foot-6.
The last AAU event that Azubuike played in was Nike EYBL Session four in
Minneapolis where he averaged 17.2 points, 9.7 rebounds and four blocks per
game.
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