How George School’s Kachi Nzeh went from sprinter to fast-rising basketball recruit for Xavier
As Nzeh started playing organized basketball and developing at George School, it became apparent that he could become a high-major recruit.
When Ben Luber was hired as the new coach for George School in September 2019, he brought with him a plethora of experience playing and coaching at a high level. A former point guard at Penn State, Luber arrived at George School following successful stints as an assistant coach at Rider and as an associate head coach at Binghamton.
But George School, which plays in the PAISAA tournament’s quarterfinal round on Tuesday, posed a different challenge for Luber. It wasn’t just that this was Luber’s first head coaching position. The timing of his hiring also meant that he wouldn’t be able to recruit players in his first year.
Right after taking over at George School, Luber received a call from Allen Rubin, a local Philadelphia basketball guru and talent evaluator. Rubin called to tell Luber about a 6-foot-8 forward at Upper Darby who, prior to playing basketball, had been a junior Olympian in track and field.
Onyekachi “Kachi” Nzeh was in his first season of playing organized basketball at the time. Nzeh grew up playing soccer and track and field, sports that his parents played when they lived in Nigeria. Nzeh found success on the track, securing a gold medal in the 400 meters as a 14-year-old. He continued running as a freshman at Upper Darby but was forced to quit after his growth spurt made him injury prone.
Given Nzeh’s 6-foot-8 frame, a transition to basketball made sense. Shortly after he started at Upper Darby, he began to look at opportunities to take his game to the next level.
“I honestly didn’t even know what a prep school was,” Nzeh said. “I had played at Upper Darby my sophomore year, and that’s when I really started looking around and looking up schools in the area that were good at basketball.”
Luber recalls writing Nzeh’s name up on his whiteboard. He also recalls thinking that his odds of getting Nzeh were low. On that same whiteboard, Luber wrote that 10 private schools were interested in Nzeh.
Yet, as Nzeh’s familiarity with George School and Luber increased, the greater his interest became.
“When I went on the visit, I loved the campus; I loved what I saw,” Nzeh said. “From there, I just believed myself and believed what coach Luber was saying about the vision he had for me.”
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Nzeh reclassified and arrived at George School with three years of development ahead of him. Growing up, Nzeh had always followed the example of his older brother, Chigozie, who played many of the same sports that Kachi did. Once his brother stopped playing sports, Nzeh shifted his focus to modeling his training style after the likes of Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, and LeBron James.
As a prep school, George School offered Nzeh the chance to follow those intense training styles. It became normal to find Nzeh working with Luber at early morning or evening workouts. Those workouts, paired with Nzeh’s commitment to improvement, helped his game make strides.
“He’s a competitor, so I mean he never was satisfied,” Luber said. “I would show him old clips of when he first started because we film everything … When you see the video, it looks very different. It looks like he’s just learning to play basketball, and now he’s fluid.
“I didn’t give Kachi work ethic, I just gave him some tools along the way and showed up and coached him.”
As Nzeh improved on the court, he started to draw the attention of Division I programs. Unlike most high-major recruits, Nzeh didn’t get recruited through his play with an AAU team. Instead, he picked up interest at the high school live events entering his junior season. Luber refers to that live period as a coming out party of sorts for Nzeh. After entering the summer as an unknown player, Nzeh became a three-star recruit with offers from the likes of Xavier, Maryland, Miami, and Penn State.
“When I went to Xavier, I really felt that coach Sean Miller was a family man when it comes to his team and staff,” Nzeh said. “Everyone was happy, everyone was really connected, and he made me feel that way as well on my visit.
“From there, I was like this is really the spot for me. I saw some similar things in Sean Miller when it comes to how he treats his players to Coach Luber.”
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Nzeh committed to Xavier in September and signed his letter of intent just two months later. As he looks to his future in the Big East, Nzeh is already planning on carrying his work ethic over to the Division I level.
“I know it’s not going to be easy when I go to that school,” Nzeh said. “I’m just really excited for the opportunity. I know I’m going to have to work hard; I know no spots are guaranteed when I go there. So, it’s just going to be the same work ethic that I’ve been putting in for the past few years that I know I’m going to have to continue on.”