Skip to content
Link copied to clipboard

Temple's Obi Enechionyia working hard to get noticed by NBA teams

His first pre-draft workout will be Tuesday with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Senior forward Obi Enechionyia attempts a jump shot during the Owls' game against UCF at The Liacouras Center on Sunday, February 25, 2018. SYDNEY SCHAEFER / Staff Photographer
Senior forward Obi Enechionyia attempts a jump shot during the Owls' game against UCF at The Liacouras Center on Sunday, February 25, 2018. SYDNEY SCHAEFER / Staff PhotographerRead moreSYDNEY SCHAEFER

Recent Temple graduate Obi Enechionyia isn't projected to be selected in most mock drafts, but it still remains his goal to earn a spot in the NBA. The draft is June 21.

Enechionyia has been working out for the last month in Las Vegas at Impact Basketball with several other aspiring NBA players.

While there could be overseas options, Enechionyia wants to give his immediate effort toward reaching the NBA.

"I am focused on that," Enechionyia said Saturday during a phone interview. "We will see what happens and I'll work on getting on a summer league team and see what I can do."

Enechionyia will have his first pre-draft workout on Tuesday when he visits the Los Angeles Lakers.

He said he hopes there will be more workouts and added that he wasn't going to schedule any until after the NBA draft combine, which ended Saturday in Chicago.  Enechionyia wasn't invited to the draft combine.

Last season, Enechionyia applied for the NBA draft but didn't hire an agent and withdrew his name to return to Temple. He had a pre-draft workout last year with the Boston Celtics.

Since Temple's season ended this year, the 6-foot-10 Enechionyia says the most improvement he has made is on the defensive end.

NBA teams "all know I can shoot and the biggest thing is to be able to defend multiple positions," he said. "… They want to see defense, rebounding and playing with energy."

Enechionyia shot 36.6 percent from beyond the arc in his career at Temple. This season, he averaged 10.8 points and 5.8 rebounds in 29.9 minutes while shooting 35 percent from three-point range. He was third in the American Athletic Conference with 1.4 blocks per game.

He recently returned to Temple to graduate with a degree in communications. He was named the AAC's scholar athlete of the year.

"This has been great for me working with all these good players in Las Vegas," said Enechionyia, who finished with 1,296 career points and 614 rebounds. "I feel my game has continued to improve."