Morgan State ahead Naya Ojukwu is on the transfer. After a breakout season within the MEAC, the 6’1” redshirt freshman has dedicated to the College of California, bringing her recreation from an HBCU program to one of many Energy 4’s latest members within the ACC.
Ojukwu averaged 17.1 factors and 9.0 rebounds per recreation for Morgan State through the 2024–25 season in simply 15 appearances. Her effectivity and dominance within the paint helped her earn second-team All-MEAC honors. Regardless of lacking a number of video games, she shot practically 48% from the sector and rapidly turned one of many convention’s most impactful gamers.
Initially from Idaho, the place she was the 2020-21 Idaho Gatorade Participant of the 12 months and MaxPreps Idaho Participant of the 12 months, Ojukwu started her profession at Utah earlier than transferring to Gonzaga. As a freshman at Utah, she performed in 4 video games, averaging 5.3 minutes, 3.3 factors, and a pair of.3 rebounds per recreation. After receiving a hardship waiver from the NCAA, she transferred to Gonzaga as a real freshman, showing in 9 video games. She totaled 11 factors, 9 rebounds, three steals, and two blocks in 56 minutes earlier than transferring once more, this time to an HBCU.
Likelihood to Develop
Nevertheless, she discovered her rhythm at Morgan State and delivered on her potential. Her time on the HBCU allowed her to guide, develop, and showcase her expertise on a nationwide stage. That development caught the eye of the College of California, which is reloading its roster because it prepares to enter the ACC.
Her departure is a major second for Morgan State ladies’s basketball, which lately noticed longtime head coach Ed Davis Jr. retire after greater than a decade main this system. Ojukwu’s transfer continues a rising pattern of elite HBCU expertise incomes alternatives in main conferences by the switch portal.
As she transitions to the subsequent chapter of her profession, Ojukwu represents the extent of expertise creating inside HBCU applications like Morgan State. Her success underscores the rising visibility of HBCU ladies’s basketball and the affect gamers from these applications can have at each stage of school athletics.
