Zeke Nnaji’s personality could help him scale NBA draft boards

Even in the sterile world of virtual interviews with NBA teams, Zeke Nnaji has still managed to find an advantage.

That is, a piano sits behind him in his Zoom background. And, as Arizona fans found when he belted out the national anthem at last season’s Red-Blue Game, the former Wildcat forward knows how to play it pretty well.

“Half of the teams asked him to play something, and he’s taken requests,” said Adam Pensack, Nnaji’s agent. “Charlotte named a song for him to play, and he did it. This is a guy who, whatever he puts his mind to it, he’s going to be good at it.”

Now training in Las Vegas, Nnaji was unavailable for comment, but Pensack said his intelligence and ability to play piano are among the advantages he’s trying to create during this elongated pre-draft process. He’s spoken with roughly two-thirds of NBA teams so far, Pensack said.

Normally, by now, Nnaji would be suiting up for an NBA Summer League team that had taken him in what was supposed to be the June 25 NBA draft. But not only was the draft pushed back all the way to Oct. 16, but also no in-person workouts have been scheduled, and there’s still doubt about whether a combine or any sort of workouts will happen.

So for now, it’s nothing but virtual interviews and workouts away from scouts in Las Vegas. Pensack said Nnaji has been preparing at Impact Basketball, where former UA teammate Josh Green has also started playing.

But those restrictions might also be an advantage for Nnaji, because they’re forcing NBA evaluators to look back on Nnaji’s game film from Arizona — and the in-person scouting many teams did at UA practices last fall, when Nnaji quickly emerged as another potential first-round pick along with the more highly touted Green and Nico Mannion.

“A large number of (NBA) teams went to see Arizona practice before the season,” Pensack said, “and the people who went to see that really paid a lot of attention to Zeke … they came away scratching their heads, like ‘Who is that guy?’”

That was pretty much the same thing the rest of the college basketball world did once the season began in November. Nnaji shot 80.7% over his first six games, went on to lead the Wildcats in scoring (16.1 points) and rebounds (8.6), and was named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year.

If the NBA combine or in-person opportunities ahead are limited to individual drills or testing, Pensack said, Nnaji could gain an advantage there, too. Pensack said Nnaji is up to 245 pounds on a frame that he said will measure over 6-10 with shoes (UA listed him at 6-11 and 240 last season).

“In that kind of environment, Zeke is capable of wowing,” Pensack said. “The guy has outstanding size. He’s been vegan for the last year or so and his body fat is low. So he’s gained weight in the right way while maintaining his explosiveness and quickness.”

Still, it isn’t clear exactly what Nnaji’s ability and accomplishments will translate into on draft night.

Nnaji is projected a low first-round pick by the Athletic at 25, a high second-round pick by ESPN (35) and NBADraft.net (33) and sits squarely on the fence in Hoopshype’s composite mock draft, where he’s ranked No. 30, which coincides with the last pick in the first round.

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Whatever the case, Pensack said he believes Nnaji will be drafted higher than expected, largely because of who is he off the court as much as who he is on it.

“When you look back at drafts, there’s always all these hits and misses and surprises, and a lot of that comes down to stuff that has nothing to do with a player as a player — it has to do with a player as a person,” Pensack said. “My message to teams is Zeke is No. 1 when it comes to being the most likely to hit his ceiling, wherever that ceiling is.

“Teams have to figure out where the ceiling is. But I just know that whatever that is, he will get there because he doesn’t go out to clubs or do any of the stuff that a lot of young guys are doing. He’s just not going to get in his own way. He’s laser-focused on being the best he can be.”

Pinder reportedly signing with Australian club

Former Arizona forward Keanu Pinder reportedly is heading home Down Under to continue his professional basketball career.

According to Australia’s ESPN outlet, Pinder has agreed to play for the NBL’s Adelaide 36ers after two seasons with Legia Warszawa of Poland. Pinder, who played two seasons for Arizona through 2017-18, averaged 7.1 points and 5.7 rebounds in Poland League play in 2019-20.

Pinder is a native of Perth and the son of Kendal “Tiny” Pinder, a former Harlem Globetrotter and European pro who played for the NBL’s Perth Wildcats.

Four-star French forward makes college choice Sunday

Alex Tchikou, a four-star power forward from France who played for Glendale Dream City Christian last season, said he’ll announce his college choice at noon Sunday.

Newly reclassified to 2020, Tchikou listed nine finalists last week: Arizona, Oregon, Mississippi State, USC, Saint Mary’s, Florida State, Illinois, Alabama and St. John’s.

However, the Wildcats are not expected to pursue Tchikou aggressively because they don’t have a scholarship remaining for the 2020 recruiting class.

2022 offer extended by UA to Seattle guard

The Wildcats continued their recruiting plunge into the deep Seattle talent pool last week, offering a scholarship to four-star 2022 point guard Koren Johnson of Garfield High School.

According to 247 Sports, Johnson entered June with offers from Montana, San Diego and Washington, and then added offers from LMU, Pepperdine and Washington State.