When looking at the biggest risers in the 2024 NCAA Basketball recruiting class, it’s hard to find someone more notable than Patrick Ngongba II. He’s gone from completely off the radar to a borderline five-star prospect within a year and a star-making.
Ngongba is a 6’11 center from Fairfax, Virginia whose offensive game has developed into being an all-around threat, including being capable of shooting from three-point range. His size allows him to be an interior defensive presence and there’s still some growth his body has doing.
After barely getting attention from power conference programs, Ngongba now has the blue bloods after him, including a couple that made his cut to eight teams. Here’s a look at how he’d fit potentially with each of them.
Duke Blue Devils
After striking out on centers to join the roster for the upcoming season, Duke will be rolling with senior Ryan Young, as well as star forward Kyle Filipowski to play the five-spot. Both will be gone after next year, allowing whichever center commit to likely be able to start on Day 1.
The issue for Ngongba here is that there’s another five-star rising prospect that the Blue Devils are after in Flory Bidunga. There could be room for both if necessary but there are other locations that could offer guaranteed starting spots for the recruit in question.
Indiana Hoosiers
After losing both Trayce Jackson-Davis and Race Thompson, the Hoosiers were able to land a pair of center transfers this offseason in Payton Sparks and Kel’el Ware. A former five-star prospect himself, Ware could be going pro after next season if he has a breakout campaign.
If that happens, there would be room for Ngongba to come in and likely start or at least share the center minutes with Sparks out the gate. Indiana clearly is looking for a big 2024 class and also is after Bidunga but assuming that won’t happen, this could be a viable option.
Kansas Jayhawks
The Jayhawks lost two former top-40 centers this offseason in Ernest Udeh Jr. and Zuby Ejiofor but did add Santa Clara transfer, Parker Braun. They also have Michigan transfer Hunter Dickinson on board as well and he could stay either 1-2 more NCAA Basketball.
For a prospect like Ngongba that may not be ready to contribute big minutes out of the gate, Kansas would be a risky option. There are just as many freshmen stars that ended up in the NBA like Gradey Dick as there are others that had to transfer out like Udeh and Ejiofor. It’ll come down to the likelihood of getting minutes and staking his claim to a rotation spot.
Kansas State Wildcats
Coach Jerome Tang landed a star forward transfer this offseason in Arthur Kaluma from Creighton to pair with returning starting center, Nae’Qwan Tomlin. He’s back for one more year and former LSU big man Jerrell Colbert is also on the roster, but he’s yet to get extended minutes on the court.
After a huge first year with the program, Coach Tang is looking to translate it into a big future recruiting class. They landed four-star point guard David Castillo in the 2024 class but center is the biggest need. This would easily be the safest option for Ngongba when it comes to minutes and he’d very likely start as a freshman here.
Kentucky Wildcats
Considering how Coach John Calipari is always willing to play freshmen, it makes sense why a rising prospect like Ngongba would be interested. And there’s a chance that the frontcourt will completely turn over again, as West Virginia transfer Tre Mitchell has one year left and five-star big man Aaron Bradshaw could be a one-and-done as well.
The issue here is that if Ngongba is only a center at the NCAA Basketball level, there are already two bigs on the Kentucky roster in Ugonna Onyenso and 2024 commit, Somto Cyril. While this prospect is on the level of those two on paper, there’s a definite logjam that’ll occur that could force someone either out or on the bench entirely.
Michigan Wolverines
With All-American center Hunter Dickinson now gone, Tarris Reed Jr. is the only true five-man on the roster. He’s not proven in extended minutes so there’s no telling as to what the position will look like going forward. Either way, Ngongba would at minimum, get minutes behind him as a freshman.
Coach Juwan Howard likes athletic bigs, having a similar big man in the past in Moussa Diabate, who ended up being a one-and-done prospect. Since both Tray Jackson and Olivier Nkamhoua will be gone after next season, there’s room for another big man to come in and make an impact.
Providence Friars
New head coach Kim English is after a number of five-star prospects in the 2024 class, looking to make a big splash. The center position is the biggest need on paper, as both Josh Oduro and Will McNair Jr. are entering their final NCAA Basketball seasons.
When it comes to potential playing time, this could be the best possible option for Ngongba since there isn’t anyone else that would be on the roster. The only question would be whether or not Coach English is the best person to develop him into a future pro since he’s only been a D-I HC for a couple of years. So from that standpoint, he’d be a big risk.
UConn Huskies
When it comes to the development of centers, Coach Dan Hurley and UConn have plenty of momentum. Star big man Adama Sanogo was the leading scorer on the national champions team and his replacement, Donovan Clingan, is a consensus breakout candidate for next season.
The Huskies are likely losing Clingan after next season, so that would leave incoming freshman Youssouf Singare as the other big man on the roster. So Ngongba can come in and have a role early on but like with Cam Spencer replacing Jordan Hawkins, there’s always a chance that the team can replace Clingan with a future transfer the following offseason.