NBA Academy Nigerian Star, Ighovodja Signs for Oral Roberts University Men’s Basketball Team

Oral Roberts men’s basketball head coach Paul Mills announced that Joy Ighovodja will join the Golden Eagles for the 2023-24 season.

“Joy is a 6-foot-4 lefty who has point guard skills and has terrific length for a guard his size,” ORU Head Coach Paul Mills said.

“He can handle, shoot, pass and has a phenomenal work ethic. He is currently playing in the NBA Academy Africa where he has a chance to go against high quality players every day that has propelled his development. Joy’s future with ORU basketball is bright and I’m so glad he chose to be a part of the ORU family.”

A guard from Nigeria, Ighovodja was one of 12 NBA Academy Africa student-athletes to participate in the 2022 Basketball Africa League (BAL) season from March to May of 2022. The BAL is a professional league operated in partnership by the NBA and FIBA that features 12 of the top club teams from across Africa.

In July 2022, Ighovodja participated in the 2022 NBA Academy Games, a series of exhibition games featuring top prospects from outside the U.S., including from the league’s four academies located in Australia, India, Mexico and Senegal, competing against each other and elite select teams in front of NCAA coaches and NBA scouts. He helped lead NBA Academy Africa to a first-place finish in the tournament.

Ighovodja is the 16th NBA Academy Africa prospect to commit to an NCAA Division-I men’s program. In total, more than 80 NBA Academy participants have gone on to attend NCAA D-1 schools and 17 have signed professional contracts.