Brits in College Men – November/December recap - Hoopsfix.com
Home / Brits in College / Brits in College Men – November/December recap

Brits in College Men – November/December recap

By on January 4, 2024
Great Osobor Utah State

The first two months of the 2023-24 college season are in the books, so it’s time to check out how the Brits are getting on in Division 1 and 2 action.

NCAA Division 1

Great Osobor
17.3 PPG, 9.2 RPG, 1.6 BPG

Osobor has been in unstoppable form once again and this time with Utah State (12-1) having transferred from MSU. The junior prospect had a career-high 31-point haul to go with 10 rebounds and four assists in a 93-84 victory over Southern Utah – it was the first of six double-doubles for Osobor with an 18-point, 16-rebound performance coming in the next game.

Cam Hildreth
15.7 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 3.1 APG

Hildreth made the perfect start to the season with Wake Forest (9-3) after exploding for a career-high 33 points along with six rebounds and five assists to start his junior year. The all-action guard has logged heavy minutes and only been held to single figures in scoring once all season so far with a 21-point effort coming towards the end of November.

Ethan Price finished 2023 on a high with an impressive 25-point display for Eastern Washington (6-7) in their 87-61 victory over Sacramento State. The junior forward capped a run of five straight games with at least 10 points to take his scoring average to 11.2 points per game having previously netted 19 points at Stanford in November.

Kaiyem Cleary is averaging 12.9 points per game at Le Moyne (5-9) with 21 points in just 16 minutes in November as well as more recent 19-point outings in successive games. Tariq Balogun posted a career-high of 21 points in the penultimate game of December against Niagara having earlier netted 16 points for Binghampton (8-5).

Amari Williams has 11.1 points and 8.1 rebounds per game averages for Drexel (7-6) with five double-doubles on the year so far. The senior forward has season-highs of 19 points and 15 rebounds in separate games with teammate Mate Okros scoring a personal best of 16 points in the penultimate game of 2023 with a 6-8 shooting night.

Meanwhile, Josh Uduje fired in 19 points in the season opener and has had five other games in double figures in scoring for the red-hot Utah State (12-1). Sultan Adewale marked his second start with Iona with eight points, nine rebounds and three blocks in a victory over Sacred Heart with the freshman later posting a best of 11 points.

Ade Adebayo has started every game for UC Davis (7-6) with a best of 14 points in the season opener, while Eduardo Andre also produced a season-high in the first game with 17 points for Fresno State (7-6) with back-to-back games with 10 rebounds in December and Sam Alajiki scored 17 points on debut for Rice (6-8).

Giovanni Emejuru is averaging 10.8 points per game at Siena College (2-11) with a season-high of 20 points coming in November. The redshirt sophomore also has two double-doubles to his name including a stellar 18-point, 15-rebound performance against Bryant.

Former London Lion Zamoku Weluche-Ume had his best showing for George Washington (11-2) after contributing eight points in 17 minutes in his final appearance of 2023 against Bowie State – hitting two triples in successive games.

Freshman Jeffrey Akintolu was handed a first start in the penultimate game of the year and contributed 11 points and seven rebounds in a crushing win for NJIT (4-8). Elijah Walsh also moved into the starting lineup at Campbell (6-7) with back-to-back 10+ point games in December including a four-of-five shooting night from downtown.

Michael Belle started all but one game for VCU (8-5), having been labelled as the best freshman defender ESPN’s Fran Fraschilla has season, with a season’s best of 14 points coming against Iowa State, whilst also collecting 11 rebounds in a game to open up December. Teammate Tobi Lawal is having a breakout year, having recorded three double-doubles in his role off the bench with averages of 9.0 points and 6.5 rebounds per game – posting a season-high 16 points against Memphis.

Alex Tew started the season with 12 points and matched his season-high in the final game of 2023 with Weber State (9-4) having started every game so far with teammate Louie Jordan netting nine points in three separate games – all 12 of his field goals this season coming from beyond the arc.

Junior big man Joel Armotrading had an imposing start at Cal Poly (4-10) with 21 points, eight rebounds and five blocks in the season opener. Toto Fagbenle has a best of 13 points for Coppin State (1-13) with Ndewedo Newbury firing in 17 points for San Francisco (11-4) in a win at Vanderbilt.

Meanwhile, Wesley Oba is averaging 7.2 points per game at Delaware State with a season-high of 15 points on two occasions along with a double-double. Josh Ogundele had his best game with 12 points and seven rebounds during November for Middle Tennessee (5-9) with Rory Stewart and Vasja Pandza both netting eight points for Rhode Island (7-7) and Seattle (8-5), respectively.

Tomiwa Sulaiman netted 16 points on 6-7 shooting against UMBC in December with the junior starting the final two games of 2023 for Towson (7-6). There was a 14-point and six-rebound effort from Theo Hughes, while Hosana Kitenge recently celebrated his birthday with a 16-point haul for the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns (7-6).

Latrell Davis had a top score of 16 points in his second appearance for San Jose State (7-6) before closing out 2023 with back-to-back 12-point games to build some momentum. It was also an enjoyable finish for James Okonkwo – netting seven points for his first points at UNC (9-3) in a win for the Tar Heels.

There was also a long-awaited return to action from injury for Micheal Anumba in the final game of 2023 with the grad student contributing seven points to a big victory for Winthrop (9-6).

NCAA Division 2

Blaize Sagna
22.0 PPG, 4.9 RPG, 29-70 3PT

Sagna has set Minnesota Crookston (4-8) alight at times this season with four 30-point games through 12 appearances. The junior guard fired in 34 points in an early season loss and recorded back-to-back double-doubles at the start of December – including 31 points and 10 rebounds at Mary. Sagna followed it up with a career-high 36 points and currently ranks second in NSIC scoring.

Sean Trumper
19.3 PPG, 7.9 RPG

It’s been a very bright start for Trumper in his junior year at Franklin Pierce (3-9) with just one game scoring single figures in 11 appearances. Trumper has ballooned his scoring average from 11.2 points to just over 19 with a season-high of 25 points on two occasions as well as finishing 2023 with 24 points and 11 rebounds against Dominican (N.Y) for his second double-double.

Elsewhere, Tim Adetukasi is averaging 15.5 points per game heading into 2024 with four 20-point games so far for Concordia University Irvine (7-4). Adetukasi has started all but one game for the Golden Eagles and actually produced a season-high of 26 points off the bench, whilst recording a first double-double in a return to the starting lineup at the start of December.

Aaron Badibo has been having a standout senior year so far at Malone (8-4) with 11 games out of 12 in double figures – putting up 15.1 points and 8.3 rebounds per outing. The former ABL MVP opened up with 18 points and 13 rebounds for the first of five double-doubles with 23 points to end November’s action before a season best of 24 in the next game having netted six triples in each encounter.

Niall Harris is another Brit averaging double digits in scoring with 11.3 points and 6.9 rebounds per game at Florida Tech (9-1). The grad student put up a best of 22 points on 7-of-8 shooting in an overtime loss at Embry-Riddle and closed out the calendar year with 15 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals.

Sophomore Fin Woodward started with double figures in four of the first five gamed for West Liberty (9-3) and opened December with a best of 16 points along with nine rebounds and three assists in a 91-85 victory before their seven-game unbeaten start was ended.

Louis Grante-Halliday had his best game for Western Washington (9-3) in their penultimate game of 2023 with 15 points, five rebounds, seven assists and four steals against Langara, while fellow freshman Callum Crossman posted 13 points and eight rebounds in 15 minutes of a big win for Fairmont State (8-3).

Franklin Agu hit double figures for the first time with 12 points to round out November’s action with St Mary’s (5-5) and had eight points and eight rebounds to close 2023 – and Kanu Gudza had a best of eight points to open December prior to back-to-back starts for William Jewell (7-4).

Do you like our work?

We have a tiny favour to ask. In 2018 we set out to make Hoopsfix sustainable by building our relationship directly with our readers. Up until now, Hoopsfix has been creating editorials, videos and podcasts to provide sorely missing coverage of the British game and its distinct culture and community.

We have funded Hoopsfix with our freelance work creating basketball media, but sadly that means not only does it fall behind our client’s priorities, but some of those clients are the same organisations we need to report objectively on putting us in a conflicted position.

We want to devote more time to our mission of helping British basketball reach its potential, and produce even more content for the basketball community by making Hoopsfix a sustainable 100% independent business funded directly by our readers through Patreon.

If everyone who enjoys our content chose to support us, our future would be much more secure. For as little as $3 per month, you can support Hoopsfix – and it only takes a minute.

We are tremendously honoured and humbled to have a community of people who value what we do, and we look forward to being at the forefront of the British game as it continues to evolve.

Support Hoopsfix cards

Related Items

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *