Brits in College Men | Mid-season check in

With a brand new year now upon us, the action and excitement of the 2025-26 college basketball campaign is set to step up a notch.

As such, this would be a good time to check in on the impact which some British players in college have had so far up to this point in the season.

NCAA Division 1

Unfortunately for Tobi Lawal, the CoLA product suffered an ankle injury earlier in the season which caused him to be out of action for Virginia Tech for nine games dating back to late November.

Prior to the injury, Lawal had racked up six appearances up to that point in the 2025-26 campaign with the Hokies getting a win in every game in which the former VCU player featured in the lineup, including in the regular season opener when Lawal put up a season high 20 points and grabbed 12 rebounds against Charleston Southern.

The 6’8” senior did return to action in Virginia Tech’s 69-68 loss to Stanford, where he registered five points and two blocks in 18 minutes in the defeat.

Lawal has scored 10 points in back to back games since the loss to the Cardinal. The British forward finished with 10 points in a win over California where he also grabbed seven boards, and he had a 10 point output again and also came down with eight rebounds in a one point loss to SMU in which the Hokies fell to a halfcourt prayer at the buzzer.

Virginia Tech now currently sit with a record of 13-5 and for the season so far as a whole, Lawal is averaging 11.3 points and 8.9 boards per game for Mike Young’s side, as per hokiesports.com.

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Giovanni Emejuru has been having an impactful season for East Carolina, despite the Pirates having their struggles to date as they sit with a win-loss record of 5-12.

Emejuru has broken the 20 point scoring barrier four times so far this campaign, and he has a season high of 23 points which he notched up in the third game of the year during a close win over Elizabeth City State. In fact, the Pirates’ big man has now produced double-digit scoring games in nine straight contests.

The 6’10” senior from Leicester also had five blocks in a November defeat to Charleston Southern and up to this point in the season, he has amassed a total of eight double-doubles including in his last two outings in losses to UAB and South Florida.

Overall, Emejuru is averaging a near double-double of 14.4 points and 9.6 rebounds so far this college basketball season, as per ecupirates.com.

Zamoku Weluche-Ume is a British player who has really been starting to hit his stride in the past few games for North Carolina A&T.

The redshirt sophomore has produced double digit scoring displays in six consecutive outings, including recording a season high 19 points in a loss to UNC-Wilmington on December 29.

Overall, Weluche-Ume has reached at least 10 points or more in eight out of the last nine contests and he’s also had a double-double in N.C. A&T’s last two games.

So far this campaign, the Barking Abbey alum is averaging 10.9 points and 7.1 boards per game for a North Carolina A&T team who are currently on a five game losing streak and have thus seen their record drop to 7-9.

Fin Woodward started the year in solid form for the IU Indianapolis Jaguars, although the Jaguars themselves have only managed to record a total of five wins so far this college basketball season.

In November, Woodward scored in double figures in four straight contests and he registered a season high 18 points to go along with seven assists in his final game in 2025 during a loss to Cleveland State.

The senior from Bristol reached double digits in scoring once again on New Year’s Day when he compiled 10 points, six rebounds and five dimes when the Jaguars went down to Northern Kentucky.

Woodward had a season high 10 assists in a defeat to Wright State in early January and overall, he has averaged numbers of 8.2 points, 5.2 rebounds and 5.4 assists so far this season, as per espn.com.

Buffalo centre Tim Oboh has seen improvement from his freshman year to his sophomore year as he has increased his scoring average from 3.9 points per game in 2024-25 to 8.5 points per game so far this season, as per ubbulls.com.

Oboh recorded a season high 21 points in Buffalo’s victory over Ball State in early January and he also had a couple of big outings in December for the Bulls, who currently hold a 13-4 record.

In Buffalo’s triumph over UMBC, Oboh scored a productive 19 points and he also notched a 15 point and 13 rebound double-double in a win against Western Michigan.

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Karyiek Dixon has been a steady contributor for the Western Illinois Leathernecks, averaging 8.2 points and 6.9 rebounds a game in their 2025-26 college basketball campaign which has only yielded four wins to date.

The senior hit his season high of 17 points twice in back to back games in December against Hannibal-La Grange and North Dakota.

Dixon also had a double-double in both these contests as he grabbed 11 boards against Hannibal-La Grange and an incredible 18 rebounds on the road against North Dakota.

In late November, the 6’5” forward went on a stretch of three consecutive double digit scoring performances as he posted 16 points against Coastal Carolina, 10 points against North Dakota at home and 12 points when Western Illinois faced St. Ambrose.

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UC Santa Barbara’s Hosana Kitenge has started to hit some nice form in the past few games.

Kitenge went on a stretch of four straight games of scoring at least 10 points or more from mid-December to early January, including bagging a season high 16 points on New Year’s Day in a road defeat at the hands of Cal State Fullerton.

The grad student, who previously played at University of Louisiana-Lafayette, has also reached double figures in scoring on four other occasions this campaign, including in the first two games of the season.

So far in 2025-26, Kitenge has put up numbers of 8.1 points and 3.9 rebounds per game for a UCSB side that has amassed a 10-7 record to date.

Rory Stewart has made his presence felt this year for a Florida Gulf Coast side that currently has a record of 7-11.

The 6’8” forward recorded a season high 18 points in a close loss to Georgia Southern in November and he also scored 17 points in a defeat on the road against UCF in December.

Stewart backed up that performance against the Knights over the next two games with 14 points in a win over Fort Lauderdale, and with a 12 point outing in a loss to Central Arkansas.

In total, there have been seven games this season in which Stewart has compiled a scoring output of double digits including in a recent loss to Lipscomb on January 10 when he dropped 12 points. As a whole, the senior has averaged 8.6 points per contest so far this campaign, as per fgcuathletics.com.

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NCAA Division 2

Ed Onyia has played some good basketball so far in his freshman campaign for Saint Anselm University in Division II.

The 2025 Hoopsfix All Star Classic MVP was recently on a streak of eight consecutive games of scoring at least ten points or more, with the run coming to an end in a victory over Pace on January 10.

During that streak, Onyia recorded his season high to date of 20 points in a road victory over Saint Michael’s in early December.

Two games after reaching the 20 point mark, the 6’7” forward dropped 16 points in Saint Anselm’s victorious mid-December matchup with Bridgeport away from home.

For the campaign so far, Onyia is averaging 9.5 points to go along with 5.8 boards per contest and he will look to continue playing a positive role for his Saint Alselm team who currently boast a record of 12-3.

Elijah Walsh started out the season in very nice form for Florida Southern College who have amassed a record of 14-4 so far this season.

The 6’5” guard came out of the gates firing in the very first game of the year as he knocked down 23 points in a win against Alaska Anchorage. In fact, Walsh had double figure scoring games in the first nine contests of the 2025-26 campaign.

Walsh however has not had the same level of scoring production since that period at the beginning of the year, although he did tally 18 points in a big win over Lees-McRae on December 20 and he also had a 14 point display in his side’s most recent win over Embry-Riddle.

Overall, the senior from Leeds currently has averages of 10.6 points per game and 4.0 rebounds contest so far this season, as per fscmocs.com.

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Stephen Ovia has been fairly consistent so far this college basketball season playing for West Virginia Westleyan College.

In total, there have been seven games this year where Ovia has hit double digit marks in scoring, including when he collected 15 points in a recent loss to Concord on January 7.

There have been two separate occasions where the 6’9” senior has posted his season high of 16 points, in a loss to Lock Haven in November and in another defeat when the Bobcats went down to Frostburg State in December.

For the campaign so far, Ovia is averaging 9.9 points and a solid 6.2 boards per contest for a Bobcats side that have still yet to register a victory this season.

JUCO

Tyrese Lacey is having a productive sophomore season for 15-3 Daytona State.

The point guard from Birmingham has been an effective floor general for the Falcons averaging 8.2 assists per game so far this season to go along with his scoring average of 10.8 points per game, as per dscfalcons.com.

Lacey has a season high in assists of 14 which he recorded in a win against RV Monroe University last month. He has also put up back to back 10 assist performances in his team’s two most recent victories over St. Petersburg College and Polk State College.

There have also been two instances where Lacey reached his season high as a scorer of 15 points, in blowout victories over Hagerstown Community College and Rising Stars Academy in December.

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Buai Luak has had a steady presence so far this season for Casper College.

The sophomore from Bedford is currently averaging 10.7 points and 6.7 rebounds per game whilst shooting 59.3% from the field for a Casper College team which, at this stage of the campaign, sits with a record of 5-13.

Luak went on a streak of five consecutive contests where he scored in double figures from late November to early December, including when he picked up a season high of 20 points in a win over Williston State College.

Another British player who has been making a positive impact this year at the JUCO level is Brandon Tchouya.

Up to this point in the campaign, the senior has averaged 13.2 points and 5.5 rebounds per contest for the Montana State University Billings, who currently hold a 15-4 record.

Overall, Tchouya has scored at least ten points or more in 14 games so far this season, including in the last three contests, and he has broken the 20 point scoring barrier on three occasions.

Tchouya amassed a 22 point and 13 rebound double-double in a victory over Hawaii Hilo in November and only two games later, he bagged a season high of 24 points when the Billings went down to Minot State.

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