Ugonna Onyenso ready to turn lessons into leadership

Just a few weeks ago, it looked like Ugonna Onyenso and Adou Thiero would be the sole veterans on this Kentucky Basketball squad. Even though Antonio Reeves is back for a final year and the Cats added Tre Mitchell as a grad transfer, Onyneso is eager to use the lessons from his freshman year to help Kentucky’s large and talented freshman class.

“Being here last year taught me a lot so I’m in the position to show the younger guys how it is here, especially during practice,” the sophomore big man told reporters today. “What we do, how we do it, the routines. So being here actually helped me because I’m taking a leadership role.”

Last season, Onyenso played in 16 games, averaging 2.5 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 1.0 blocks. He grabbed ten rebounds on two occasions, on Nov. 11 vs. Duquesne and Nov. 23 vs. North Florida. He appeared in only five SEC games, and never for more than three minutes. Playing behind Oscar Tshiebwe and Lance Ware, Onyenso exercised patience and learned from the older bigs, especially Oscar.

“It’s a lot different now,” he said. “Getting rebounds at practice, blocking shots. I feel like being the bigger guy in the paint, playing against Oscar and Lance last year really helped me with positioning, how to be tough, especially getting rebounds. It’s really different without them here. I feel like I’m the bigger guy, especially in the paint.”

During the offseason, Onyenso has focused on developing his body, adding 12 points of muscle and lowering his body fat from 11% to 7.6%. He’s also increased his vertical five inches to 34″. Skill-wise, he said he’s working on physicality, positioning, and offense. Off-the-court stuff like leadership? That comes naturally to Onyenso, who memorably comforted Oscar, his mentor, in the locker room after Kentucky’s loss to Kansas State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

“As time goes on, the leadership starts kicking in because if you’re not going to do it, who’s going to do it?” he said. “It’s a little bit to take in but as time goes by, you feel more confident in what you’re doing and being present for [the freshmen]. Especially being in this position before, telling them how things work around here, how to go about things. I feel like as time goes by, feeling more confident and taking that leadership position.”

Fellow sophomore Adou Thiero is going through a similar transformation this offseason, adding bulk to his ever-growing frame. He told reporters today he’s also ready to use his experiences to help his younger teammates.

“I feel like everyone comes in and struggles,” Thiero said. “I think my struggle was just a little bit longer and by the time I understood it, the season was over. But I think I can take the knowledge that I got from last year and bring it into this year’s team and do what I can to help this team win.”

Thiero appeared in 20 games for the Wildcats last season, averaging just 2.3 points and 1.9 rebounds in 9.5 minutes per contest. What was the biggest lesson he learned?

“Competing. You’ve always got to compete every second. I competed but I don’t really think I competed to where I should have been so I feel like I can use that more coming into this year, showing all the other guys and they’re bringing that level of competition with them too.”

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Onyenso, Thiero’s early observations from practice

We’ll have a complete rundown of each player’s observations from the summer practices tomorrow once interviews wrap up with Antonio Reeves, Joey Hart, Rob Dillingham, and Tre Mitchell. For their part, both Onyenso and Thiero are thrilled with their younger counterparts thus far.

“They compete,” Thiero said of the freshmen. “They always want to win. We’re in practice playing 5-on-5 and the score is going on the board, everyone’s getting mad, someone gets scored on, someone’s getting mad. Like, ‘Guard your man.’ There’s a lot of competing in there.”

“It’s been really amazing playing with the freshmen,” Onyenso added. “Obviously, there’s a lot of talent and it’s really showing in the way they play. The team chemistry we’ve got, it’s really amazing. How hard we practice because everyone wants to be in the gym so it’s really amazing to see everyone coming together.

“We’re playing like we’ve been practicing or playing for over a year now. I feel like with this group of guys and the way we’re playing and how hard they want to play, I think we can make a really good run this coming season.”

Onyenso especially enjoys Kentucky’s new backcourt of DJ Wagner and Rob Dillingham.

“It’s really been amazing, playing with guys that find the big, guys that really want to play with their fellow teammates. It’s really amazing playing with them because once you’re open, they give you the ball. That’s one good thing about playing with these guys. If you’re open, you’re getting the ball for sure.”

With freshman Aaron Bradshaw recovering from foot surgery, Onyenso should get plenty of minutes in the GLOBL Jam in Toronto next week. The sophomore said that’s an opportunity both he and Thiero will seize.

“It’s about getting ready, just getting ready because when we’re with the others, it’s our turn now. Me and Adou, it’s our turn this year. It’s about being ready and getting prepared. When you get the minutes, what are you going to do with the minutes? That’s what it comes down to.”

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