Today, Kevin Stallings received a verbal commitment from 2017 6-foot-9 inch, 220 pound Swedish forward Kenechukwu Chukwuka. Chukwuka currently attends New Mexico Junior College. He will have three years of eligibility for the Panthers.
“Kene (pronounced Ken-aye) is a very hard working player that’s a great student. He’s from Sweden. Kene is great in the classroom. He has a 3.8 grade point average,” said New Mexico Junior College head basketball coach Brian Lohrey. “He has worked really hard on his game. He’s about 6-foot-8 to 6-foot-9 inches and he’s around 220 pounds. Kene can really kick and pop. He can really shoot the 3-pointer and he played about 15 minutes a game for us last year. The second half of the season for him was better than the first. He simply needed to get used to the game here in America.”
“Kenny liked everything about the Pitt visit,” he said. Coach Lohrey indicated that Chukwuka was a power forward with a ‘European skill set’. Scouts have stated that he’s a long, athletic, skilled developmental big that can run the floor and plays with a high motor.
Chukwuka was initially recruited and offered scholarships from lower major programs Utah Valley, Middle Tennessee, Iona, Albany, Boston College and Canisius. Higher profile programs were monitoring his academic situation to assure he was qualified for 2017. Kene received news that he was academically eligible and a number of mid to upper majors made their move. Pitt and New Mexico were the first to extend scholarship offers. Iowa State, Nebraska, Arkansas, Tulsa, UTEP and Fresno State expressed strong interest in his services. The Panthers were fortunate to have a scholarship available and expedited the process.
Chukwuka is the 9th player to join Pitt’s 2017 recruiting class. He’s the 4th player over 6-foot-7 inches tall.
Harry G. Psaros can be found on Twitter at @PittGuru