F/C Ebenezer Dowuona Transferring to Georgia Tech

This morning North Carolina State center/power forward Ebenezer Dowuona announced that he is transferring to GT. The junior played 10 minutes per game this year and scored 1.7 points per game along with 2.7 rebounds and 1 block. He has two years of eligibility remaining.

Admittedly I haven’t watched a ton of the Wolfpack the last two years, but I was initially disappointed with this signing. Dowuona seems to be basically a non-factor offensively. He has played decent minutes the last two years, but doesn’t have a lot of stats to show for it. He has a usage rate under 10% the last two years which tracks with his lack of stats. NC State fans online seem to agree with that. They say he doesn’t have much skill with the ball and pretty much only scores on dunks or bunnies.

Defensively I’m seeing mixed opinions. Some talk positively about his defense while others accuse him of block hunting. He does make a lot of blocks and his rebounding rates are at least passable.

Dowuona came in to Raleigh as a super raw recruit who needed some seasoning before he saw big minutes. But, injuries have forced him into significantly bigger roles in the last two years than he otherwise would have played. Most expected him to transfer down to a mid-major or low major to guarantee play time and success.

I was originally confused about this signing and assumed that this meant there was at least one more transfer coming out of the frontcourt. My assumption was proved correct quickly as both Rodney Howard and Cyril Martynov announced that they were transferring out. With them gone, Georgia Tech has basically no front court to speak of. Jalon Moore can play power forward, but you probably don’t want him to play center. That means that GT will need to bring in at least 2, and preferably 3, big men. Dowuona could be fine as a reserve big man and it’s unlikely that the Jackets could have brought in 3 big men better than him. He was a raw player and we know that those big men can make a huge leap in a single season (looking at you Moses Wright) so it’s possible he can become a major contributor to this team.

Welcome to the Flats, Ebenezer!