Big 12 Insider: The NBA Global Academy is becoming a pipeline for talent
The Big 12 views itself as the best basketball conference in the country. That claim is subject to debate.
What isn’t debatable is the Big 12 consistently producing elite-level players. They come from all backgrounds and different parts of the world.
A budding pipeline for talent in the Big 12 — and college basketball in general — are the players coming out of the NBA Global Academy in Australia. Saturday was expected to be a banner day for the Academy with products playing at Baylor and TCU. However, the game between those programs has been postponed due to COVID issues at Baylor.
Regardless, the NBA Global Academy is poised to become a basketball factory in the coming years.
One of the Bears’ top contributors is sophomore forward Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua, who is averaging 7.8 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. Tchamwa Tchatchoua of Cameroon emerged as a top prospect at the NBA Global Academy after participating in the NBA’s Basketball Without Borders program in 2015 and 2016 in Africa.
Tchamwa Tchatchoua was part of the inaugural class at the NBA Global Academy in 2017. One of his teammates was TCU sophomore guard Francisco Farabell of Argentina.
Farabello has made a positive impact when available for TCU, which has been seldom due to injuries and COVID protocols. The Frogs have missed Farabello’s presence in the point guard rotation when he’s been out.
For the NBA Global Academy, seeing players from the inaugural class such as Tchamwa Tchatchoua and Farabello having success in a conference such as the Big 12 serves as a reminder that it is doing things right.
“I was a little bit nervous because you hope these guys do well and they really did set the first impression about the program,” said Marty Clarke, the NBA Global Academy technical director.
“But the piece that didn’t make me nervous was I knew they’re great kids and were going to work hard and do what the coaches asked and be good teammates.”
Clarke described the Academy’s environment as designed to prepare the players for success both on and off the court at the next level. The players are prepared to handle the academic workload as well as the basketball workload.
As a former college assistant at Saint Mary’s, Clarke understands the demands placed on student-athletes to succeed on and off the floor.
“College basketball is hectic,” he said. “You’ve got school, travel, games, pressure ... if you can’t absorb all those things, you might not make it. We make sure they’re ready.”
Clarke knew Tchamwa Tchatchoua and Farabello had the basketball traits to succeed. Tchamwa Tchatchoua was a high-level athlete with a coveted frame (6-foot-8, 245 pounds), while Farabello grew up in a basketball family and had a high basketball IQ.
“They’re kind of polar opposites and go about the game in different ways, but they’re both super competitors who like to win,” Clarke said.
Clarke went on to say that Tchamwa Tchatchoua and Farabello were the perfect “snapshot” of what the NBA Global Academy wants to be known for. They’ve got a mix of players with potential, whether it be from a pure physical standpoint (Tchamwa Tchatchoua) or an elite understanding of the game (Farabello).
Chris Ebersole, the NBA’s senior director of international basketball operations, agreed that Tchamwa Tchatchoua and Farabello were good representatives for the program’s inaugural class.
The hope is this is the beginning of a long line of players coming out of the Academy. The Global Academy in Australia is where the top talent is usually sent, but there are feeder academies in other countries such as China, India, Mexico and Senegal.
As of now, 43 NBA Academy participants have moved on to play Division I basketball. Outside of the two in the Big 12, Efe Abogidi is off to a promising start as a freshman at Washington State. Hyunjung Lee is averaging 13.7 points a game at Davidson. Arizona’s Bennedict Mathurin, who played at the NBA Academy Latin America, had a 31-point game at Oregon State last month.
“The hope is that we start building a pipeline and see players come through the college ranks and eventually make it to the NBA, WNBA, G League over time,” Ebersole said. “It’s a way for the league to invest back in the growth of the game.”
Schedule updates
The Big 12 announced a few men’s basketball schedule updates on Thursday, along with postponing the Baylor-TCU game.
The Texas Tech at Oklahoma State game originally scheduled for Feb. 23 will now be played on Feb. 22 at 8 p.m.
The West Virginia at TCU game originally scheduled for Feb. 22 will now be played on Feb. 23 at 6 p.m.
The Kansas at Texas game originally scheduled for Feb. 22 will now be played on Feb. 23 at 8 p.m.
