Recruiting on the Plains: PF Malik Ondigo Commits to Texas Tech

Player: Malik Ondigo
Height: 6’10”
Weight: 210
School: Putnam Science Academy (Putnam, Connecticut)
Class: 2017
Offers: Texas Tech, Nevada, Purdue, Boston College, Colorado, DePaul, Memphis, Minnesota, Pittsburgh, Tulane, Utah State, Washington State
Recruiting Services: Rivals | 24/7 Sports | Scout | ESPN
Cumulative Ranking: 0.8756

Ondigo is a power forward / center that’s pretty darned good at the pick and roll, especially the rolling towards the basket. Ondigo has a nice right-handed hook shot that he looks really comfortable taking about 3 to 5 feet from the basket. Really long arms helps on the defensive side of things and you get the sense that Ondigo at 210 has the frame to add one 20 pounds and really be a force in the middle. He’s got nice footwork for a big man. He runs the floor really well and can finish in transition. His jumper probably needs a bit of work, but I’m more excited to see Ondigo be so fluid with his hook shot and he feels comfortable with his back to the basket, which is another one of those things that most kids don’t have or aren’t comfortable doing.

Ondigo spoke with Inside The Red Raiders’ Jarrett Johnson about his commitment and why he committed to Texas Tech:

“It was the meetings. I felt like with Beard, we sat down and he broke down the roster with me, he showed me where minutes are at, where I can get the minutes at,” Ondigo said. “Just honestly explaining it from that standpoint it was more the basketball standpoint of breaking it down with the head coach, looking at the roster, looking at the situation, breaking down film, looking at the way they play and showing me multiple ways I can thrive in his offense and his defense by being able to switch and defend multiple positions.”

This gives Texas Tech a pretty special high school class. Jarrett Culver (6’6″), Zhaire Smith (6’5″), Daniel Mading (6’9″) and Ondigo (6’10”). From a size perspective, that’s a large class. Overall, this is a class that’s ranked 60th in the nation and with Hyron Edwards and Josh Webster coming in from the JUCO ranks, this should be a pretty fun class. The only downside here is that this puts Texas Tech at 14 scholarship players and you’re only allowed 13 overall. That means someone isn’t returning. I expect Zach Smith to be back even though he declared for the NBA Draft. It will be interesting to see who falls from the roster.

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