Freshman Joy Ighovodja ‘brings the juice’ to spark Wichita State win over Saint Louis

Sitting at the scorer’s table waiting to check in for his first meaningful action of the season, Joy Ighovodja was trying to rid himself of the nerves.

The last time he played extended minutes for the Wichita State men’s basketball team, he fumbled a pass out of bounds on his first touch. That was against an NAIA team on his home court.

Late Sunday evening, Ighovodja was being counted upon by a short-on-depth WSU team looking to score a win over Saint Louis in the third-place game of the Myrtle Beach Invitational.

The thought that calmed the nerves? The true freshman from Nigeria said his focus on “bringing the juice” to WSU helped deliver a breakthrough performance in the Shockers’ 88-69 win over the Billikens on Sunday.

“Where I’m from, if you don’t bring the juice to what you do, then you don’t really do anything,” Ighovodja said. “Tonight, I knew I was going to play, so I had to lock in. I really wanted to give everything I got because it all starts on defense.”

After playing nothing but mop-up duty at the tail-end of blow-out games against Division I competition, Ighovodja saw his role expand with starting guard Harlond Beverly out with an ankle injury.

Not even WSU head coach Paul Mills could have scripted a better start for the 6-foot-4 guard.

On the first possession of the game with Ighovodja on the court, a loose ball bounced straight into his hands and he darted off in the other direction to turn a steal into a fast-break slam dunk. Not a bad way to bring the juice.

“That was my first in-game dunk (at WSU),” Ighovodja said. “I loved it.”

“Now if we can just start all of his games off with a steal and dunk,” Mills quipped afterward. “I think what it does is it gives a freshman confidence. Joy’s care factor is really high. This is important to him.”

As to be expected for a true freshman, Ighovodja is still learning the intricacies of Mills’ offense — where to be, when to cut, when to pass, when to shoot. But he is a bundle of energy, constantly in motion and constantly tenacious on the defensive end.

He’s also not afraid to ask questions and listen to feedback from coaches and teammates.

“I know I still have more things to learn,” Ighovodja said. “I learn every time we play games, when we watch film, when we practice. I feel like I’m getting better and my teammates are really helping me, even though I make mistakes. I’m not trying to be like I know everything. I listen to everything.”

Being a sponge is always a good thing for a freshman. Combine that with a work ethic and enthusiasm like Ighovodja and it’s easy to see why he has already earned the respect of his veteran teammates — long before he started helping them win games.

“I’m proud of Joy,” WSU sharpshooter Colby Rogers said after scoring 28 points. “He is a workhorse. He’s one of the hardest workers on our team. He’s grateful for everything. He doesn’t complain.”

“He brings a lot of energy to our team and he’s going to be a great piece for us,” WSU junior Kenny Pohto said. “He takes hard coaching really well. Coach (Mills) is on him every day and he takes it really well. That’s what I’m really impressed about.”

In his first real exposure to Division I basketball, Ighovodja showed plenty of promising signs in the first half alone:

• He made the correct defensive rotation from the weak side and anticipated a pass to the rolling big man, stepping in front for a steal to rob Saint Louis of a sure basket.

• Another defensive possession saw him switch three times on the perimeter and hound Saint Louis’ guards trying to connect on a dribble hand-off. Ighovodja denied the hand-off play twice, which resulted in a contested jumper by Saint Louis that missed.

• He was at the top of the key when a shot went up and the rebound caromed off the rim to the weak side where it looked like SLU would grab an offensive rebound until Ighovodja zoomed to the baseline to snatch the board.

Not only was Ighovodja not a liability for WSU in his first extended action, his boost in energy was so valuable to the Shockers that Mills didn’t sub out the freshman the rest of the first half after he entered with 15 minutes, 29 seconds remaining.

By the end of the night, Ighovodja had tallied seven points, five rebounds, four steals and an assist in 25 minutes of action.

“He doesn’t know what he’s doing out there the vast majority of the time, but he does have tremendous energy,” Mills said. “The game is moving fast for him right now, but because he has great energy, it allows him to be in position to make an impact on the game.”

Beverly is slated to return for WSU’s next game on Saturday, but the 25 minutes Ighovodja played on Sunday were invaluable to his development during his rookie year.

His emergence as a part of the rotation could be an added boost to the Shockers, but that’s not what was on his mind exiting HTC Center on Sunday.

On this night, Ighovodja couldn’t stop smiling after knowing he played a real role in helping his team win.

“I’ve never been this happy,” he said. “I’m part of something bigger than just me. I don’t have my family here. They’re all back in Nigeria. When they hear my name, I want them to be like, ‘That’s our son. We’re proud of what he’s doing.’ And I just want to give everything to make my team win every time.”