For a guy who never picked up a basketball until he was a 10th grader in high school, Tiger sophomore forward Robert Nwankwo has come a long way in a very short time.
His rise in the sport began in high school when he played a half-season on the Parkdale jayvee before his talents were recognized and he was moved up to the varsity. By his senior year he was averaging 15.5 points, 8.1 rebounds and 7.2 blocks.
As a college freshman he walked-on at Towson.
“I was being recruited by Coach (Jimmy) Patsos at Loyola,” Robert recalled. “During that time I was staying with my older brother, Daniel, who was a student at Towson. I began hanging out with the other guys playing pick up in Burdick. I liked the people and the campus so I changed my mind and I'm very happy with the decision I made.”
Robert and his brother have always been close. They had to rely on each other while attending school in Nigeria.
“My parents wanted us to experience our native culture so my brother and I lived in Nigeria for four years at a boarding school,” said Robert, whose parents are both Nigerian. “It was an interesting experience, living in another country for four years. We spoke English, French and Igbo, the traditional language. And yes, I was the tallest player on our soccer team.”
Robert went through two growth spurts, the first in the fifth grade. In his first year in high school he grew three inches and topped out at 6-8. After a year in Towson's strength and conditioning program he's put on another 15 pounds. He's able to physically challenge the other big men in the Colonial Athletic Association.
“Coach Kennedy expects certain things out of me,” Robert said, “that include mainly rebounding on the offensive boards and shot blocking on defense. My job is to get my hands on the ball.”
He's doing his job very well. In his freshman year at Towson Robert averaged 8.0 minutes, 1.3 points and 2.4 rebounds per game to go along with 14 blocks. This year his numbers have skyrocketed. He's averaging 19.5 minutes, 4.3 points, 5.6 rebounds and has 30 blocks. He's started 14 games. In the last nine games he's averaged 25.4 minutes, 6.8 points and 8.6 rebounds. He's shooting 58 per cent from the floor and 62 per cent from the free throw line. He's been Towson's top rebounder in eight games.
“I'm much more happy than surprised with my development,” said Robert. “The effort it took to get here is paying off.”
He's coming off the best performance of his career to date when he went head-to-head with the CAA's top big man, Old Dominion's Gerald Lee, on February 3rd in Norfolk. Robert scored 13 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and blocked five shots against the Monarchs.
“Robert is one of those rare walk-ons who's going to wind up having a really big career,” said Towson coach Pat Kennedy.
According to Kennedy, it's probable that Robert will earn a scholarship for next year.
With two seasons still ahead of him, the sky's the limit for this Tiger.
