Journey To Jadwin - Tosan Evbuomwan
6/27/2023
Tosan is a very unique player. I call him a brilliant, blinding light from heaven for our program...He is like a nine or a ten in soccer. He slows the game down for himself, which then speeds the game up for those around him. So Kalkbrenner is a very difficult kid in his own right, but Tosan is like Grant Hill. He faces the rim, really good in space. We won't see a passer like him at Princeton for a really long time after this. He is really, I think, a modern-day Princeton center, a point center facing the basket. He is also a terrific student, humble…he is at his best when his teammates are doing well. Really special human being.Mitch Henderson
When asked to discuss the uniqueness of Tosan Evbuomwan and what he brought to the table against Creighton’s star center Ryan Kalkbrenner ahead of the Tigers’ Sweet Sixteen contest against the Bluejays, Head Coach Mitch Henderson summed it up best.
The Tosan Evbuomwan story reads like a movie script. Within five years, the Newcastle, England, native went from not having played organized basketball to representing his country, to starting 19 games as a freshman at Princeton. After an entire season lost due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, he would be honored as the Ivy League Player of the Year, led the Tigers to the Sweet Sixteen before being signed to an Exhibit-10 contract by the Detroit Pistons the night of the 2023 NBA Draft.
While he did not play organized basketball until age 14, Evbuomwan was aware of the sport of basketball at an early age thanks to his father, Isaac. Isaac grew up playing the sport in Nigeria, before playing in men’s leagues in England and putting a hoop in his yard.
Isaac played in a men’s league for the team called the Wickham Warriors, and Evbuomwan’s earliest memories of the sport come from tagging along to his games.
“We arrived and there was a game before his, there was another court next to his that I was shooting at,” said Evbuomwan. “I remember watching him and they had this really flashy point guard, and it was the first time I thought wow, this sport is cool. Obviously, I didn’t act on it for another six years.”
As many English children do, Evbuomwan grew up playing and participating in soccer, rugby, cricket and track & field. He was a particularly talented soccer player, earning selection in the Newcastle United Youth Academy.
I played for the Newcastle United Youth Academy, the following year they were going to start to take us out of school to have a whole day at the training facility where they would bring in tutors.Tosan Evbuomwan
Evbuomwan played sports for the enjoyment, and felt soccer was getting too serious. He would then take a year off from soccer, eventually returning to play in a local league with friends until he was 16. In addition, rugby was a popular sport at Royal Grammar School Newcastle (RGSN) and he played until age 14. Track and field, along with cricket were also popular sports at RGSN.
In ninth grade, the equivalent of eighth grade in the U.S., Evbuomwan’s interest in basketball piqued. Along with a friend, Kian Ardabili, he would take steps to get a team started at his high school.
While Evbuomwan was growing in his love for sports and academics, one of his biggest inspirations was his mother, Michelle. One of the first women to ever captain a plane in Nigeria, she had been a pilot on flights for Nelson Mandela and flew for the Red Cross during the Rwandan Genocide and Angolan War.
The Evbuomwan family faced major adversity on November 16, 2012, when Michelle tragically died of breast cancer. Tosan was 11 years old. To this day he plays in pink sneakers to bring awareness to breast cancer and in honor of her birthday, wore No. 20 at Princeton. Michelle was and still is a massive inspiration; Evbuomwan recalls constantly being told to be himself, give his best and that it would be enough.
While RGSN is a traditional rugby school, a teacher who has since left the school, Mr. Davidson, helped them start the team and drive the sport. As the Deputy Head of Sport at the time, Davidson encouraged students to try a variety of sports and not limit themselves to just one. Evbuomwan appreciated Davidson's easy going nature and willingness to set the basketball team up.
While Davidson started the team at RGSN, Ardabili was a lifelong friend and someone who was there throughout the pivotal stages of Evbuomwan’s development. The duo went to the same nursery and primary school and while Ardabili briefly went to a different high school, he would eventually land at RGSN. Evbuomwan knows him as well as he knows anyone. They grew in the sport together, watched NBA players and tried to copy their moves.
We used to play together whenever we could, I felt like we both knew we picked the sport up late and were trying to catch up. We played a ton of 1-on-1 at school. With it being a rugby school, the facilities were pretty much for rugby and field hockey for the girls. We’d even play on the netball courts with netball hoops if we could, any chance to play 1-on-1 was what we were doing.Tosan Evbuomwan
While Evbuomwan described the high school league he started playing in to not have been of the highest standard, he was a quick learner. The head coach of Evbuomwan's first club, the Newcastle East Griffins, administered the school competition he was playing in.
“I was playing defense and he told me he knew I had played before and wanted to know where," said Evbuomwan. "That was actually the first time. It was just my dad showing me the basics on how to play defense. He asked my friend (Kian Ardabili) and I, the two of us and we started playing for the Newcastle East Griffins. That’s the local team around here; I played there for half a season, not quite a full season then the next step after that was the Eagles School of Excellence, the team I played with the following year. I went through the ranks and played with them up until I left for Princeton.”
It took no time at all for Evbuomwan to get on the national radar, as he was invited to his first England camp at 15, despite not having played organized basketball for a full year. New to the game and with a raw skill-set, he was shocked to be selected for the camp and felt out of place. It was being selected for this camp that saw Evbuomwan really start to establish his game, as it upped his confidence significantly.
Despite being new to the sport, Evbuomwan didn’t back down from the challenge.
“I remember down south there was maybe 30 of us, I played at a regional tournament in the northeast and got selected from that,” said Evbuomwan. “I remember everyone else being really big, everyone was from down south, London. We’d practice twice a day for two hours each, it was super hard at the time, super intense, nothing like I was used to. We’d do drills and scrimmage at the end of sessions, or the end of every other sessions.”
Astonishingly, it was only a short time ago that Evbuomwan realized that basketball was something he both could and wanted to pursue.
“It was about three years ago,” proclaimed Evbuomwan. “I got selected to another England camp two or three years after the first one. I felt like I had quite a good camp."
Following that England Camp, Evbuomwan would represent England for the first time at the 2017 Haris Memorial Tournament. He recalls the initial meeting he had with Great Britain coach Allan Keane and the assistant coach, Ian MacLeod.
“I remember I went in very nervous obviously wanting to be selected to that tournament and feeling I had done enough,” said Evbuomwan. “They said unfortunately they weren’t taking me, that was upsetting but I felt like oh, I’m going to be back here next year but maybe time is running out, I’m not sure. I was about to leave and one of the coaches came back and told me they had made a mistake and I was invited back to the camp, that was a relief. That’s when I really started to realize you can maybe go somewhere with this sport.”
After being selected to the team, Evbuomwan would help Great Britain earn its highest-ever finish of seventh at the FIBA 2018 European Championship.
That was surreal…we were in Latvia, the atmosphere was crazy, we played them in the quarterfinals, the stadium was packed. The caliber of players, the number of players from that tournament who are pushing for the NBA, if not playing in the EuroLeague and putting up numbers…I felt out of my depth, but was taking it all in and learning from guys around meTosan Evbuomwan
The next year, Great Britain would finish eighth; Evbuomwan had helped GB earn its two highest finishes in history in Division A.
As Evbuomwan became more prevalent on the national radar, he was invited to the Deng Camp, a camp run by Luol Deng for the top-50 U19 players in the United Kingdom. He ended the camp ranked eighth out of all 50 players despite entering the camp as a relatively unknown commodity. A highly-competitive camp, players would finish at 8 p.m. only to be back out on the court at 9 a.m. the next morning. The name Tosan Evbuomwan was gradually becoming more known in British basketball circles.
As time went on and Evbuomwan continued to play for Newcastle Eagles U18 team, the U19 Elite Academy Basketball League (EABL) Team as well as Newcastle University, an NBL Division I team, he would eventually rise up to No. 2 in the rankings.
The story of Evbuomwan’s recruitment has become legendary. With the help of his father and Ian MacLeod, Evbuomwan reached out to every Ivy League school and only Princeton responded. Within a week, Associate Head Coach Brett MacConnell was on a plane across the pond and the rest is history. He would eventually take a visit; Will Gladson ’20 hostED him and it didn’t take long for Evbuomwan to realize Princeton was where he wanted to be.
You get the team culture, you get the academics, you get the high standard of basketball.Tosan Evbuomwan
“With all my sports, I’ve been vying to play at the highest level possible without compromising my education, which is something very important to me. Princeton is literally the perfect place to get it all at such a high level and without having to compromise either. It was a perfect fit for me, to be honest.”
Evbuomwan lists getting to play at the Chase Center, home of the Golden State Warriors, and scoring his first college basket there as one of the highlights from his freshman year along with defeating the University of Pennsylvania at the Palestra in his first Ivy League game.
He would make the first start of his career on November 22, 2019, at Indiana in a game where he finished with 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting in 22 minutes of play. Only five years into the sport, Evbuomwan showed he could make an impact on the home court of a power five opponent.
While Evbuomwan did not get to play in the Ivy League Tournament his freshman year after it was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, he was optimistic about what lay ahead for the Tigers.
Evbuomwan’s development and growth excited Princeton fans for what was to come, and history showed they had every reason to feel excited.
The 2020-21 was also canceled by the Ivy league due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so Evbuomwan spent the fall practicing with the Newcastle Eagles senior team before returning to campus for the spring and working out with his teammates.
His hard work paid off in 2021-22 as he emerged as a legitimate NBA prospect, leading the Tigers to an outright Ivy League title. Evbuomwan was named Unanimous Ivy League Player of the Year, First Team All-Ivy, Ivy Madness All-Tournament Team, NABC District 13 First Team along with being named to the NABC Honors Court for his work in the classroom. Evbuomwan’s 142 assists in 2021-22 also rank No. 3 all-time in school history.
His improvement was evident early, as he impressed against a pair of power five opponents at the Asheville Championship in November first finishing with 12 points, nine rebounds and four assists in a win against South Carolina, before following up with 16 points, seven assists and five rebounds against Minnesota.
Along with a pair of 27-point games, Evbuomwan exceeded 20 points on nine occasions and had 19 games with five assists or more. He closed the season out in dominant fashion, averaging 21.5 points on 61.0% shooting, 9.3 rebounds and 6.25 assists over the last four games of the season.
Evbuomwan also showed he was unafraid of the big moments, making a game-winning layup against Drexel on Dec. 4 and another at Harvard on Feb. 25, a basket that clinched Princeton a share of the Ivy League regular season title. Led by Evbuomwan, the Tigers would also defeat Pac-12 opponent Oregon State and face VCU in the first round of the NIT in 2021-22.
As impressive as 2021-22 was for Evbuomwan, it was a glimpse of what was to come in 2022-23. Invited to the NBA Draft Combine, Evbuomwan was named to the NCAA South Region All-Tournament Team after leading Princeton to the Sweet Sixteen, becoming just the fourth No. 15 seed to do so.
Named to the NCAA South Regional All-Tournament Team and Ivy League Tournament Most Outstanding Player, Evbuomwan led Princeton to the Ivy Tournament and Regular Season championships. He was named First Team All-Ivy, NABC District 13 First Team, MVP of the London Basketball Classic, College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District and Academic All-Ivy. He handed out 161 assists on the season to tie the program record, and joined the 1,000-point club, finishing his Princeton career with 1,033 points.
In two full seasons along with a shortened 2019-20 season, Evbuomwan’s 323 career assists rank No. 6 all-time in school history. In another dominant season, Evbuomwan scored at least 20 points in eight games, had 19 games with at least five assists, led the team in scoring 11 times and rebounding 10 times.
2022-23 was also special for Evbuomwan because he got to play in front of family and friends at the London Basketball Classic. Along with being named MVP and leading the team to wins over Army and Northwestern, Evbuomwan and the Tigers spent time at the Bobby Moore Academy, hoping to inspire the next generation of English basketball players.
The 2023 Ivy League Tournament took place in Jadwin Gym, and Evbuomwan and the Tigers ensured Princeton fans went home satisfied. After wins over Penn and Yale where he averaged 21.0 points on 54.8% shooting along with 5.5 rebounds and four assists, the Tigers cut down the nets and punched a ticket to the NCAA Tournament.
Shortly after beating the Bulldogs on Selection Sunday, the Tigers were informed they were headed to Sacramento as a No. 15 seed and would meet No. 2 seed Arizona in the first round. The following morning, the team was on a charter flight out west, ready to make history.
While it was Evbuomwan who garnered Most Outstanding Player honors at Ivy Madness, true to his unselfish nature he credits his teammates for his success.
My teammates have meant everything. Without them, I’d have achieved nothing here at Princeton. They took me in from day one and all their families have been a massive help for me with being so far away from home. They’re some of my best friends and really have shaped my Princeton Basketball experience.Tosan Evbuomwan
Walking into the Golden 1 Center, home of the Sacramento Kings and Evbuomwan’s favorite player Buddy Hield, the team could not contain its excitement. The arena was covered in March Madness branding, the players and coaches were living their dreams. In Princeton’s first round win over No. 2 seed Arizona, who were also ranked No. 8 in the nation, Evbuomwan finished with 15 points, seven rebounds and four assists. He took control of the game down the stretch, at one point scoring six-straight points that helped swing the momentum Princeton’s way.
Princeton’s 78-63 second round victory over No. 7 seed Missouri, also ranked No. 23 in the nation, was the largest-ever victory by a No. 15 seed. In a game that saw the Tigers out-rebound their SEC opponents 44-30 and bury 12 three-pointers, Evbuomwan had a near double-double with nine points, nine rebounds and five assists. The Tigers had officially advanced to the Sweet Sixteen and become part of the national and even global conversation.
The national media couldn’t get enough of the former soccer player from England who was new to the game of basketball; Evbuomwan would appear on Good Morning America and CNN This Morning. He became the topic of long form feature stories in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, the Athletic, the Daily Mail and other British newspapers. Phil Murphy, the Governor of New Jersey, stopped by practice in Jadwin. Senator Cory Booker jumped on a Zoom call prior to the Tigers' Sweet Sixteen game.
A deep thinker, Evbuomwan was aware of what being in the national spotlight of March Madness meant not only for Princeton, but also for basketball in his home country of England. Already a role model for basketball players at home, he had taken it to an even higher level.
I’m thankful and fortunate to have audiences from both sides. I've definitely felt the love since the tournament started and before that as well, obviously. It's been great. Hopefully we've been able to have an impact on the younger generation back home with British basketball and then obviously in the Princeton community as well.Tosan Evbuomwan
While the Tigers would fall to No. 6 seed Creighton in the Sweet Sixteen, Evbuomwan delivered a dominant performance in Louisville. He finished with 24 points including a pair of three-pointers, nine assists and six rebounds, almost willing Princeton to victory. He was simply too quick for any of the Bluejay bigs and shot the ball with confidence from deep.
In the post-game press conference, Evbuomwan was reflective. Mostly, he was focused on the bond he and his teammates had developed over the past four seasons, and the history they had created in the process.
“We created great memories with one another, and I think that's what it's all about. Being able to look back and be proud of something which you've done together as a unit," proclaimed Evbuomwan. "Our bond was great. We're going to have an even greater bond, and it's going to be special. I'm sure it will last all of our lifetimes, everybody on the team, top to bottom. I'm just very thankful to be in this position and be in this position with my teammates and coaching staff. You know, I wouldn't want to be here with anyone else.”
Along with his teammates, Evbuomwan is also appreciative of the coaching staff at Princeton.
“Very fortunate to be able to call my coaches friends and mentors,” said Evbuomwan. "Whenever I hit one of them up they're always there for me, whether it's for extra workouts, film or off the court stuff. I'll always be thankful for them for giving me opportunities to contribute and help impact winning, and their dedication to improve my game individually."
Not one to rest on his laurels, Evbuomwan took a short time to rest his body before beginning NBA Draft preparation. He was first invited to the NBA G League Elite Camp in Chicago in May, before impressing scouts enough to become one of eight invitees to the NBA Draft Combine, extending his stay in the Windy City.
Evbuomwan was also active on the workout circuit, working out with no less than 18 teams.
On the floor today: Adama Sanogo & Tosan Evbuomwan. pic.twitter.com/iPzVxnvOgG
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) June 13, 2023
morning draft workouts complete. ??
— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) June 19, 2023
?? Tosan Evbuomwan (Princeton)
?? Jazian Gortman (Overtime Elite)
?? Mojave King (G League Ignite) pic.twitter.com/YT6ZPFSetW
“It would mean a lot. There’s not many of us in the NBA.”@PrincetonMBB forward Tosan Evbuomwan talked about what it means to represent England and his NCAA Tournament run with Princeton.@NerdWallet | #GoldOnTheClock pic.twitter.com/Mc2tsymC1G
— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) June 2, 2023
Extremely grateful for his Princeton experience, Evbuomwan insists he learned countless lessons there. One of them is the impact you can have on someone just by giving them your time, and he is appreciative to have experienced the benefits that come from this. He vows to hold the importance of giving back as he continues through life. With an Economics degree and a future in the NBA, Evbuomwan's just getting started in life.
After being signed by the Pistons, Evbuomwan joined the exclusive club of those to have signed an NBA contract. From little-known English basketball player, to Ivy Player of the Year at Princeton, to NBA player, Evbuomwan’s journey has been storybook. The Tigers have been incredibly fortunate to have him. Attention now turns to Summer League, which runs from July 7-17 in Las Vegas, and the exciting future awaiting him.
I keep getting asked if I would choose Princeton if I could do college all over again. It’s an easy answer - yes. I answer firstly by saying the community you become a part of is second to none. And then despite not having the ‘stature’ of a high major school in the college basketball world, I got to play a selfless style of basketball, where there is genuine trust and love for one another, and have the same opportunity that any player could hope for - a real shot to play in the NBA. A little extra school work is worth the trouble!Tosan Evbuomwan
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