Duke Basketball Official Visit Primer: Five-Star 2024 C Patrick Ngongba


“Ngongba is a skilled and high IQ post player that can score on the block, rebound, pass and shoot out to three. He has great hands and touch and is on a steep upward trajectory with how he continues to make strides in his development.” — 247Sports.com National Recruiting Analyst Travis Branham

Ngongba has a tremendous combination of size, length, and offensive skill. He stands just shy of 7-feet with ultra-broad shoulders and a big frame that gives him a significant presence on both ends of the floor. He has extremely soft hands and touch, equally impressive footwork, and a high release point around the paint. He provides a true low-post scorer, but is also an inside-out threat with developing shooting range out to the arc. He’s a good passer who is starting to punish double-teams, facilitate from different spots on the floor, and even deliver balls with both hands. He has versatility playing out of ball-screen actions and can also be effective operating in dribble-hand-offs. Overall, Ngongba is an exceptionally efficient offensive player (70% FG in the EYBL regular season), but one who is showing more signs of being able to anchor a half-court offense down the road. Durability and mobility are the key variables for him moving forward. He missed time with injuries early in his high school career and was not an especially fluid mover when he returned. While he’s made great strides since, he still projects as a drop coverage big man at the next level, without much defensive versatility. His physical presence in the lane gives him some value as a rim protector (1.3 blocks per game), although he still often has to shuffle his feet before elevating, while his length and hands allow him to own his area on the glass (7.8 rebounds in 19.3 minutes). Finally, Ngongba has shown a rapid rate of improvement since getting healthy, which could be a key variable to projecting his long-term upside.” — 247Sports.com Director of Basketball Scouting Adam Finkelstein


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