In the closing hours before the transfer portal closed, Emeka Opurum entered the portal Tuesday night after playing just six games in an Auburn uniform.
The backup center averaged 3.8 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1 block in just over nine minutes per game last season for the Tigers prior to being ruled out for the season due to a medical condition.
“Our priority is Emeka’s health and well-being,” head coach Steven Pearl said following his diagnosis. “We look forward to Emeka making a full recovery and returning next season.”
Opurum instead made the decision to leave the Plains after just one season following the addition of three new centers to Pearl’s squad: Owen Freeman from Creighton, Bukky Oboye from Santa Clara and Narcisse Ngoy from France.
Before his tenure at Auburn, Opurum spent one season at Butler Community College in Kansas, where he averaged 9.4 points, 8.1 rebounds and 2.8 blocks per game, earning the 7-footer Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference Defensive Player of the Year honors.
“Yeah, I love Mek, man. He’s so coachable, and he’s such a wonderful kid. I got so much love for Mek,” Pearl said prior to his medical condition. “He’s just such a sponge, such a coachable kid. I mean, I think he’s played well in games that he’s supposed to play well."
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Will is a sophomore majoring in journalism. He started with The Plainsman in the spring of 2025.
You can follow him on X (Twitter) at @willdembo
