Long-time ESPN College Basketball analyst and former Manhattan, St. John's and New Mexico head coach Fran Fraschilla said, "Tobe Awaka will be on an NBA roster next season. The Wall Street career will have to wait 10 years." Awaka will join three of his Arizona teammates at the NBA Combine in Chicago later this month.
Awaka was one of the best bench players nationally in 2025-26. Big XII coaches voted Awaka the conference Sixth Man of the Year. Awaka averaged 9.3 points per game on 58.7 percent from the field and 9.1 rebounds. Awaka was 28th nationally in RPG, 20th with 3.54 offensive RPG and 82nd, averaging 5.51 defensive RPG.
Entering the NBA Combine, Awaka is not projected to be selected in the 2026 NBA Draft. If Awaka goes undrafted as expected, he will likely earn a spot on an NBA summer league roster. With a good performance in the NBA Summer League, Awaka could earn an invite to training camp.
Awaka was a key player for Arizona in the last two seasons. Awaka, point guard Jaden Bradley and wing Anthony Dell'Orso set the foundation for Arizona finishing 36-3, winning the Big XII regular and tournament title and advancing to its first Final Four since 2001.
@ArizonaMBB Tobe Awaka will be on an NBA roster next season. The Wall Street career will have to wait 10 years. https://t.co/YwLF6O4pjb
— Fran Fraschilla (@franfraschilla) May 2, 2026
Outperforming his recruiting ranking
Awaka receiving the NBA Combine invite significantly outperforms his recruiting ranking as the 294th prospect, 64th power forward and fourth player in the 2022 247Sports composite. ESPN has Awaka 85th on its Big Board of the Top 100 prospects. Up to 60 players are selected in the NBA Draft annually.
There are two types of contracts to watch for Awaka. A two-way contract allows players with less than four years of experience to play up to 50 games in the NBA while spending the rest of the season in the G-League.
An Exhibit 10 contract is for a one-year, minimum-salary and non-guaranteed that is often used for training camp, which can be converted to a two-way contract. If Awaka is undrafted as expected, a two-way or Exhibit 10 contract would be good options for him.
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