2027 class standout, Obinna Ezekie Jr on dunking over Cameron Boozer, eventual climb to no. 1, and more (Exclusive)

The bright lights and cameras would fluster most teenagers. Reporters, social media managers and NBA scouts pack tiny high school gyms to watch the stars of tomorrow. That fanfare could have stopped Obinna Ekezie Jr., but he’s not your average high schooler.

When Ekezie Jr.’s Prolific Prep squad matched up with Columbus, he knew he’d have to battle one of the nation’s best players. Instead of backing down in the lane, Ekezie Jr. caught the ball, rose up and dunked over Cameron Boozer, letting out a primal yell before sprinting back on defense.

“When I was a freshman, I was always watching those guys on YouTube,” Ekezie Jr. told Sportskeeda. “I was on the same floor as all of them and it was just crazy,”

Ekezie Jr. towers over most of his peers as a seven-foot sophomore. He’s an elite high school prospect; On3 ranks him seventh in the 2027 high school class. It’s unusual to watch players as young, tall and impactful as Ekezie Jr. The moment may be surreal for Ekezie Jr., but he trudged his way into Prolific Prep’s star-studded rotation.

Beginning the season riding the pine, Ekezie Jr. now faces the nation’s best competition. Consistency and listening to his coaches helped him reach this point.

“At the start of the season, I was struggling with the physicality and rebounding aspects,” Ekezie Jr. said. “That’s what I started working on a lot in my workouts.”

His coaches couldn’t keep him on the bench for long, as Ekezie Jr. strung together strong performances against strong competition. Against AJ Dybantsa and Utah Prep on Dec. 7th, he tallied nine points and a block, defending well all night. He’s earning chances to showcase his skillset.

“I started bringing up the ball a little bit…and getting more post-ups because they started trusting me,” Ekezie Jr. said. “ It’s gonna keep expanding because as long as you do your role well they keep giving you more.”

He’s growing his game all while deflecting the pressure applied by scouts, college coaches and social media. Ekezie Jr. credits his father, Obinna Ekezie, for instilling this calm in him. Ekezie starred at the University of Maryland in the late 90s and played four seasons in the NBA.

For whatever reason, Ekezie Jr. doesn’t let the pressure faze him. He might feel some nerves before tipoff, but those tend to evaporate once the game begins. His father’s tutelage helped jumpstart his development into a sound big man, instilling those innate lessons one can only learn from years of experience.

“He was a big guy just like me, he taught me a lot [about my motor] and how to insert myself into these games — when to post up, when to go ball screen for Darryn [Peterson].”

That focus on the details translates to the basketball court. During his previous AAU season playing with Team Lillard 16u on the Adidas circuit, Ekezie scored with a 51.3% true shooting clip. It’s up to 63.6% through the beginning of this season.

Whether it's his father, coaches or other teammates, Ekezie Jr. absorbs information and experience from the people around him. He closely watches Darryn Peterson, one of the best players in all of high school basketball. Ekezie Jr. spends his pregame time studying Peterson’s stoic facial expressions and visualizing his in-game performance — setting hard screens, grabbing boards and blocking shots.

“I feel like you’ve gotta put yourself in the space of the game before the game even starts and that’s what’s gonna get you prepared.”

This preparation helps Ekezie Jr. maintain a high level of confidence in his play. He knows he’ll be a top-ranked senior one day and is already preparing for that time.

“As my senior year goes on I’m going to be a top-ranked guy in my class so I’ve gotta have those kinds of attributes like coming out to kill the other guys I’m going to be playing against and competing with in my class.”

College and pro scouts will lean on Ekezie Jr.’s rim protection, a skill he’s honed over the years. Ekezie knows shot blocking requires more than height and extends beyond padding his block numbers.

“My main goal is not to block 10 shots, my main goal is to stop anybody from driving to the rim and affect shots around the rim…so that people never want to come inside the paint,” Ekezie Jr. said. “Even if it takes seven blocks to do that, that’s what it’s going to take.”

At the beginning of the season, Ekezie Jr. struggled to adapt to the pace of the game as compared to AAU basketball against players his own age. He’s now playing the highest-level offensive players, often much older and stronger than him.

“The speed is a lot faster than where I was during AAU and [I struggled] being the first guy to meet them at the tape so you don’t jump late,” Ekezie Jr. told Sportskeeda. “DP [Peterson] punished me a lot during practice so I had to work on it a lot.”

The spaced-out nature of NBA basketball extends deeper and deeper to younger levels of basketball. To reach his ultimate ceiling and play in the NBA, Ekezie Jr. will need to switch out onto the perimeter. He’s shown the ability to do so, displaying impressive mobility in pick-and-roll coverage for a player of his size.

“One of my long-term goals is to be a seven-foot switchable big.” Ekezie Jr. said. “I feel like I’ve gotten so much better at coming out on the perimeter…I could only play in a drop, but right now I’m starting to hedge on screens. By my junior or senior year, I want to be a good enough mover to be switchable…and that’s going to get you paid.”

Ekezie Jr. studies the best young defensive bigs. He’s focused on Mavs sophomore center Dereck Lively, learning how to best play off of an elite point guard like Lively does with Luka Doncic. He hopes to play like Chet Holmgren as a 3-point shooting rim protector and analyzes Evan Mobley’s movement, a player he’s been able to play against.

To improve his mobility and perimeter defense, Ekezie Jr. spends time working on his hips. He spends a half-hour daily working on loosening those joints, strengthening the muscles that will let him sit down and slide.

“Every say I spend at least 35 minutes sitting down on my hips, working 90/90s, fire hydrants, clamshells [and] it’s really helped my mobility,” Ekezie Jr. said. “That’s a big problem I started having because my hips were so tight…I’m starting to work on being able to move my feet laterally and be very quick on my feet.”

Ekezie Jr. understands how critical scoring improvement will be for his college and possible NBA future. Despite his more limited role currently, Ekezie Jr. believes in his capabilities. He spent this last summer training with NBA trainer Olin Simplis or “The Guard Whisperer” who’s trained with Mobley and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. On Wednesdays, Ekezie Jr. played with those professionals.

“That really gave me a lot of confidence playing against them and I was kind of holding my own against them,” Ekezie Jr. said. “It’s a blessing to be able to come in the gym and play against NBA guys every Wednesday. Most other guys aren’t going to get that in high school and I think that’s going to be what separates me.”

Like Holmgren, Mobley and the other elite bigs Ekezie Jr. studies, he’s training his perimeter skills in addition to his general big man duties.

“One thing I haven’t shown this season — I can really shoot the ball,” Ekezie Jr. said. “That’s going to start showing when they start having more trust in me because I’m always going to be working on that behind the scenes.”

He spends hours practicing his hook shots, ones that should be unblockable for most defenders given his size. Ekezie Jr. hasn’t received many post-ups in games yet, but he wants to maximize those chances with the best efficiency possible. Chunks of his workouts consist of specifically training his hands, and catching the ball at different angles and with both hands. Sometimes, he’ll face the wall and react to passes behind and to the sides of him to sharpen his reaction time.

“For a big, if you don’t have good hands, you’re a liability because guards aren’t going to be confident passing you the ball.”

College coaches have taken notice of Ekezie Jr.’s success. He’s already picked up offers from prestigious programs like Kentucky and Houston and knows he can continue to turn heads.

“At my height and my talent, if I come out and start being a consistent 3-point shooter and a big-time rim protector, it’s going to be hard for…anybody to stop me in my class,” Ekezie Jr. said. “I want to be the best player in the country.”

After his high school career ends, Ekezie Jr. will work towards his goal of being an eventual top-five NBA draft pick. He wouldn’t mind winning Chipotle Nationals this year either; his team has already taken down two of the top teams in the country.

“Those big games are just games you’ve got to mark on your calendar and say I’m going to come out and be the best guy I can be for myself,” Ekezie Jr. said. “When there’s a lot of cameras and people watching you’ve got to come out and perform. Those games raise your stock a lot.”

The weight of those monumental matchups crush plenty of aspiring NBA stars. Ekezie Jr. doesn’t seem to fall into that trap. As he continues to play on grander stages, that confidence will help him navigate the chaos.

“Once the game really starts, you can’t take your time to think about all of that,” Ekezie Jr. said. “I never paid attention to all of the cameras…I just go out there and play basketball.”