Agho earns first collegiate double-double over Brown

“I’m not too complicated,” insisted Noruwa Agho.

Complicated? Maybe not. Talented? Most definitely.

This past weekend, the sophomore guard turned in two superb performances against Brown and Yale. In the Lions’ 65-54 win over the Bears on Friday, Agho posted his first-ever collegiate double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Columbia was trailing Brown by nine at the half, but strong performances by Agho and teammate Asenso Ampim helped the Lions pull off the comeback.

“I feel like, especially in the first half, I tried to make an assertive effort to get us on track,” Agho said. “We were down in the beginning of the game, and then we made the comeback. It was good to play well and also get a win at the same time.”

The next night Agho tallied 30 points, matching a career high, in the Light Blue’s loss to the Bulldogs.

Between the two games, Agho played a total of 77 minutes, spending only three minutes on the bench the whole weekend.

“I’ve had a good year so far, and I think coach Jones and some of my teammates are depending on me to be able to contribute at a high level for a long amount of time,” Agho said. “I think now more than ever, I’m starting to really embrace that role. … Anytime I can be out there and trying to impose my will on the game, it’s great.”

Agho has definitely stepped into that role this year, as he is leading the team with 17.7 points per game—almost double his 9.1 average from last season. In fact, he has improved drastically in almost every statistical category. According to Agho, this betterment is the result of a lot of hard work in the off-season.

“I really focused on breaking down my game and starting from scratch in a way, really working on some fundamentals that I didn’t have last year,” Agho said of his summer.

Head coach Joe Jones has lauded Agho’s work ethic on many occasions, explaining that Agho goes above and beyond to reach his full potential.

“You know, I’ve said it, the kid is the hardest-working kid I’ve ever been around,” Jones said of Agho after Columbia’s Nov. 24 win over Bucknell. “He works so hard, sometimes we think he works too hard ... Before the game, he was in my office for about 45 minutes watching film of Bucknell, getting himself ready,” Jones said. “He does a lot of things behind the scenes that really ... make him a much better player.”

Agho spends at least an extra hour in the gym every day, either shooting or lifting—sometimes both. Teammate Issa Mase, who often works out with Agho, also praised his dedication.

“Off-season, during the season, I’m pretty much always in the gym with the guy,” Mase said. “It’s almost like we’re used to it now—that’s just what he does. He wants to be good, so he works hard at it.”

The most noticeable change in Agho’s game is his 3-point shooting. Last year, Agho shot 35.7 percent from beyond the arc and attempted only 84 threes the whole season. This year, he is fifth in the nation in 3-point percentage with 51.6 percent, and he has already attempted 91 shots from downtown.

His improved 3-point shooting has garnered national attention, as the New York Times published an article about Agho on Jan. 7.

“Hopefully that’s just the start of something really special,” Agho said of the Times article. “That’s another thing that kind of motivates me to continue to work hard and be successful, and not quit and not get discouraged, and continue to push forward, because there is a possibility that we can turn the program around, that I can help turn the program around.”

Though Agho is currently focusing on helping the Lions as much as possible, he has thought about a future in basketball.

“I’m definitely not ignorant of the fact that with continued success, that’s definitely a possibility,” Agho said of playing professionally. “But I’m really more concerned with myself and how I feel about myself. I want to be as good as I can be, and I want to be able to play and continue to play until I can’t play any longer, so I don’t have any regrets.”

If professional basketball doesn’t work out for Agho, he’ll definitely have something to fall back on. Though he is still unsure about his career path, Agho has considered investing—something that has interested him since high school, according to Mase.

“He’s really big into investing and that whole process,” Mase said. “He started building his portfolio in high school. ... He’s always reading one investment magazine after the next. ... That’s just his little thing on the side.”

For now, though, basketball is the biggest part of Agho’s life, and he plans on continuing to work as hard as possible to make himself and his team better.

“I want to be able to say that I did all I could to be as good as I could possibly be,” Agho said. “Whatever happens after that is a bonus.”