NEW HAVEN — It was only a few years ago that Miye Oni wasn’t sure where basketball would take him. After injuring his knee during his junior year of high school, Oni had to stop and think about what the future held. Given the circumstances, going to school as a typical applicant and hoping to walk on to its basketball team seemed to be his best bet.
Flash forward four years, and Oni has led Yale to the Ivy League Championship game. Yale estimates that 20 pro scouts were there to watch Oni play in the Bulldogs’ 77-73 semifinal win over Princeton.
If there’s one thing to know about Oni, it is his commitment to everything he touches. In what he called a grueling process to find himself mentally, Oni got back on the court that summer. When then-Army assistant Kevin App watched him in a layup line during an AAU game his senior year, he told the high schooler that despite not playing much in the game, he looked the part. App then requested he fill out a recruiting questionnaire.
Later that summer, when App took the head coaching job at Division III Williams, Oni received an unexpected call telling him he had the measurables and test scores to get an offer. All of this happened with App having never seen Oni play in person and the two not meeting until Oni visited Williams.
“After his visit and getting some film, our assistants and myself felt Miye possessed the intelligence, length and athleticism that would be a great addition to our program,” App said.
Like many college students, paying for college was something Oni and his family had to figure out, especially when his only options were schools that did not offer athletic scholarships. While playing his senior year of high school, coaches around the country began to notice Oni and Division I offers started to come in. Throughout all of this, Oni said he wanted to remain committed to Williams, but the financial aid aspect forced him to reconsider the new offers coming his way. From committing to Williams in March to receiving power conference offers in the span of four months, one stuck out in particular: Yale.
Yale provided Oni with the academic and basketball programs that he was looking for, and when coach James Jones reached out without having ever seen him play, Oni knew it was a perfect match.
“I had a great connection with the coaching staff and liked their ideas for how they played,” Oni said.
Just like everything else with Oni’s career to this point, nothing came easy. Yale had already closed its admissions for the 2015-16 academic year, so Oni and Yale decided it would be best for him to spend a year at Connecticut prep school Suffield Academy.
There, Oni had the time to prepare for the speed and physicality of the college game, something he described as his biggest challenge in going from high school to Yale.
“The speed of everything and the physicality of everything was just increased a notch,” he said. “Especially the physicality. If you’re not physical in college, you’re just not going to get it done.”
The time at prep school goes to show how committed Oni is to the game, especially when some of the other schools offering him had spots available right away.
Oni showed off his mastery of the speed and physicality of the game in the Ivy League Tournament semifinals, where his presence could be felt all over the court. From driving to the rim almost at will to playing tight defense and forcing turnovers, it’s clear that the work Oni put in paid off.
For all of the talk of the speed of the game, it seems to slow to a halt at one place for Oni: the free throw line. With each free throw attempt, you could almost see the thought process going on in his head. A deliberate pause, a deep breath, and finally a perfect release. This showed during the closing minutes as Oni sunk his free throws to close out the game, bringing him to a perfect 8-8 from the line.
“Very few guys can do all the things that he does and the reason why he’s the player of the year in our league is because he does do all those things,” Jones said after the game.
In the age of highlight reel dunks and mixtapes on YouTube, a player who focuses on his defensive abilities and the smaller parts of the game is not easy to find. When asked where he has grown the most as a player during his time at Yale, Oni is quick to bring up his defense.
“Not even just on-ball defense,” Oni said. “But from a team defensive aspect, being able to think quicker, understand assignments better.”
While Oni has been working on his defense, opponents have worked on defending him.
“Knowing how to play with a scout on you, especially when you’ve been scouted heavily by your opponents, I watch a lot of film on how to adjust and how to prepare for the opponents,” he said.
This was evident in the Princeton semifinal matchup as Myles Stephens seemed to stymy Oni’s offensive game. As soon as Stephens fouled out with 3:10 left, everything seemed to open up for Oni.
While he may be a focal point for opposing teams, Oni does not make himself the focus of his team.
“I play a part in what we do on the court, especially leading on the court, but still allow the seniors to take that main leadership role, and maintain order on the team,” he said. “That balance of leading on and off the court but not overstepping also is really important.”
When on the court, Oni plays with such a pace that you can tell he is in complete control, pulling the strings to lead the offense to score. For a player who can drive at will, Oni is quick to look for his teammates, which on Saturday seemed to result in multiple baskets for senior captain Blake Reynolds.
Despite struggling to score early in the second half, there was no frustration on Oni’s face. Play after play, he was engaged, high-fiving and fist pumping after plays by his teammates. While resting on the bench for the few minutes that he did, Oni was quick to jump out of his seat to hype up his teammates following a timeout. But that doesn’t mean that Oni won’t step up when his team needs him. As Yale forged a ferocious comeback in the final three minutes, everything ran through Oni.
“You have to leave everything on the line,” he said. “There’s no waiting, no conserving energy or anything like that, you have to leave it all out on the court for 40 minutes because you know this could be the last game you play this season.”
After a second-half run by Princeton erased Yale’s 12-point halftime lead, who was diving on the floor for loose balls? Oni. From hitting a teammate with a perfect pass as he cut to the basket, to driving to the rim determined to score, Oni did what he could to keep Yale from being upset.
As Yale took the lead in the closing minute, it was only fitting for Oni to lead the way. Following a Princeton desperation three, who grabbed the critical rebound? Who sunk the free throws to make it a two possession game and make sure Yale got to the Ivy League championship? Oni.
“He’s certainly one of the most fundamentally sound players and he’s certainly one of the best players at doing a little of everything,” Jones said.
After this season comes to an end, Oni will have to make a tough decision for a junior. Could the Ivy League Tournament games have been his last at Payne-Whitney Gymnasium? The Ivy League hasn’t had a player drafted to the NBA since Jerome Allen in 1995. As things stand, Oni is popping up on mock drafts across the country, currently 50th on ESPN’s Mock Draft board.
“It’s definitely been cool to see the teams and scouts are appreciating my game,” he said. “Especially when you hear that they appreciate things like how you move the ball. You feel refreshed that it’s not all about scoring. That people actually look for your all-around game.”
Back when Yale was recruiting Oni, there was no Ivy League Tournament. He saw Yale lose in a heartbreaking play-in game that could sent them to the NCAA Tournament.
Coming off an Ivy League regular season championship, the Bulldogs look ready to take on March.
“I don’t think we, as a team, have reached our greatest capabilities of success,” Oni said.