{"id":362775,"date":"2025-10-24T04:40:14","date_gmt":"2025-10-24T04:40:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/362775\/"},"modified":"2025-10-24T04:40:14","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T04:40:14","slug":"tosan-evbuomwan-from-newcastle-uniteds-academy-to-flying-the-flag-for-britain-in-the-nba","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/362775\/","title":{"rendered":"Tosan Evbuomwan: From Newcastle United\u2019s academy to flying the flag for Britain in the NBA"},"content":{"rendered":"

This article is part of\u00a0The Athletic\u2019s series marking UK Black History Month. To view the whole collection,\u00a0click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Tosan Evbuomwan has swapped Newcastle for New York and soccer for basketball. The first decision, to change sports at 14, has proved inspired.<\/p>\n

A decade on, Evbuomwan has signed a two-way contract for the New York Knicks for the 2025-26 season where he will play at Madison Square Garden, an arena he considers basketball\u2019s \u201cMecca\u201d.<\/p>\n

According to Hoopsfix<\/a>, ahead of the 2024-25 season, he was one of only nine players who were born and developed in the UK to have made it to the NBA. Some achievement for a player who had not played a basketball match in an organised form until he was a teenager at Royal Grammar School Newcastle.<\/p>\n

Evbuomwan was soon snapped up by local side Newcastle East Griffins following a schoolboy tournament. Within a year, he was invited to an England camp.<\/p>\n

The NBA is a world away from his upbringing in the north east of England where he excelled at soccer, to the extent that he was part of Newcastle United\u2019s academy from the age of seven to 11.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a football goal and a basketball hoop in the garden, but I never used the hoop,\u201d says Evbuomwan.<\/p>\n

\u201cFootball in the UK is so cutthroat, that\u2019s why it\u2019s at such a high level, but it\u2019s not always best for the kids.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was just never for me. I love to compete and play at the highest level, but at that age, sport was always about enjoyment and it was never about making it and becoming a pro. If I didn\u2019t enjoy it, that was it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI used to dread going to games \u2014 and gamedays. I would get so nervous and I\u2019m not a nervous person. I\u2019m usually quite good under pressure but I would be scared to make a mistake. At that point, it wasn\u2019t a career thing, so as soon as the enjoyment factor went it was like: \u2018Why am I doing this?\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will never forget the day we went in to tell them I was leaving. People and parents were shocked. As soon as my parents and I left the office, I remember telling them: \u2018I feel so free. I\u2019m free\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

\n The New York Knicks\u2019 Tosan Evbuomwan, wearing No 20, drives to the basket against the Washington Wizards during an NBA preseason game earlier this month (Jesse D. Garrabrant\/NBAE via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Evbuomwan\u2019s departure from Newcastle\u2019s academy freed him to pursue sport for fun. He quickly embraced basketball as the perfect opportunity.<\/p>\n

The sport became a playground trend, with Evbuomwan and friends sparking a lunchtime exodus from football.<\/p>\n

It was clear he had something. Thrust into competition against older, stronger and more experienced players, his first England camp was a shock to the system. The second was not.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first time I got selected for an England camp, I hated it,\u201d says Evbuomwan. \u201cI felt so out of my depth but I kept playing and got better pretty quickly. By the time the next call-up came, I had improved a lot. I felt like I belonged.\u201d<\/p>\n

At FIBA\u2019s (basketball\u2019s international governing body) Under-18 European Championship in Latvia in 2018, he excelled for Great Britain. America noticed.<\/p>\n

College scouting platform DraftExpress made contact on Instagram with an offer to help navigate the notoriously difficult National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) recruiting process.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was like: \u2018Why not? let\u2019s just see what happens\u2019,\u201d Evbuomwan recalls. \u201cMy coach, Ian MacLeod, emailed schools for me and Princeton was one of the ones that got back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Evbuomwan was whisked out to the historic campus an hour outside of New York for an official visit.<\/p>\n

He remembers walking into Princeton\u2019s Jadwin Gymnasium for the first time. \u201cI couldn\u2019t believe the resources, I was blown away,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was greeted by three shooting machines when I walked in the door. I found out that every middle school in America has at least one of them. I can count on my hand how many there are in the UK!\u201d<\/p>\n

By the end of his third year at Princeton, he was Ivy League Player of the Year. Twelve months later, he played a leading role in Princeton\u2019s first appearance in the NCAA\u2019s March Madness Sweet 16<\/a> since 1967.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

\n Evbuomwan, left, in action for the Princeton Tigers in the Sweet 16 round of the 2023 NCAA men\u2019s basketball tournament (Andy Lyons\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a bigger deal to everyone else,\u201d he says. \u201cWe don\u2019t grow up on the tournament the way these guys (his team-mates) did. I didn\u2019t appreciate the scale of it, the fact that everybody across the country watches it, in school, in work \u2014 it\u2019s a massive moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Princeton upset No 2 seed Arizona and No 7 seed Missouri, before losing to Creighton in the round of 16, but small forward Evbuomwan was on the NBA\u2019s radar.<\/p>\n

Evbuomwan impressed and declared for the 2023 NBA Draft, eventually signing a free-agent contract with the Detroit Pistons, although he was waived not long after.<\/p>\n

Following his first free agency deal, Evbuomwan has moved between a number of G League and NBA rosters. It was while on a 10-day contract with the Memphis Grizzlies that he could finally call himself a bona fide NBA player, walking out under the bright lights of the FedEx Forum to play 16 minutes against the Golden State Warriors in a 101-121 loss in February 2024.<\/p>\n

There was a 10-day contract with the Pistons next, followed by a spell with the San Diego Clippers, the LA Clippers\u2019 G League affiliate. Evbuomwan\u2019s cross-country adventures weren\u2019t done there. He signed a two-way contract with the Brooklyn Nets in January 2025.<\/p>\n

A closely contested game against the Utah Jazz went on to become the setting for another NBA milestone: a career-high 22 points for the Nets, outscoring each of his team-mates in the process.<\/p>\n

Thousands of miles away, the north east of England celebrated. A thread popped up on Newcastle United\u2019s subreddit<\/a> to share the news and appreciate the former academy player. One comment brimmed with hometown affection: \u201cLove this. 22 points and went to Princeton to boot. Howay th<\/a>e lad.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

Unfortunately, for these Geordies, Evbuomwan\u2019s football allegiance was claimed by another team.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously a lot of people hate the fact that I\u2019m a Manchester United fan,\u201d he says, \u201cbut that\u2019s my mum\u2019s influence.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Tosan<\/p>\n

\n Evbuomwan, playing for the Nets, attempts to guard LA Lakers superstar LeBron James in January 2025 (Katelyn Mulcahy\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

That guiding hand has been central to Evbuomwan\u2019s ambitions. In 2012, his mother Michelle died from breast cancer and he wears the No 20 on the court as a tribute to her March 20 birthday.<\/p>\n

She had been one of Nigeria\u2019s first female pilots, flying relief planes for the Red Cross and even taking the helm on flights carrying Nelson Mandela. \u201cShe was an amazing woman who continues to inspire me and others to this day,\u201d says her son.<\/p>\n

Now it is Evbuomwan who wants to set the example \u2014 for the good of British basketball.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of what I hope to do is to help inspire the younger generation at home,\u201d he says. \u201cI know how hard it is to make it. There are a few Brits in the league now. Hopefully we can be a beacon.\u201d<\/p>\n

On this front, there is hope. On September 17, the UK government announced a joint funding commitment<\/a> with the NBA centring on a \u00a310million investment intended to \u201celevate basketball\u201d in the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have real potential in the UK and that deserves to be given a chance,\u201d Evbuomwan says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to be an NBA player, which I can now say I\u2019ve done. Being here is something I have to earn everyday. It\u2019s never guaranteed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s 60 draft picks, plus free agents, so probably 100 people coming in each year. That means there are 100 people losing their jobs each year. It\u2019s a never-ending cycle.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can never take your foot off the gas and I\u2019m not stopping now.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This article is part of\u00a0The Athletic\u2019s series marking UK Black History Month. To view the whole collection,\u00a0click here.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":362776,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[7,2284,6,191,24800],"class_list":{"0":"post-362775","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-culture","10":"tag-nba","11":"tag-new-york-knicks","12":"tag-newcastle-united"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115427306862421496","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362775","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=362775"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362775\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/362776"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=362775"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=362775"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=362775"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}