Officially Signed: Luke Bamgboye
April 25, 2025 | Men's Basketball
LUBBOCK – Texas Tech head coach Grant McCasland has officially announced the signing of transfer Luke Bamgboye who will join the program for the 2025-26 season after earning Atlantic 10 Conference All-Defensive Team and All-Rookie Team while playing at VCU as a freshman.
A 6-foot-10 sophomore from London, United Kingdom, Bamgboye was third in the A-10 last season with 75 blocked shots and 2.14 blocks per game. He also ranked second among all freshmen in the nation with his 75 blocks and was tied for 17th among all players with his blocks per game average. Along with his shot-blocking prowess, Bamgboye finished his freshman season at VCU by adding 3.8 points and 3.3 rebounds per game in 35 appearances. He started 24 games, came away with 19 steals and shot 58-for-97 (59.8 percent) from the field. Â
Bamgboye scored a career-high 17 points against Davidson in a game where he was 7-for-8 from the field and 3-of-3 at the free-throw line while he had a season-best nine rebounds at Rhode Island. He had 12 games with three or more blocked shots, highlighted by a career-high seven blocks against UMass and five against Georgia Southern. Bamgboye, who had 59 offensive rebounds (1.7 per) as a freshman, helped VCU to a 15-3 record in A-10 play and a win over George Mason in the A-10 Championship where he provided four blocks and eight rebounds (5 offensive) to win the tournament title. VCU fell to BYU in the NCAA Tournament First Round with Bamgboye finishing with six points, four rebounds and a block.
Bamgboye spent three years in the United States during his prep career, finishing at AZ Compass Prep in Chandler, Arizona where he averaged 5.2 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game as a senior. He also went to Bella Vista Prep (Phoenix) and Our Lady of Mount Caramel (Baltimore, Maryland) along with playing AAU for Team Thrill. Bamgboye was named to the Nike EYBL Scholastic All-Defensive Team in 2024 after his senior season at AZ Compass Prep.Â
He is the sixth player to officially sign with Texas Tech this offseason following its run to the 2025 NCAA Tournament Elite 8. Bamgboye follows Tyeree Bryan, LeJuan Watts, Donovan Atwell, Josiah Moseley and Nolan Groves. Bryan was the first to sign with the Red Raiders on April 9 after playing the previous two seasons at Santa Clara where he averaged 10.4 points, 4.4 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.1 steals and 2.06 3-pointers made per game last season before Watts signed on April 15. Watts joins the program after playing at Washington State and Eastern Washington and is coming off a sophomore season where he averaged 13.7 points, 6.7 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game. He earned All-WCC Honorable Mention after a season with nine double-doubles and one triple-double. Atwell officially signed on April 19 after three seasons at UNC Greensboro and is coming off a junior season where he averaged 13.3 points per game and was 96-for-241 (39.8 percent) on 3-point attempts. Moseley led Stony Point to the Class 6A State Tournament for the first time in program history and finished his high school career with 2,096 points. Groves earned Minnesota Gatorade Player of the Year honors after leading the state with 34.2 points per game.
Tech also added Marial Akuentok who signed with the program on January 10 and joined the team during the spring semester. Akuentok, a 6-foot-10 center/forward, redshirted after playing at Fort Erie International Academy in Canada and was also a member of the Canadian National Team which won bronze at the FIBA U18 AmeriCup last summer. He was a top 100 recruit who reclassified to join the program immediately.
The Red Raiders finished last season with a 28-9 overall record, including being second in the Big 12 standings with a 15-5 conference record. Tech matched the program record with a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament and advanced to the program's third Elite 8. The Red Raiders are 51-20 over the past two seasons under McCasland with back-to-back trips to the national tournament.
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