David Nwaba is a Laker. Photo by Owen Main

People in San Luis Obispo knew that David Nwaba had the physical tools to be an NBA player. Now, less than a year removed from his college graduation in San Luis Obispo, he’s going to the NBA. On Tuesday the former Cal Poly Mustang signed a 10-day contract with his hometown Los Angeles Lakers. 

“David has worked on all parts of his game the last five years,” said Cal Poly coach Joe Callero via text message. “He is the perfect example of hard work and persistence! We are all so proud of him as a person and player… Cal Poly Proud!”

Nwaba, who transferred to Cal Poly as a sophomore in 2013, made an immediate impact. With his high level of intensity and athleticism, Nwaba helped Cal Poly to their first appearance in the NCAA tournament as the Mustangs rolled through the Big West tournament as a 7-seed. Cal Poly won their first round game that year over Texas Southern before losing to one-seed Wichita State. 

Outside shooting will be the thing Nwaba still needs to continue to work on with his game, but his defensive intensity and ability to finish inside make him someone that Magic Johnson and the Lakers think will be able to contribute in the NBA. 

Nwaba is a native of Los Angeles. His sister Barbara is a world-class heptathlete. Other Big West Conference alumni in the NBA are Suns forward Alan Williams (UCSB) and Grizzlies forward James Ennis (Long Beach State). 

Chris Eversley had a fairly successful first professional season. Playing for Westports Malaysia Dragons, CE helped his team to the regular season title before they lost in the finals.

Eversley averaged 19 points and 9 rebounds, shooting 46 percent from the field. Westports Malaysia also included Justin Knox, who played for Alabama and North Carolina before graduating in 2011. Knox’ numbers were almost identical to Eversley, as he averaged .2 more points and 1.2 more rebounds over the 24 game schedule.

The real fun of this post comes in watching CE get out on the fast-break, hang on the rim a little and bring some of the fire we saw in San Luis Obispo to his Malaysian team and teammates.

Here’s a podcast I taped with Chris after his senior collegiate season was over and before he knew he was going to Malaysia. 

Hope you enjoy the video.

WARNING – some explicit lyrics in the video below