Kansas Basketball Great Ochai Agbaji Gives Back to Kansas City Community

Former KU basketball star and current Toronto Raptors guard Ochai Agbaji recently held his inaugural youth basketball camp for kids in his hometown of Kansas City.

Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

Former Kansas basketball star and current Toronto Raptors guard Ochai Agbaji has found a new way to give back to the community he calls home.  

This past week, Agbaji – a Kansas City native who played for Oak Park High School in Kansas City, Missouri, before signing with KU in 2018 – held his first-ever youth basketball camp for approximately 90 boys and girls, ranging from 8 to 18 years old, in the KC metro area through his Young Agbaji Foundation.

The foundation’s mission focuses on empowering underprivileged youth in Kansas City through the power of sports and was started as a way for Agbaji to give back to the people and places that shaped him into the person he has become.

“Being in this space and this platform that I have today, through basketball, I want to give it back to them in any way possible whether it’s camps, mentorships, and anything like that,” Agbaji told the Kansas City Star.

The camp took place inside the MOKAN Basketball facility in Overland Park. MOKAN is one of the premier AAU programs in the Midwest with a track record of developing young athletes into future college and professional athletes – Agbaji included.

The camp featured a variety of skills training (for both on and off the court) from Agbaji and other coaches, including fellow 2022 NCAA champion Christian Braun. They also held 3-on-3 competitions, as well as a free throw contest for camp participants.

At the end of camp, Agbaji and Braun signed autographs and took pictures with the kids, who Agbaji hopes will be inspired by his journey from Kansas City to the NBA.

He spoke with KCTV5 News after to share what a rewarding experience the day was for him.

“This is something that I’ve always really wanted to do as far as just giving back to the community of Kansas City, but also just especially coming here and them knowing me and kind of being so intimate. It’s really cool.”