“I plan on going to the NBA," Ethan Mgbako Has Big Goals For Vanderbilt Career

The four-star prospect isn't shy about his desire to play at the next level after handling his business at Vanderbilt. Mgbako is Mark Byington's first top 100 recruit since Byington's arrival as the head coach of Vanderbilt basketball.

Mgbako is Mark Byington's breakthrough recruit | Ethan Mgbako

Nashville—-Ethan Mgbako can’t understand why there’s not more guys like him. 

It’s not as if Mgbako is naive to his surroundings or the landscape of the game that he and his brother participate in. It’s quite the opposite, actually. Mgbako has been to all the camps. He’s been on the EYBL circuit. He’s a go-to guy at one of the most prominent prep schools in America. His brother was a McDonald’s All American a few years ago, as well. 

If there’s a high schooler with his head screwed on straight and a pulse of the game, it appears as if it’s Mgbako. He’s got the nearly perfect mix of confidence and humility. He’s as thoughtful of a speaker as any high schooler Vanderbilt has had come in over the past few seasons. 

He’s got some blunt honesty in him, too. Mgbako knows he’s a high performer athletically and academically. He also knows that he’s the first player of his caliber—a top 100 high school recruit—to take a chance on Mark Byington’s Vanderbilt program and embrace what it’s about. 

Mgbako likes the idea of playing in Byington’s free-flowing, up-tempo offense, but also believes his Vanderbilt commitment is valuable because of the “academic platform” it will give him.

“I feel like more top 100 players should look at it that way,” Mgbako told Vandy on SI. “A lot of top 100 guys don’t see it as if they would even have Vandy or Stanford in their top five, but I wasn't just thinking about basketball. I was thinking about my future.”

Mgbako guesses that he’ll be some sort of entrepreneur when the ball stops bouncing for him, but don’t mistake his eye for the future as a lack of confidence in what his basketball career can hold. 

The four-star, No. 65 player in the 2026 class feels as if he’s under-ranked nationally and has an opportunity to something that has seemed insurmountable for every Vanderbilt player since Darius Garland. 

Mgbako isn’t shy about his desire, he wants to be an NBA player. If a one-and-done career is what can put him in the best position to be one, he’s open to that. He believes Vanderbilt is the place to fulfill his desires. 

“I plan on going to the NBA, how long that takes is however long God wants it to take,” Mgbako said. “After my visit is when I left and I was like ‘wow I really see myself being there for the next nine months or the next two years or three years or four years, or however long I stay.’”

If Mgbako is in a position to declare for the draft in the spring of 2026, he would be Vanderbilt’s first one and done since Darius Garland and Simi Shittu in 2018. Perhaps a goal like that is lofty, but if any recent Vanderbilt commit can do it, it’s Mgbako. 

The 6-foot-6 swingman—who says Byington envisions him as a combo guard—is Vanderbilt’s highest-rated recruit since current NBA wing Aaron Nesmith. Mgbako believes that his résumé—which has included him finishing third on the EYBL circuit in scoring—could allow him to rise more than he already has in the rankings. 

“I do feel like I should be higher,” Mgbako said. “I pride myself on m being a hard-nose,tough player and being a dog. I'm gonna score anyway I have to. I'm gonna get it offensively and defensively scoring three ways. If it's in the post, mid range or 3s I’m gonna do it every single way. I'm gonna make the defenders' life hell.”

Vanderbilt’s plan for Mgbako to showcase his ability appears to be having him become a heavy-usage player out of ballscreens. Mgbako says the Vanderbilt staff believes strongly that he can play right away and that they want him to make an impact right away. 

Sources told Vandy on SI that the Vanderbilt staff was particularly drawn to Mgbako’s natural ability as a scorer as well as his efficiency and feel for the game. It appears as if they expect him to be at the forefront of their future plans regardless of how long he stays. 

Mgbako and the Vanderbilt staff appear to be aligned. 

“Establish my name in the Vanderbilt community as one of the best players to come out of there,” Mgbako said of his goals at Vanderbilt, “And making it to March Madness and winning.”