When Arinze Onuaku played center for Syracuse from 2005–10, his younger brother Chinanu aspired to follow in his footsteps.

Though Chinanu never attended a game at the Carrier Dome, he remembers watching SU games on television and seeing rowdy, sellout crowds. He cheered for his brother’s team whether he watched from their family home in Lanham, Maryland, or in person at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., whenever SU played Georgetown.

Chinanu’s not sure where his Syracuse apparel went, but at one point he had some of his own.

Five years later, after not being recruited by his brother’s alma mater, Chinanu will come to the Carrier Dome on Wednesday as a member of No. 12 Louisville (20-5, 8-4 Atlantic Coast) for a 7 p.m. tipoff with SU (16-9, 7-5). The freshman center has started 19 of the Cardinals’ 25 games this season and averages 3.2 points and 4.7 rebounds a game.

“As far as his (recruiting) process, I allowed him to do his own thing,” said Arinze, now an NBA Developmental League all-star center for the Canton Charge. “I didn’t put any pressure on him to come to Syracuse. He’s his own man, so he had to go where he felt he was comfortable.”

With Arinze in college when Chinanu was just 9, the brothers never had the chance to play organized ball together. But as Chinanu got older and Arinze came home on school breaks, Arinze took him to workouts whenever he could, and the two worked on offensive skill moves and agility.

“He picked up the sport pretty early because, the same as me, he was always one of those guys that was the tallest in his class,” Arinze said. “He used to watch me play a lot, so he fell in love with the game pretty early.”

Chinanu also learned the game from his older sister Ify, who played at Florida A&M from 2004–08 and was a three-time high school state champion at LuVal (Maryland) High School, where Arinze starred for two years.

Chinanu said Arinze is “probably” a better low-post player than he is, but the UofL center said he’s better on the perimeter and a better shot-blocker.

“I think (Chinanu) has tremendous potential, as did Arinze,” Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim said on Monday morning’s ACC coaches’ teleconference. “You know, tremendous potential. Obviously Arinze became a tremendous player for us. (Chinanu) has that same kind of potential.”

At SU, Arinze redshirted the 2006–07 season after undergoing surgery on his left knee. However, he finished his career first on the Syracuse all-time list with a .648 field-goal percentage (540-for-833) and placed 11th all-time in program history with 148 blocked shots.

Boeheim said that from what he’s seen on tape, the younger Onuaku has done a lot of good things this season for Louisville, but is a different player than Arinze.

Louisville head coach Rick Pitino said on the ACC teleconference that Chinanu reminds him of Arinze in “many ways,” including his shot-blocking ability.

“He’s someone who struggles on the foul line, but he’s a physical presence,” Pitino said. “He’s getting better as he learns to catch the ball better. … We think he has a great career ahead of him.”

Arinze said Tuesday morning that there hasn’t been any abnormal banter between the brothers this week about the upcoming matchup. He hopes his alma mater wins, but he also wants his brother to play well.

Chinanu is coming off a six-rebound performance in Saturday’s win over North Carolina State, tied for his best outing on the boards since an eight-point, eight-rebound night against North Carolina in January.

For the Cardinals’ 80-68 victory in Pittsburgh on Jan. 25, Arinze took advantage of the Charge’s five-day break and was on hand to see his brother play.

“He has a long way to go,” Arinze said, “but I’m very proud of him and where he’s headed.”

Published on February 18, 2015 at 12:13 am

Contact Josh: jmhyber@syr.edu