By Jackson Posey | Sports Writer
Obi Agbim is a ramblin’ man.
The sixth-year guard played two seasons at Fort Lewis College and one apiece at Northeastern Junior College, Metro State and Wyoming before transferring to Baylor this offseason. But don’t let his CVS receipt of a player bio fool you — Agbim is a scoring machine.
The Aurora, Colo. native averaged 17.6 points, 3.2 rebounds and 3.4 assists on 46.9/43.7/78.5 shooting splits in 2024-25. That efficiency is particularly impressive as the Cowboys’ only offensive center of gravity.
No other player on the roster averaged nine points per game, giving defenses ample space to focus all their efforts on Agbim. It didn’t matter. In the biggest moments, when everyone knew he’d be taking the shot, he delivered.
Obi Agbim is the guy you want taking the last shot. Point blank.
The Colorado native averaged 17.6 PPG — nobody else averaged nine — on blazing 46.9/43.7/78.5 shooting splits.
Agbim wasn't just taking all the shots for the Cowboys, he was making them. pic.twitter.com/N4gfLZ49Sv
— Jackson Posey ✞ (@ByJacksonPosey) April 9, 2025
A long, lean scoring guard — Agbim’s game has shades of Nah’Shon “Bones” Hyland, a former VCU standout who now plays for the Minnesota Timberwolves. Agbim is less flashy and not the same type of jittery athlete, but the lean, 6-foot-3 scoring guards share a skillset and a flair for the dramatic.
He's stylistically reminiscent of former VCU star Nah'Shon "Bones" Hyland. Both are long, lean, 6-foot-3 shooting guards with high scoring volume, aggressive shot-creating and difficulty staying in front of opposing players.
Check out how similar these finishes are: pic.twitter.com/3rZBNLfpIa
— Jackson Posey ✞ (@ByJacksonPosey) April 9, 2025
Agbim is a tough shot-taker and a tough shot-maker. That’s a heck of a lot easier against lower mid-majors like Bellarmine, but Agbim showed real skill against high-caliber foes, including Big 12 opponents Texas Tech and BYU. Against NCAA Tournament teams, he upped his game, averaging 18.6 points on 50.4% shooting despite increased defensive pressure.
Obi Agbim is, above all else, a tough-shot taker and a tough-shot maker. Even with all the defensive pressure on him, he averaged 18.6 PPG on 50.4% shooting in eight games vs future NCAA Tourney teams. He's the type of self-creator Baylor has been missing the past couple seasons. pic.twitter.com/mA2Qk8H4H4
— Jackson Posey ✞ (@ByJacksonPosey) April 9, 2025
Agbim is next in line in a long tradition of Baylor guards with pretty jump shots. The Mountain West Newcomer of the Year has quietly developed into one of the deadliest jump shooters in the nation over the past few seasons, finishing No. 8 nationally at 43.7% from beyond the arc on 6.3 attempts per game.
Those weren’t simple catch-and-shoot attempts, either. Agbim had the green light to launch a high volume of stepback and contested shots from downtown, and it paid off. He led the Mountain West in 3-point percentage and finished second in 3-pointers per game (2.8), becoming the only player in the conference to shoot over 40% on multiple makes per game.
The rising sixth-year guard has a clean, single-motion release that rings true off movement. (A good thing too, given how much attention he drew.)
Agbim shot a league-leading 43.7 3PT% on 6.3 attempts per game — a staggering fact given the typical shot volume and difficulty. pic.twitter.com/JdqcIZm0zp
— Jackson Posey ✞ (@ByJacksonPosey) April 9, 2025
The major weak point is the defense. Like Hyland, Agbim’s lean frame doesn’t leave much room for physicality, which often forces him out of position. His off-ball defensive instincts aren’t great, and he often doesn’t have the lateral agility to stay in front of quicker ball-handlers.
Agbim's defense will be a sore spot throughout the season. He isn't strong enough to bump opposing players off their spots, nor laterally quick enough to stay in front of them.
He also has real positioning/help defense issues (see clip #2) that will be tough to overcome. pic.twitter.com/Fz3cE0pxMZ
— Jackson Posey ✞ (@ByJacksonPosey) April 9, 2025
It’s not an effort issue, but much of Agbim’s defensive game needs to be reworked from the ground up. He tends to reach when he gets out of position, exacerbating the first issue by fouling or putting other players out of position.
It wasn’t just a defensive issue. Against high-level opponents, Agbim often pressed too hard on both ends of the court. Part of that was necessary to compensate for his supporting cast, but it’ll take intentional emphasis to unlearn those bad habits and avoid creating disadvantageous situations on either end of the court.
So that's the good and the bad. The fixable? Agbim played *way* too aggressively on both ends last year. A lot of his misses were from playing too fast; a lot of his fouls from chasing steals.
Most of this is overcompensating and should be fixable if he buys into Baylor's scheme pic.twitter.com/bDCOvbUySf
— Jackson Posey ✞ (@ByJacksonPosey) April 9, 2025
All told, Agbim is a big-time addition to the Bears. He’ll immediately become the No. 1 scoring option and should provide plenty of highlight-reel stepbacks and buzzer-beaters. But he lowers the Bears’ defensive ceiling considerably, and they’ll need standout help defense from fellow transfer Michael Rataj and others to offset Agbim’s physical limitations on that end of the court.
