photo by: Nick Pearce/Dalhousie Athletics

Dalhousie's Nginyu Ngala dribbles during a game against Acadia on Sunday, Nov. 5, 2023, in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Kansas men’s basketball coach Bill Self weighed in on the recent addition of Canadian guard Nginyu Ngala in a press release issued on Tuesday afternoon, after Ngala had signed with KU on Friday.

Self said that KU filled the last roster spot it had remaining by bringing in Ngala, a 5-foot-10 point guard from Montreal, Quebec, who most recently played at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario.

“(We) thought we addressed a need in that now we have a backup point guard who we feel is very capable with his maturity and skillset to play minutes on our team,” Self said in the release. “Nginyu is quick, he can shoot, and he should be a great example, not only on the court how to play, but also in the locker room.”

Over the course of three seasons at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia (after his first year was canceled due to the pandemic) and his final U Sports season at Laurentian, Ngala averaged 14.8 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.6 steals per game, per the release.

While he doesn’t have the same size of the other transfer guards KU brought in over the course of the spring and summer, Ngala brings quickness and shooting acumen and provides an additional ball-handling option alongside the likes of Darryn Peterson and Elmarko Jackson.

In his own commitment announcement on Instagram, Ngala thanked Self and the KU coaching staff, as well as his family, his friends and his team at Athletes In Power Sports Management.

“When I think about how far I’ve come, I don’t reflect on the 6 a.m workouts, the weight sessions, the lonely hours in the gym, the two a days (sometimes three) or the countless hours of personal film study,” Ngala wrote. “I think about the day I sat in my living room with my brothers, watching NCAA college basketball and told myself, ‘I’ll be there one day’ I just didn’t know when.”

KU could technically have gone up to 14 players, all on scholarship, under the new roster limits implemented by the House v. NCAA settlement, but Ngala puts them at 13, the scholarship total that predates House. If two-sport athlete Jaden Nickens is eventually added to the basketball roster, and if KU does not think it can mark him as a Designated Student-Athlete who would be exempt from the 14-player limit, he would presumably fill the 14th spot.

Ngala’s commitment announcement occurred when Self was still in the hospital, midway through his two-day stay after he experienced what KU called “concerning symptoms” on Thursday. Self was released from LMH Health on Saturday and said he felt “strong” and “excited to be home.”