Raptors’ Mogbo fulfils NBA dream after taking unconventional path

Karen Mogbo refused to let her youngest son be late.

Jonathan was in his junior year of high school and playing point guard for the Florida Lightning – a 16-and-under travel UAA (University Athletic Association) team based out of Miami. However, the Mogbo family lived more than 70 miles away in West Palm Beach.

So every day after school, Ms. Mogbo would pick Jonathan up and drive him to practice. They’d grab food along the way, and he would have to eat it in the car. Sometimes he would take a nap. It was a long ride – 90 minutes or so, and that’s assuming I-95 traffic cooperated, which it often did not.

From a young age, one of the things Ms. Mogbo instilled in her sons is the tried-and-true lesson: to be early is to be on time. Jonathan became a quick favourite of the head coach, who would wonder how the kid coming all the way from Palm Beach was the first one in the gym and ready to work out.

At 16, Mogbo was only starting to grow into his eventually massive 6-foot-8 frame. He was still six years away from hearing his name called 31st overall at the 2024 NBA draft, fulfilling a lifelong dream. He wasn’t the best, tallest or most athletic player on that team – which included future NBA lottery pick Jett Howard and his older brother Jace, sons of Fab Five legend Juwan Howard – but his determination set him apart. It always has.

Mogbo was raised in Wellington, FLA, about 16 miles west of West Palm Beach. His mom is Jamaican and his dad, Chuck, is of Nigerian descent.

He’s the baby of the family. His two stepbrothers, Charles and Bryan, are both two decades his senior and were already adults and out of the house by the time he and his older brother Zach grew up. He and Zach are three years apart.

“I was very spoiled, I’ll say that,” Mogbo admitted. “Very spoiled.”

He was quiet; polite but reserved. The two boys were enrolled in private Christian school, so initially, their only friends were the ones they made at church. Their first taste of sport came when they were put into football. Mogbo, five years old at the time, played running back and linebacker. He was a husky kid, with “chunky cheeks” and an awkward stride, as his mom tells it, but once he got onto the field he would “tear it up.” The other kids nicknamed him Terminator.

He would play a little basketball and soccer between football seasons but didn’t take up organized hoops until the fourth grade. That’s when he met Scottie Barnes, one of his first AAU teammates.

Mogbo recalls his mom driving them to their first game. He also remembers that they were late; they had to wait outside Barnes’ house as he got ready. They may not have shared the same penchant for being on schedule, but their personalities meshed well and the two became fast friends: Scott and J-Mo.

“He was a funny guy, goofy, I would say he was really goofy,” Mogbo said of Barnes. “I feel like we bonded together because we are similar … We love to bring smiles to peoples’ faces.”

“He brought a lot of joy, just a cool person,” Barnes said of Mogbo. “He did a lot for me growing up … His family are great people, very loving to God, so grateful and blessed, and super humble. Just great people overall, and they have great hearts.”

The two friends played AAU together for a couple years before Barnes switched teams, but they kept in contact and then reconnected when both ended up at Cardinal Newman High School. Needing a place to stay that was closer to the school, Mogbo and his mother took Barnes in. He lived with them for his entire freshman year.

With three teenagers, and the two older boys popping in and out, there was a lot of testosterone in the house. Fortunately, Ms. Mogbo has always had a kind and welcoming heart, and almost always had a pot of her famous oxtail stew – with the accompanying rice and peas – on the stove.

When they weren’t at school or doing homework, Mogbo and Barnes would spend most of their free time working out and playing ball. Zach would get them into runs at LA Fitness and occasionally have to stand up for them when they would beat the older kids.

“They were inseparable,” Ms. Mogbo said. “[Barnes] was a good kid. Let me say it this way, they were both clowns. They were always picking at each other. But it was a privilege to have him. Never gave an ounce of problem. They both ate, they shared everything, they were like brothers.”

Jonathan Mogbo

On the court, however, they were at very different stages of their development.

At nearly 6-foot-6, Barnes was almost fully formed and already in high demand. He would transfer to NSU University School in Fort Lauderdale the following year before getting recruited to famed Florida prep school and renowned basketball hotbed Montverde Academy. He was on the fast track to becoming a one-and-done Division I college player and top draft selection in the NBA.

Mogbo, who stood 5-foot-9, was in his shadow, sometimes literally. Ms. Mogbo has a photo of the two boys standing side by side, shoulder to shoulder – only one of their friends had to lift Jonathan up to fit into the picture.

“We have a lot of memories and pictures and all that from back in the day,” Mogbo said. “It’s always great to look back and see where we’re at now.”

Mogbo had felt the sting of rejection a few times over. He was a late bloomer, slow to hit his growth spurt, and as such, he had been cut from multiple teams in favour of bigger kids.

In comparison, when Zach was a freshman, he had already grown to 6-foot-3 and was dunking. Mogbo watched as Barnes and his other friends played above the rim, while he could barely graze it. For the first time, he wondered whether he had a future playing the sport that he loved, but his faith and his mother helped him move past those doubts.

“If you want it and if it’s in your heart, you have to do it,” she told her son. “I will support you, but you have to want it. I’m not going to waste my time.”

That’s all Mogbo had to hear. He was all in. No matter how unlikely the dream seemed, he was going to find a way to make it happen.

“I would always tell my mom, I’m going to play against Steph Curry one day,” Mogbo remembered. “She’s like, ‘You’ve gotta put in the work to play against him.’ So, that [was] the challenge.”

“We had our struggles, but he was always determined,” Ms. Mogbo said. “He was always ready. He would say, ‘Mom, I need my breakfast at whatever time, I’m training with the coach at LA Fitness at such and such time, please be ready,’ and he would be sitting in the car before me. He’s that kind of kid.”

Mogbo sprouted gradually throughout high school. He dunked for the first time during the summer between his sophomore and junior years, and still has the video on his phone to prove it. He put in the time and the work to make sure that his game grew with his body, and he did whatever he could and drove or flew wherever was necessary to get more exposure.

Still, unlike Barnes, who played his lone college season at Florida State, there were no Division I offers coming in. Mogbo had to bear another path, one that took him to four different schools in four years.

He followed in his brother’s footsteps and went the junior college route, first at Independence Community College in Kansas and then at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M. It was the first time he lived away from home. It’s also where he was, and where he had to stay, when the pandemic hit.

Jonathan Mogbo Toronto Raptors

Ms. Mogbo went nearly two years without seeing her son. When he returned home after his sophomore season in college – now almost 6-foot-8 in shoes and with an enormous 7-foot-2 wingspan – she barely recognized him.

“I opened the door, and I was flabbergasted,” she recalled. “I said, oh my God, where is my son? My neck was tilted up. I couldn’t believe it. I’m tearing up now because it was so emotional for me. It’s like you send a boy out and he comes back a man.”

Barnes was just as shocked. He came over to the house and first thing he and Mogbo did was measure each other standing back-to-back. This time, when they stood shoulder to shoulder, there was no booster necessary.

“It was just a whole different Jonathan,” Barnes said. “Just saw a whole new person. I was super surprised at his game. I watched his highlights, and he was just like a totally different guy – hitting mid-range [jumpers], hitting threes, dunking on people. I’m like, damn.”

“When he was younger, he used to be a shooter. He used to shy away from contact and things like that. I left for a summer and then I came back and watched him play and I was like, what the hell? Bro just grew. I remember his first dunk, he barely put it in the rim. But he started dunking and I’m like, what?”

With his newfound size and length, and coming off a strong season at Northeastern, Mogbo was finally on the radar of some Division I programs. He accepted an offer from Missouri State, where he was ultimately miscast as a traditional big man – setting screens, rolling, standing in the dunker spot. It wasn’t the right fit for him or his unique skill set.

As it turned out, his late growth spurt was a blessing in disguise. He had grown up playing guard and developing ball skills – the ability to handle, see the floor and pass. Suddenly, he also had the size to fully unleash the physicality he’d been playing with since he was a husky linebacker in peewee football.

Kyle Bankhead could see the potential. Bankhead was an assistant coach for Abilene Christian University in Texas when he first saw Mogbo play at a JUCO showcase in Colorado.

“I walk in the gym and he’s the first guy I see,” Bankhead said. “Right hand drive, just goes up and dunks it, and I’m like, man, who’s that guy?”

Shortly after, Bankhead drove up to Oklahoma to watch Mogbo play and meet with him. He had hoped to recruit the young forward to Abilene Christian, but even after Mogbo chose Missouri State, they kept in touch. Eventually, Bankhead took the job as an assistant coach on Chris Gerlufsen’s staff at the University of San Francisco. When Mogbo entered the transfer portal again in the spring of 2023, Bankhead made the call.

“I don’t think he picked up the phone for many people,” Bankhead said. “So, I think just him having my name in his phone and having a previous relationship helped the situation quite a bit.”

After coming in for an official visit, hearing their pitch and the hybrid role they had envisioned for him, he committed. The coaches at San Francisco put the ball in Mogbo’s hands and entrusted him to make decisions and initiate offence, often from the centre position, and he blew up.

“It really was a match made in heaven,” Bankhead said.

In 34 games last season, Mogbo averaged 14.2 points, 10.2 rebounds and 3.7 assists, while leading the Dons to a 23-11 record and being named West Coast Conference Newcomer of the Year. The kid who couldn’t even touch the rim until he was a high school sophomore ranked second in dunks, behind only 7-foot-4 two-time National Player of the Year Zach Edey.

When the season started, most NBA scouts and top front office decision makers had never heard of Mogbo. Gradually, as the year went on, there was a noticeable shift.

“We had a bunch of NBA scouts roll through our gym in the fall and literally not one person asked about him, not one,” Bankhead said. “It was incredible because our staff had been around him for the summer at that point and kinda knew he might have a shot. He was a little bit better than we thought he was, and he’s got the dimensions, the athleticism, all that stuff. But nobody asked about him. And to see him progress the way he did and end up where he ended up is pretty special.”

Mogbo popped up on the Raptors’ radar around Christmas time; they were one of the first teams to send scouts out. They had already seen him a few times and were well into the process of analyzing his game before some digging into his background revealed the connection with their all-star and best player.

After seeing him play at a mid-season tournament, the team told Barnes they had been scouting Mogbo, and while he gave his best friend a full endorsement, he also didn’t think much of it at the time. What were the odds that they would end up together in Toronto?

Even after Mogbo’s breakout campaign, he was barely on the draft radar. When he signed with Austin Walton of NEXT Sports agency this past spring, ESPN had him ranked 74th in the class. They weren’t even sure he would earn an invite to the draft combine. Word was he would be a fringe candidate, at best, and being that nearly 80 players get invited to the combine and only 58 players wind up getting drafted, that didn’t bode well for his chances.

He still had a year of college eligibility left, and San Francisco would’ve surely been thrilled to have him back for another season, but true to character, Mogbo told his mom: I’m going to get drafted.

“He never fussed,” Ms. Mogbo said. “He was determined. His attitude was I am doing this, I’m making it – I don’t care what anybody says, I’m so focused and driven. And that was it.”

All he needed to do was get his foot in the door and he was going to break it down. That opportunity presented itself in the form of a late invite to the combine in May, and he took advantage.

There was little doubt that Mogbo would measure well, but he also impressed on the court and turned heads in the process. It’s a rare thing in this day and age, with all the game tape and scouting info that’s readily available at the push of a button, but there were still several front office executes who hadn’t seen Mogbo play until that week in Chicago.

“I think he was probably one of the most under-scouted players coming into the pre-draft process,” said a league source.

That process can be a grind for prospects who aren’t locked in as a surefire lottery pick. For someone like Mogbo, determined to improve his stock, it was especially arduous. In the weeks to come, he would visit 14 teams – nearly half of the league – for individual workouts. It meant late flights, early morning sessions, and more than a month spent on the road.

In one instance, his flight got delayed on his way to workout for the Knicks. He didn’t land in New York until after 3:00 a.m. or get to his hotel until 5:00 a.m., with the workout scheduled for four hours later. But not only was he there, he showed up early and he impressed.

The feedback he and his agent received from across the league was overwhelmingly positive, and with that, Mogbo began shooting up draft boards. A few weeks earlier, some had considered him to be undraftable. Now, he was said to be in play in the bottom third of the first round.

Outside of the lottery, there was almost no consensus, making it tough to get a sense of where someone like Mogbo would fall. Walton was preparing his client to hear his name called anywhere between picks No. 22-41, a broad range that spoke to the unpredictability of this draft.

The Nuggets and Thunder were both high on Mogbo, but they traded up to draft DaRon Holmes II and Dillon Jones at 22 and 26, respectively. The Hawks and Grizzlies liked him, but neither had picks in that range. The Bucks passed on him at 23, selecting guard AJ Johnson instead, but the belief was that they would not have let him slip past them again at 33.

The Raptors, who were blown away by his workout in Toronto earlier that month, may have considered him at 19 if Ja’Kobe Walter wasn’t available. They were pleasantly surprised he was still there at 31; they had him ranked in the early-20s. But unlike past years, when they would’ve had a few minutes to make their selection in between rounds, they were on the clock for nearly 17 hours thanks to the league’s new two-night draft format.

The extra time gave Toronto a chance to do further due diligence on a couple projected first-rounders who fell unexpectedly, Duke big man Kyle Filipowski and Australian forward Johnny Furphy. The Raptors briefly considered taking Bronny James before deciding against it, according to a source. Nigerian big man Adem Bona, who went to Philadelphia at 41, was also high on their board.

In the end, they made the same decision that they likely would have the night before, making Mogbo the first player selected on the second day of the draft.

Mogbo, who watched with his family and friends from a party room in Fort Lauderdale, was shocked. Toronto is known for keeping these things close to the vest, and this was no exception. Even Barnes, who was standing at the back of Mogbo’s draft party and capturing the moment on video, had no idea that his oldest friend was about to become his newest teammate until the pick was announced.

“I invited him, but I didn’t think he was going to come down,” Mogbo said. “When I got called, I looked over at everyone smiling, my mom’s happy and everything, next thing you know I’m looking in the back and I see him trying to shed a tear ... I’m not supposed to expose him, but I heard he ended up crying. It was tears of joy.”

“I was emotional, just proud of him,” said Barnes. “I just wanted to hear his name get called. I didn’t know what to expect, but when it was with our team, I was super happy, super proud. That’s my son right there, man.”

But the first person Mogbo embraced when his NBA dream became a reality was the woman sitting to his left, a woman without whom none of it would have been possible – the one who drove him to practice, who took in his best friend, who supported him and believed in him, and who taught him the values he holds true to this day.

“The moment, I’m at a loss for words,” an emotional Ms. Mogbo said over the phone, while fighting back tears. “I was in shock. I was so happy. My head was pounding. I thought I was going to pass out.”

After all that it’s taken to get here, the real work is about to begin.

Mogbo was hoping that he would end up with the Raptors. After visiting Toronto 10 times since Barnes was drafted fourth overall by the franchise in 2021, he has a familiarity with the city and the fan base. And while his unique skill set may have scared off teams that aren’t creative enough to utilize it, he’s seen how this organization has deployed his friend, another unconventional player without a traditional NBA position.

“With the way our system is, with the way that the game of basketball is going in the NBA, IQ and a feel for the game is so important,” said Raptors assistant general manager Dan Tolzman. “And he’s a guy that checks off a lot of those boxes in terms of understanding how to play. You can plug him in at different spots within our system.”

His first order of business as a pro will be to expand his range. He only attempted two three-pointers at San Francisco last season, missing them both, but as Bankhead noted, it’s not that they gave him the red light. He’s been working on his jump shot, but like Barnes, Mogbo is an unselfish, pass-first player, by nature.

Jonathan Mogbo Masai Ujiri Ja'Kobe Walter Toronto Raptors

When he was introduced to the media the day after the draft, Mogbo listed off a few players he’s hoping to emulate. One of them, Mavericks forward, P.J. Washington, he lauded for his willingness to excel within a specific role.

You don’t often see 22-year-old rookies coming into the NBA preaching role recognition, but that’s Mogbo, and that’s precisely how he can carve out a niche in this league. In time, he knows he’ll need to develop a reliable jumper to keep defences honest, maybe starting in the corners and working his way out from there, but he doesn’t want it to detract from what got him to this point.

Take his first Summer League game in Las Vegas for instance. Mogbo went nearly 15 minutes before attempting his first field goal – picking up a loose ball and throwing down a vicious, two-handed slam dunk – but he made his presence felt on the glass, where he grabbed six rebounds, on defence, and in the way he kept the ball moving, adding three assists.

There will be growing pains, as there are for most first-year players, and likely some time spent in the G League. But, on one of basketball’s youngest teams, there should also be opportunity, and he’s well positioned to take advantage of it. He’s spent the past few summers going through NBA level workouts back home in Florida with Barnes and his long-time trainer Brian Macon. The idea wasn’t to build chemistry for a future NBA partnership – consider that an added benefit – but to prepare him for what’s to come.

There were points along his unconventional journey where the NBA seemed like an impossible dream, but truth be told, thriving in this brutally tough and competitive league, or even sticking around long enough to call yourself a vet, may be even tougher. Rest assured, Mogbo will be ready to accept and embrace the challenge head on.

“I’ve always been an underdog, just trying to prove myself, not to anybody but to myself, that I can do these things,” Mogbo said. “It’s just been a long road, a long journey, but it’s been great.”

“I wake up every day blessed to be here, but I’m not where I want to be yet. I don’t just want to be in the NBA, I want to [make] a name for myself and [be] great. That’s what motivates me. I don’t want to be a regular guy. I want to be one of those guys people remember.”