Miye Oni of Yale signs NBA contract; first Ivy Leaguer to make it since Jeremy Lin in 2010

By Joel Alderman
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Updated: July 18, 2019

Miye Oni, who could have been a rising senior at Yale, has instead become the first Ivy Leaguer to ink an NBA contract since Jeremy Lin (Harvard), who was signed as a free agent in 2010.

Although Oni was the 58th pick in this year’s draft by Golden State, the Warriors immediately sold his rights to the Utah Jazz for two-million dollars, according to USA Today. The Jazz have assigned him a familiar uniform number, 24, the same as he wore his first two seasons at Yale and before that at Suffield (CT) Academy. His most recent number with the Bulldogs was 25.

He has been guaranteed the NBA rookie minimum, $898,310, the first year of a 3-year contract, as reported by Jeff Siegel of Early Bird Rights.

Oni, a two time Ivy League Player of the Year, averaged 9.5 points, five rebounds, two steals and 1.6 assists in two games at the Salt Lake City Summer League, including a game high 17 points in his second outing. Then he averaged 8.2 points, 2.8 assists and two rebounds in four games at the Las Vegas Summer League. He did that in an average of 25.4 minutes of playing time in those four games.

“I’m honored to have signed with the Jazz,” Oni told the Deseret News of Salt Lake City. “I’m thankful to the front office and coaching staff for believing in me. I’m incredibly excited for what’s to come.”

The Northridge, California, native, whose parents were originally from Nigeria, was the first player in 24 years to be drafted out of the Ivy League, the last one being Jerome Allen of Penn. He averaged 17.1 points, 6.3 rebounds and 3.6 assists in his junior year at Yale, the Ivy-League co-champion.

“The NBA limits rosters to 15 players, but only 13 can be activated each game. By signing Oni and William Howard, the Jazz filled its fourteenth and fifteen roster spots. Howard is an interesting story. He was born in France and recruited by the University of Washington. But he was declared ineligible so he returned home and played professional there.

Two others who were drafted by Utah, Jarrell Brantley (50th) of the College of Charleston, and Justin Wright-Foreman (53rd), from Hofstra will probably split time between the Jazz and the development G-League.

Oni and Howard are the only rookies to be given a full NBA contract by Utah.