ATLANTA -– The Atlanta Hawks have signed rookie forward/center Onyeka Okongwu, rookie guard Skylar Mays and rookie forward/center Nathan Knight, the team announced today. Mays and Knight have been signed to two-way contracts. Per team policy, terms of the agreements were not disclosed.
Drafted sixth overall by the Hawks in the 2020 NBA Draft, the 6’9 Okongwu led the USC Trojans in points per game, rebounds per game and blocks per game in his only collegiate season, averaging 16.2 points, 8.6 boards and 2.7 blocks in 28 appearances (all starts) in 2019-20. He earned All-Pac-12 First Team honors and was a member of the Pac-12 All-Freshman team after leading the conference in FG% (.616), ranking second in blocks and second in total offensive rebounds (92).
The Chino, Calif. native scored in double figures on 25 occasions and recorded 11 double-doubles, including five contests with at least 20 points and 10 rebounds. He set a USC freshman record with 76 blocked shots, including a school-record tying eight rejections in his first collegiate game on 11/5/19 against Florida A&M.
Mays, selected in the second round (50th overall) by the Hawks in the 2020 NBA Draft, averaged 16.7 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.8 steals in 31 games (all starts) en route to an All-SEC First Team selection as a senior in 2019-20. A native of Baton Rouge, LA, the 6’4 Mays became the first player in LSU history to record at least 1,600 points, 400 rebounds, 300 assists and 200 steals.
A summa cum laude graduate with a degree in kinesiology, Mays was the 2019-20 COSIDA Academic All-American Player of the Year, a three-time Academic All-American and a two-time SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
Knight finished the 2019-20 season averaging 20.7 points, 10.5 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.5 blocks in 29.6 minutes (.524 FG%, .773 FT%) starting all 32 games, finishing second nationally in double-doubles (23). He earned the 2020 Lou Henson National Mid-Major Player of the Year as well as the Colonial Athletic Association’s Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year awards.
The 6’10 Knight earned his degree in business analytics from William & Mary’s Raymond A. Mason School of Business. The Syracuse, NY native attended Nottingham High School in his hometown before finishing at Kimball Union Academy in New Hampshire.