Beejay Anya opens up to BDN's Andrew Slater - Photo, Mark Watson of BDN
Hailing from DeMatha, the highly successful Hyattsville, MD school which has produced Duke All-American Danny Ferry and freshman Quinn Cook, 6’7″ 275 lb. Beejay Anya is able to create large shadows of his own. Five years after picking up a basketball, the slimmed down sophomore was arguably the best big man in Washington’s competitive Washington Catholic Athletic Conference this year and earned a place on the WCAC’s First-team All-Conference.
The gregarious big man, nicknamed “Big Baby,” became a full-time starter this year for the Stags and immediately delivered, averaging more than a double-double with just over six blocks per game. The team, which got got off to a 10-0 start, including winning the Les Schwab Tournament in Oregon over Shabazz Muhammad’s Bishop Gorman team 58-52, went through some rough patches, notably a loss to fifty point loss to St. Anthony’s at the HoopHall Classic. Ultimately, however, Coach Mike Jones, who recently helped coach the USA U-16 team to a Gold Medal in Mexico at the FIBA Americas, was able to refocus his troops and the suburban D.C. Catholic school went on to defeat Gonzaga, which included Duke recruit Nate Britt, 51-48 for the program’s third consecutive WCAC Title. The Stags followed that up by defeating Roosevelt 52-50 for their third consecutive D.C. City Title. In their biggest game, Anya rose to the occasion, scoring fourteen points, swatting six of the team’s nine blocks, and grabbing another six rebounds.
This spring, playing up an age level, Anya has been the center for the Team Takeover 17s, Mike Gbinije’s former AAU program. Immediately, the wide-body made his presence felt by nearly taking down the basket on a missed “tip dunk” at the Pittsburgh Jam Fest. He helped lead the Nike-affiliated team to the Pitt Jam Fest Championship and earned an All-Tournament selection. The rising junior has continued to be solid throughout providing interior toughness and rebounding for Team Takeover, which is the only program to have an unblemished record throughout Nike’s EYBL season (15-0).
In early June, Beejay, born Chukwunonso Beejay Nduka-Anya and the son of a Nigerian immigrant, was among the twenty-seven young men helping the 2011-12 USA Developmental National Team prepare in Colorado for the FIBA Americas U16 Championship. Afterwards, he was invited to compete at the NBA Top 100 Camp in Charlottesville, VA.
While there, BeeJay spoke most recently with Blue Devil Nation.
Who’s recruiting you at this point?
UCLA, Pitt, St. John’s, Rutgers, West Virginia, Virginia, Seton Hall, Florida, Florida State, UConn, Maryland, Virginia Tech, N.C. State, Georgia Tech, Texas, and Duke called me.
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