On Friday, the Shawnee State University Athletic Department made arguably the biggest announcement in its history.
However, prior to that announcement, one of its greatest alumni proceeded to accomplish one of the greatest professional achievements by any alum, from a professional athlete, in school history.
Shawnee State alumnus EJ Onu ('21), a three-time conference defensive player of the year and a two-time NAIA All-American who led the Bears to the NAIA National Championship back in 2021, has helped a legendary program capture a title of its own.
Legia Warsaw -- a Polish men's basketball club based in Warsaw, Poland -- had won seven Polish Basketball League Championships between 1956 and 1969. However, since that time, the club hadn't won a single PBL Championship, and had only even made the PBL Championship one time -- 2022 -- since 1970.
Onu and his 13 teammates, however, changed all that.
Down 3-2 in the Polish Basketball League Finals in a best-of-seven series, Onu helped Legia Warsaw rally to capture the title over Start Lublin, four games to three, giving Onu his first championship as a professional basketball player back on June 22.
The build-up
A key piece to Legia's rotation throughout the season, Onu shot 52.8 percent from the field (57-108) and continued solidifying his status as an elite rim protector, averaging 1.1 blocks per game in 13.8 minutes per outing.
Legia Warsaw ultimately earned the No. 4 seed in the Polish Basketball League Tournament Bracket, and in the PBL Quarterfinals and PBL Semis, Onu's elite defense was on full display as Legia Warsaw took down the No. 5 seed, Górnik Walbrzych, three games to one and the top overall seed, Anwil Wloclawek, in a three-game sweep in two best-of-five series to reach the PBL Finals.
Early postseason domination
In each of the first seven playoff games that Onu and Legia Warsaw played in, neither Górnik Walbrzych nor Anwil Wloclawek scored more than 85 points in a single contest, with Legia Warsaw holding the two teams to 76 points or less in four out of the seven games. Onu himself had six blocks in an 86-55 victory against Górnik Walbrzych to start the playoffs, then had four blocks in Game 2 of the quarterfinal series.
Later in the playoffs, Onu shined offensively as well.
In a series-clinching win that sealed Legia Warsaw's berth to the PBL Finals, Onu scored seven points in 17 minutes while adding in three rebounds and a block and going 3-for-4 from the field and 1-for-1 from the free throw line in Legia Warsaw's 101-80 victory over Anwil Wloclawek, securing the semifinal sweep and a PBL Finals bid in the process.
The PBL Finals would prove to be grueling.
Taking advantage of opportunities
Onu posted four blocks in Game 1 in a scant 82-81 setback to Start Lublin, but Legia Warsaw grabbed the series lead back by taking the next two games -- the former of which Onu added in crucial numbers with five points and three rebounds in a 84-78 victory that helped Legia Warsaw ultimately establish a 2-1 series lead.
While Start Lublin came back to take Games 4 and 5 -- and a 3-2 series lead as a result -- Onu didn't shy away from the moment.
In arguably the biggest game of his professional career to that point, Onu posted his best game of the series in Game 6, posting 11 points, three rebounds and a steal in 13 minutes of game action while going 3-for-5 from three-point range and 2-for-2 from the free throw line in a contest that saw Legia Warsaw defeat Start Lublin, 87-83, to force the decisive Game 7 -- which Legia Warsaw took by a 92-82 margin en route to the club's first PBL Championship since 1969.
Additional
The championship further solidifies Onu's status as a professional in the game -- as Onu already won the 2022 Canadian Elite Basketball League's Defensive Player of the Year Award and was the league's blocks leader in back-to-back seasons.
This past spring, Onu played alongside former Miami Hurricane and First-Team All-ACC talent Kameron McGusty, who was the 2025 Polish Basketball League's Most Valuable Player and Finals MVP, as well as former NBA player Keifer Sykes, a two-time Associated Press Honorable Mention All-American with Wisconsin-Green Bay who played in 32 games with the Indiana Pacers during the 2021-22 season.
Other players who Onu has played against in the Polish Basketball League include Nick Johnson, a former Arizona Wildcat who played in 28 games for the NBA's Houston Rockets, Isaiah Whitehead, a former Seton Hall Pirate who played in 89 games for the Brooklyn Nets across two seasons, and Walter Hodge, a longtime overseas talent who won back-to-back NCAA Division I National Championships with Florida.
