EFEVBERHA MAY BE MOVING ON.

Byline: RAMONA SHELBURNE LOCAL

The Matadome never quite seemed big enough to hold Mike Efevberha, both in terms of his talent and ambition.

Now it seems we can put an exact expiration date on his time at Cal State Northridge.

On Monday, the 6-foot-5 junior guard, who led the Matadors in scoring this past season, will announce whether he has decided to bypass his senior year and make himself eligible for the NBA draft.

All indications are that he's leaning toward testing the waters without hiring an agent, so he can withdraw his name if the experiment doesn't go well and return to college.

Either way, it has become clear that Efevberha, the leading scorer among all Division I basketball players in California as late as Jan. 23, is not coming back to Northridge next season.

That should come as little surprise to anyone who watched Efevberha's minutes drastically cut during the second half of the season, as Northridge coach Bobby Braswell tried to get him to step up his defensive intensity and all-around game.

After averaging 30 minutes a game in Northridge's first 15 games, Efevberha played 30 minutes or more just five times over the final 13 games of the season.

"Basically, Coach Braswell and I both decided that it just wasn't going to work out for me here. We just clashed," Efevberha said. "He gave me a second chance, and really I thank him for that. I appreciate him doing that for me. ... But I think we just expected two different things."

Said Braswell: "There's no hard feelings. He and I have talked (about the NBA) and I've given him my opinion. I support him and wish him the best. But we had some other issues, so it's not a slam dunk that he'd be allowed to come back here.

"Mike has a lot of talent. He's a natural scorer. You can put him in any situation and he'll find a way to get a shot off and score. That's kind of a pro mentality and unfortunately, at this level, you have to be more team-oriented."

Just a few months ago, the rhetoric between the two biggest stars on Northridge's campus was a lot different. Each seemed eager to sing the other's praises.

Braswell seemed almost giddy about Efevberha's talent and competitive fire, saying that, "he probably has as good of a focus as I've ever seen on a guy that really loves the game."

Efevberha was only too grateful to Braswell for taking him in after his departure from UC Irvine, following an incident after which he plead guilty to petty theft for stealing a backpack from another student.

There still seems to be a mutual respect between them, but the two obviously have decided to go their separate ways and move on. On Monday, we'll learn just how far Efevberha plans to go.

At the college level, his only option would be to transfer down to a Division II or III school, which, to those that have seen him play, seems like a waste of time.

Efevberha is fully aware of how big a risk he would be taking by declaring for the NBA draft, and he is surprisingly honest with himself about his chances.

"I know, as of now, I'm not a first- or second-round draft pick," he said. "But I also know how hard I can work, and how hard I have to work. I'm going to be doing some serious lifting, trying to get from about 195 (pounds) to 205, to 210.

"Now's the time where I just need to man up and put my ego aside because I want to show everybody how bad I want it. I just want to prove it to everybody and myself."

Mike Ponce, a personal trainer who has helped NBA players such as Kirk Hinrich, Rafael Araujo, Casey Jacobsen, Kirk Snyder and Ike Austin prepare for the NBA draft and combine, has been a friend of Efevberha's since he first saw him play as a ninth-grader at Ganesha High in Pomona. They always have worked out in the offseason, but have stepped up their training the past six weeks.

"I definitely think he has NBA potential, but he's just been under the radar, he's a big-time sleeper," Ponce said. "I've already spoken to some general managers and scouts. Some of them haven't heard of him, but a lot have. They know he can really score."

Ponce said that if Efevberha were to declare for the NBA on Monday, he'd likely have to make his mark in private workouts.

"He can, though," Ponce said. "The way to do that is to go into one of these workouts and just start killing. To go up against another guy who's thought of as a first-round draft pick and just go off. ... Mike's got all the attributes."

One thing that has been weighing on Efevberha's mind, however, is a promise he made to his father, Goddey, that he'd earn a college degree.

Goddey Efevberha immigrated to the United States from Nigeria when he was 19. He attended Mount San Antonio Junior College in Walnut on a scholarship, then bought an ice-cream truck and made a living selling ice cream around Pomona. A few years ago, he went back to school and earned a certificate to be a nurses' assistant.

Whatever he decides to do Monday, Efevberha has promised his father he'll still get his degree.

"He's a man now, he can make his own decisions. He has to do what's right for him. I will always support him," Goddey Efevberha said. "I believe in him. Basketball is his passion and he's been very successful at it so far. I'll continue to support him, no matter what."

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Mike Efevberha was Cal State Northridge's leading scorer this past season, averaging 17.1 points per game.

Edna T. Simpson/Staff Photographer