It was less than two years ago that Tristan Enaruna hit a jumper off one foot to send the Cleveland State Vikings to the quarterfinals of the College Basketball Invitational (CBI). Now, Enaruna is firmly set in the starting lineup for the G-League Cleveland Charge and has many people talking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just like his college career, his professional career didn\u2019t start in Cleveland, but he\u2019s getting his footing in the same town where he dominated as a Viking for two years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The HoriZone Roundtable<\/em> spoke with Enaruna after a Charge practice to see how everything was progressing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From The Lands to The Land<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Enaruna hails from Almere, Flevoland, Neatherlands. He played for the Almere Pioneers, Apollo Amsterdam, and then at Wasath Academy in Utah. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A four-star recruit, Enaruna ended up committing to Kansas for the 2018-19 season. In his two seasons with the Jayhawks, he played in 55 games for an average of about ten minutes per game and scored about two and a half points per game (PPG). <\/p>\n\n\n\n After these underwhelming first two years, he transferred to another Big 12 school, Iowa State. He averaged 14.4 minutes and 4.3 PPG in his one year there before his college career turned around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Following the news that Iowa State assistant coach Daniyal Robinson was being hired as the CSU head coach, Enaruna followed him eastward. It was a match made in heaven from the start. \u201cI almost want to say he saved my career,\u201d Enaruna said. \u201cI was mentally in a tough spot. I always dreamed of playing in the NBA, and then kind of going through my first three years of college that dream kind of felt like it was getting more and more distant.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Enaruna started 70 games over the next two years for the Vikings and averaged 17.6 PPG, 6.5 rebounds per game (RPG), 2 assists per game (APG), and a block per game (BPG) while playing almost 33 minutes a game. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cObviously, I met [Robinson] at Iowa State, and he brought me to[\u2026] Cleveland State, and [\u2026] that dream came back to life,\u201d added Enaruna.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On a team with a new coach and a lot of new players, Enaruna established himself as a force in the conference. Both years saw him land on the All-Horizon Team, plus he made the All-Horizon Tournament Team in 2023. His career player efficiency rating is the third best all-time in the conference at 25.16. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite only playing two years for CSU, his name is splattered across career and season leaderboards for the school and conference. His impact might not have always been flashy, but it was always there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His game-winner in the CBI is probably his signature moment for fans, but he had plenty of great plays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thinking back to that shot, Enaruna had a lot to say. \u201cWe were tied, and we drew up that play designed for me to get the ball. It went a little bit off track. I caught it in a different space than I was supposed to, but I caught the ball and knew there wasn\u2019t a lot of time left, so as soon as I got the space, \u2018rise up and shoot it.\u2019 I did, and it went in. It felt good, because obviously [in the] CBI, if you get eliminated, you\u2019re done\u2026your season is done. I think knowing that it was my last year in college, I just wanted to extend it as much as I could, and obviously helping [by] making that shot and giving us an extra game to play[\u2026] felt great.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Main(e) Man Goes North<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Although there was a small chance he was going to be drafted, the more likely situation of being signed after the draft happened for Enaruna. Following the 2024 draft, the Boston Celtics signed him to come to the Summer League and he eventually ended up playing last season with the G-League Maine Celtics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Enaruna played in 49 games last season (22 starts) in the Tip-Off Tournament, Regular Season, and Playoffs. He averaged just over 11 PPG but never found his footing completely. He averaged over 30 minutes a game but the Celtics had a few other guys who were taking a lot of shots (J. D. Davison took almost 20 shots a game).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Enaruna did show some promise with a few 20-point games (including a 26-point game against the Charge) and three games with 13 rebounds. In the G-League, where the game plan seems to be to get up a shot as soon as you get the ball, his skill set was sometimes a bit lost in the shuffle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With not much buzz around him at the end of the season, Enaruna was invited by the Cleveland Cavaliers to play in the NBA Summer League and things started to look up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n