By Mallory Mattingly
Arizona Wildcats forward Tobe Awaka looked into every religion until he ultimately found Christ.
“I researched every religion. So Buddhism, Confucianism, Mormonism, Islam and Hinduism. Like I went down a crazy rabbit hole,” Awaka said in an episode of “The Walk” podcast. “It was insane. But, yeah, eventually I landed on Jesus Christ. I don’t think I, at that time, had sort of the, you know, intellectual, theological capacity, you know, to, like, explain it. But I knew kind of in my heart, like, yeah, this is the right direction.
“From then on, I kind of looked to read the Bible front to back,” the forward continued. “Because honestly, growing up, it was sort of like, you know, Sunday school, the rudimentary Bible school stories and stuff like that. But like, honestly, when I read through the whole Bible, I was shocked. You know, you get into Paul’s letters, and that stuff is super intense. You read James, and it’s like a jab at the heart, you know what I mean. So, yeah, it was really cool to see, kind of how my mindset and my mind revolutionized over that timespan.”
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He believes that everyone needs Jesus.
“I think we need Christ because, you know, without him, we’re all dead. There is no life after this for us. You know what I mean? And I think that Christ is showing Himself to be the truth and the one and only,” Awaka said. “But I think that when you start to dive into the spiritual aspect and sort of see how Christ and God move, it’s like, why wouldn’t you align yourself with the truth to begin with?”
“When you begin to follow Christ, your life starts to morph into the best it could possibly be, barring any and all circumstances, because He’s leading you to the fullest version of yourself,” he explained. “So I think that’s why we need Jesus. I think He brings you into fulfillment of who you truly are. He gives you a true identity. And I think He gives a meaning for life that transcends anything that we could think of.”
The Wildcats are a No. 1 seed in the 2026 NCAA March Madness tournament this season with a 16-2 record. Thus far, they’ve beaten Liberty International University and Utah State to make it into the Sweet 16.
Even in the midst of a busy season, Awaka’s journey through different beliefs ultimately led him to a deep conviction that true identity, purpose and fulfillment are found in following Christ. When you follow Jesus, you can experience those same things.
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