Amanze Egekeze
No. 12 – Kataja | |
---|---|
Position | Power forward |
League | Korisliiga |
Personal information | |
Born | Lake in the Hills, IL | December 3, 1995
Nationality | Nigerian / American |
Listed height | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) |
Listed weight | 220 lb (100 kg) |
Career information | |
High school | Huntley (Huntley, Illinois) |
College | Belmont (2014–2018) |
NBA draft | 2018: undrafted |
Playing career | 2018–present |
Career history | |
2018 | Yokohama B-Corsairs |
2019 | Ryukyu Golden Kings |
2019 | Niigata Albirex BB |
2019–2020 | PAOK |
2020–2021 | BC Gries-Oberhoffen |
2021–2022 | Donar |
2022–present | Kataja |
Career highlights and awards | |
|
Amanze Ikenna Egekeze (born December 3, 1995) is a Nigerian-American professional basketball player who plays for Kataja of the Korisliiga. He also played for the Nigerian national team.[1] He is the son of Gilbert and Lize Egekeze, who are natives of Nigeria. His brothers are Uchenna and, Kemdi and has one sister Ogechi. Uchenna plays basketball at Calvin University.[2]
Early life and college career
[edit]Egekeze played for Huntley High School, where he was the 2014 Northwest Herald Boys Basketball Player of the Year. Egekeze played on three Class 4A regional champions.[3]
Egekeze competed in college basketball for Belmont, where he scored 1,348 career points. As a senior, he was the second-leading scorer (16.8 per game) and rebounder (5.0 per game) for the Bruins. He was named to the First-team All-Ohio Valley Conference.[4][5]
Professional career
[edit]On July 13, 2018, Egekeze signed with the Yokohama B-Corsairs of the Japanese B.League.[6] During the 2018–19 season, he also played for the Ryukyu Golden Kings and the Niigata Albirex BB from the same league.[7]
On September 1, 2019, Egekeze signed with the Greek club PAOK.[8] The 2019–20 season was complicated for PAOK. .[9] Egekeze and PAOK also participated in the Champions League where they ended at the second to last position of the D group, composed of 8 teams, with 5 wins and 9 losses, thus, not qualifying for the next round.[10]
In June 2020, Egekeze signed with the French club BC Gries-Oberhoffen.[11] Egekeze and the BCGO participated in the Leaders Cup where they ended at the bottom of the D group, composed of 3 teams, with 1 win and 3 losses, thus, not qualifying for the next round.[12]
On June 30, 2021, Egekeze signed with Dutch club Donar of the BNXT League.[13] He helped Donar win the Dutch Cup.
On August 3, 2022, Egekeze signed a one-year contract with Kataja of the Korisliiga.[14] In his first season with Kataja, He averaged 13.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1 steal. He also won the Finnish Cup and beat Salon Vilpas to win a bronze medal in Korisliiga
National team career
[edit]In December 2020, Egekeze became a member of the Nigerian national basketball team, and played with the team in the qualifiers for AfroBasket 2021.[15]
Statistics
[edit]GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
FG% | Field goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field goal percentage | FT% | Free throw percentage |
RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
College statistics
[edit]Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2014–15 | Belmont | 33 | 23 | 20.0 | .404 | .338 | .837 | 3.2 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 5.4 |
2015–16 | Belmont | 31 | 31 | 22.7 | .539 | .422 | .768 | 3.4 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 9.0 |
2016–17 | Belmont | 30 | 29 | 27.2 | .487 | .384 | .843 | 5.5 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 11.3 |
2017–18 | Belmont | 33 | 33 | 34.5 | .505 | .425 | .802 | 6.2 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 16.8 |
Career statistics
[edit]Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2018–19 | Yokohama | 15 | 15 | 33.6 | .417 | .280 | .804 | 6.4 | 1.6 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 13.9 |
2018–19 | Ryukyu | 4 | 4 | 38.2 | .429 | .421 | .714 | 7.2 | 1.8 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 12.2 |
2018–19 | Niigata | 2 | 2 | 31.5 | .613 | .467 | .857 | 7.0 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 25.5 |
2019–20 | PAOK | 20 | - | 12.9 | .635 | .360 | .727 | 2.1 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 3.8 |
2020–21 | BCGO |
References
[edit]- ^ BCGO (October 19, 2020). "#32 Amanze Egekeze". Retrieved October 19, 2020.
- ^ "A snap decision: How Huntley alum Amanze Egekeze landed on Nigeria's national basketball team". Shaw Local. 2 December 2020. Retrieved 2022-07-16.
- ^ Stevenson, Joe (June 12, 2018). "College basketball: Huntley grad Egekeze exploring opportunities in NBA, overseas". Northwest Herald. Archived from the original on August 5, 2018. Retrieved August 5, 2018.
- ^ Boclair, David (June 13, 2018). "Belmont's Egekeze hopes to plot course to NBA". Nashville Post. Retrieved August 5, 2018.
- ^ Boclair, David (February 27, 2018). "Belmont puts three on All-OVC first team". Nashville Post. Retrieved August 13, 2018.
- ^ "Basketball: Huntley graduate Egekeze signs with Japanese team". Northwest Herald. July 14, 2018. Archived from the original on August 5, 2018. Retrieved August 5, 2018.
- ^ "Amanze Egekeze – Player Profile". proballers.com. Retrieved October 22, 2020.
- ^ "Young Nigerian-American in Amanze Egekeze will continue his career in Greece with PAOK". eurohoops.net. September 19, 2019. Retrieved October 22, 2020.
- ^ "Panathinaikos crowned champion, Aris and PAOK stay up". ekathimerini.com. May 21, 2020. Retrieved October 22, 2020.
- ^ "2019–20 Basketball Champions League – Standings". championsleague.basketball. Retrieved October 22, 2020.
- ^ "BCGO : Egekeze, un Américain à Gries !". DNA (in French). June 17, 2020. Retrieved October 19, 2020.
- ^ "Leaders Cup Pro B 2021". lnb.fr (in French). Retrieved October 22, 2020.
- ^ Brink, Adriaan van den (30 June 2021). "Amanze Egekeze nieuwe forward voor Donar". Donar (in Dutch). Retrieved 30 June 2021.
- ^ "Amanze Egekeze tuo kokemusta ja kokoa Kataja Basketiin". KatajaBasket.fi (in Finnish). 2022-08-03. Retrieved 2022-08-04.
- ^ "A snap decision: How Huntley alum Amanze Egekeze landed on Nigeria's national basketball team". Shaw Local. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
External links
[edit]- 1995 births
- Living people
- American expatriate basketball people in France
- American expatriate basketball people in Greece
- American expatriate basketball people in Japan
- American men's basketball players
- American basketball players of Nigerian descent
- Basketball players from Illinois
- Belmont Bruins men's basketball players
- Donar (basketball club) players
- Nigerian expatriate basketball people in France
- Nigerian expatriate basketball people in Japan
- Nigerian men's basketball players
- Niigata Albirex BB players
- P.A.O.K. BC players
- Sportspeople from McHenry County, Illinois
- Power forwards
- Ryukyu Golden Kings players
- Yokohama B-Corsairs players
- 21st-century American sportsmen
- 21st-century Nigerian sportsmen