Olumide Oyedeji

Olumide Oyedeji

Olumide Oyedeji warming up for the London Lions
No. 00 – London Lions
Position Center
League British Basketball League
Personal information
Born (1981-05-11) 11 May 1981
Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria
Nationality Nigerian / British
Listed height 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)
Listed weight 255 lb (116 kg)
Career information
NBA draft 2000 / Round: 2 / Pick: 42nd overall
Selected by the Seattle SuperSonics
Playing career 1996–present
Career history
1996–1997 Ebun Comets
1997–1998 Dynamo Moscow
1998–2000 DJK Würzburg
2000–2002 Seattle SuperSonics
2002–2003 Orlando Magic
2003 Ilysiakos
2003–2004 Union Olimpija
2004 Beijing Ducks
2004 Al-Kuwait SC
2004–2005 Beijing Ducks
2005 Cangrejeros
2005–2006 Seoul Thunders
2006 Cangrejeros
2006–2007 Seoul Thunders
2007 Al-Kuwait SC
2007–2008 Beijing Ducks
2008 Liaoning Hunters
2008 Granada
2008–2009 Shanxi Zhongyu
2009 Vaqueros
2009–2010 Liaoning Hunters
2010 ASU Sports Club
2010 Juvecaserta Basket
2011 Changwon LG Sakers
2011–2012 Qingdao
2013–2013 Link Tochigi Brex
2015–present London Lions
Career highlights and awards
Medals
Men's Basketball
Representing  Nigeria
FIBA Africa Championship
2015 Tunisia National Team
2005 Algeria National Team
2011 Madagascar National Team

Olumide Oyedeji (born 11 May 1981) is a Nigerian-British[1] professional basketball center who played in the NBA for 3 seasons.

Professional career

Oyedeji played at the 1999 and 2000 Nike Hoop Summits. He was selected by the Seattle SuperSonics, in the 2nd round (42nd overall) of the 2000 NBA Draft. He played a total of 93 games during 3 seasons in the NBA, and had career averages of 1.4 points per game, 2.1 rebounds per game, 0.1 assists per game, and 0.2 steals per game.[2] He also played in the Spanish League with Granada. Olumide is currently signed on with the London Lions.London Lions is a professional basketball team based in London, who compete in the British Basketball League – the top level men's basketball league in the United Kingdom.

Oyedeji played with Shanxi Zhongyu in the Chinese Basketball Association.[3] He played with Changwon LG Sakers of the Korean Basketball League in 2011. However, he was released from the team, despite averaging 10.8 points, 15.0 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks per game.

National team

Oyedeji has been a member of the senior men's Nigerian national basketball team since 1997. He contributed immensely to the his national team's participation at the FIBA Africa Nations Cup in 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2011, 2013 and 2015. He Led Nigeria to first ever AfroBasket trophy in Tunisia 2015. He won silver medals in 1997, 1999 and 2003 respectively during the FIBA Africa Nations Cup.He won the bronze medal at the 2005 FIBA Africa Championship and 2011 FIBA Africa Championship.He has represented his home country in the All Africa Games winning bronze in 1999, 2007 and 2015, whist silver in 2003 and Gold in 2011. He played at the FIBA World Cup in 1999 and was also at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games. He is the only African Player to ever featured in all major basketball tournaments on the global stage, Olympics Games, World Cup, Commonwealth Games, All Africa Games, NBA, Euro-League, Asia Championships and South America Basketball league.He is also the first African player ever to be drafted outside America to the NBA.

He featured in the invitational tournament in South Africa where he captained the team and lead them to victory in the finals.Nigeria's basketball team, D'Tigers, emerged overall winners of the 2015 Four Nations' invitational basketball tournament hosted by South Africa on Sunday March 22, 2015. Oyedeji, the long serving captain of the Nigerian Men's national team emerged the MVP of the tournament.

D'Tigers beat Mozambique 72-59 in their final game to win the inaugural tournament held at the Wembley Indoor Arena in Johannesburg.

FIBA

The International Basketball Federation, FIBA, Central Board appointed the D’Tigers Captain, Olumide Oyedeji, to the FIBA Player’s commission for the 2014-2019 term of office last year. Oyedeji’s appointment resulted from his nomination by the Nigerian Basketball Federation in line with the criteria provided by the world governing body of basketball on his achievement on the court as well as his tireless work ethic in developing the game not only in his home country but beyond its borders in Africa and across the globe. He is expected to serve in the newly inaugurated FIBA Player’s commission under the chairmanship of former Serbian International and NBA great, Vlade Divac. Olumide is also a member of the board of the Nigeria Basketball Federation.

Off the court

Olumide is a philanthropist and is committed to empowering youths using the tool of basketball as the medium for change. He is founder and CEO of his initiative Olumide Oyedeji Youth Foundation (OOYF) was established in 2000 as a Nonprofit /Charity Corporation in U.S.A, United Kingdom and Nigeria. The focus of the organization is to help underprivileged, troubled and at risk teens make better choice and create a brighter future including encouraging each one to be a better person. OOYF has produced over 300 scholarships to youths since inception in 2000 and over 40,000 youths from all over the world have participated in the programs from when the foundation was established. It has touched more than 30 cities in Nigeria and over 20 different cities all over the world includes South Africa, Nigeria, China, Spain, Mali, Germany, South Korea, Puerto Rico and United Kingdom. In November 2013, he hosted a charity basketball clinic for youths to fight against Gun and Knife Crimesd and keep our street clean at the Damilola Taylor Centre in Peckham, South London.

For well over a decade, Mr.Oyedeji has planned and implemented numerous Youth basketball camps, helped troubled and risk teens throughout the world some of which are the United States, United Kingdom, Nigeria, Germany, China, South Korea, South Africa, Ghana, Benin republic and Togo. His basketball camps and various programs have been met with the extreme success and over the years he has personally supported the academic and athletic advancement of hundreds of teenagers.

Awards and Honours

Olumide Oyedeji has won different awards for his humanitarian efforts and philanthropy, which includes Leadership and Sports Awareness Award, Sport Personality award, Role Model Award, Grassroots Development Award, Sports award of Excellence, Youth Ambassador award and Youth Empowerment and Mentor award, Finalist THIS DAY Award (2006,2007) Sports and Grassroots Development Award. He is also a Laureus Global Ambassador (the Prestigious Sports Award, where he became the first Nigerian and third African to be awarded).For his efforts to stop Guns and Knives crimes among the youths and campaign to stay away from gangs, Olumide Oyedeji was awarded as a Honorary London Metropolitans Police in United Kingdom.

References

  1. ↑ "Profile". Asia-basket.com.
  2. ↑ "Olumide Oyedeji Historical Profile". Nba.com. 11 May 1981.
  3. ↑ "Bonzi Wells joins CBA with Shanxi Zhongyu". News.xinhuanet.com. 12 December 2008.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/29/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.