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Precious Achiuwa

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Precious Achiuwa
No. 55 – Memphis Tigers
PositionPower forward
LeagueAmerican Athletic Conference
Personal information
Born (1999-09-19) September 19, 1999 (age 25)
Port Harcourt, Nigeria
NationalityNigerian
Listed height6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
Listed weight225 lb (102 kg)
Career information
High school
CollegeMemphis (2019–2020)
Career highlights and awards
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata

Precious Achiuwa (born September 19, 1999) is a Nigerian college basketball player for the Memphis Tigers of the American Athletic Conference (AAC). He finished his high school career with Montverde Academy in Florida and was a consensus five-star recruit and McDonald's All-American.

Early life and high school career

Achiuwa was born in Nigeria and grew up mainly playing soccer.[1] He started focusing on basketball while in eighth grade, which is when he moved to the United States.[2] As a high school freshman, Achiuwa played basketball for Our Saviour Lutheran School in The Bronx, New York.[3] For his next two years, he attended Saint Benedict's Preparatory School in Newark, New Jersey. The school had a nationally ranked basketball program and he was teammates with several NCAA Division I recruits.[4] In his junior season, Achiuwa averaged 18.5 points, 10.5 rebounds, 2.9 blocks, and 2.2 steals per game, leading his team to a 28–2 record. He was named to the MaxPreps Junior All-American second team.[5]

Entering his senior year, Achiuwa transferred to Montverde Academy, a prep school in Montverde, Florida with a successful basketball program that held the No. 1 national ranking in the previous season.[6] He led Montverde with 14 points and 7.2 rebounds per game and helped his team reach the semifinals at GEICO High School Nationals.[7][8] Achiuwa earned MaxPreps All-American fifth team, USA Today All-USA third team, and USA Today All-USA Florida first team honors.[8][9][10] On March 27, 2019, he played for the East team in the McDonald's All-American Game, leading all scorers with 22 points.[11] On April 12, Achiuwa joined the World team at the Nike Hoop Summit.[12]

Recruiting

On May 17, 2019, Achiuwa committed to play college basketball for Memphis under head coach Penny Hardaway. He joined his former Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) teammate, Lester Quinones, and the number one player in the 2019 class, James Wiseman.[13]

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Precious Achiuwa
PF 		The Bronx, NY Montverde Academy (FL) 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 210 lb (95 kg) May 17, 2019 
Recruiting star ratings: Rivals:5/5 stars   247Sports:5/5 stars    ESPN:5/5 stars   ESPN grade: 95
Overall recruiting rankings:   Rivals: 17  247Sports: 9  ESPN: 17
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

  • "Memphis 2019 Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. Retrieved May 17, 2019.
  • "2019 Memphis Tigers Recruiting Class". ESPN.com. Retrieved May 17, 2019.
  • "2019 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved May 17, 2019.

College career

In his debut for Memphis, Achiuwa had 14 points and eight rebounds as the Tigers defeated South Carolina State 97–64.[14] Achiuwa scored a season-high 25 points in a 87–86 win over Ole Miss on November 23. As a result, he was named American Athletic Conference player of the week on November 25.[15] He earned conference freshman of the week honors on December 23 after recording 20 points and nine rebounds in a 77–49 victory over Jackson State.[16] At the conclusion of the regular season, Achiuwa was named AAC Player and Freshman of the Year.[17] He averaged 15.8 points, 10.8 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game as a freshman.[18] He declared for the 2020 NBA draft after his freshman season.[19]

Career statistics

Legend
  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

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2019–20 Memphis 31 31 30.4 .493 .325 .599 10.8 1.0 1.1 1.9 15.8

Personal life

Achiuwa's older brother, God'sgift Achiuwa, played college basketball for St. John's from 2011 to 2014.[20] His mother, Eunice, and father, Donatus, are both Pentecostal ministers.[21] In addition to God'sgift, he has two brothers, God'swill and Promise, and two sisters, Grace and Peace.[22]

References

  1. ^ Tomes, Evan (April 12, 2019). "Precious Achiuwa Interview". NBADraft.net. Retrieved July 28, 2019.
  2. ^ Bedore, Gary (May 14, 2019). "Precious Achiuwa, who is on KU's wish list, says 'stay tuned' for weekend decision". The Kansas City Star. Retrieved July 28, 2019.
  3. ^ Munz, Jason (July 8, 2019). "Memphis basketball: A closer look at Precious Achiuwa's unconventional recruitment". The Commercial Appeal. Retrieved July 28, 2019.
  4. ^ Riedel, Kenny (December 26, 2016). "The Slam Dunk skinny on prime-time basketball". Cape Gazette. Retrieved July 28, 2019.
  5. ^ Divens, Jordan (April 13, 2018). "2017-18 MaxPreps Boys Basketball Junior All-American Team". MaxPreps. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
  6. ^ Smith, Cam (August 14, 2018). "Chosen 25 F Precious Achiuwa transfers to Montverde Academy from St. Benedict's". USA Today High School Sports. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
  7. ^ Jordan, Jason (April 5, 2019). "GEICO Nationals: No. 4 IMG Academy (Fla.) stages epic comeback to knockoff No. 3 Montverde (Fla.) Academy". USA Today High School Sports. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
  8. ^ a b Divens, Jordan (April 11, 2019). "MaxPreps 2018-19 High School Boys Basketball All-American Team". MaxPreps. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
  9. ^ "2018-19 ALL-USA High School Boys Basketball: Third Team". USA Today High School Sports. April 2, 2019. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
  10. ^ "2018-19 ALL-USA Florida Boys Basketball Team". USA Today High School Sports. April 16, 2019. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
  11. ^ "Precious Achiuwa Shines at McDonald's All-American Game". Montverde Academy. March 28, 2019. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
  12. ^ Lundeberg, Bob (April 11, 2019). "Nike Hoop Summit 2019: Internet sensation Nico Mannion sure to turn heads for World Team". The Oregonian. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
  13. ^ Fowler, Christian (May 17, 2019). "Five-star forward Precious Achiuwa commits to Memphis". 247Sports.com. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
  14. ^ "Wiseman has 28 and 11 in winning debut for No. 14 Memphis". ESPN. Associated Press. November 5, 2019. Retrieved November 6, 2019.
  15. ^ "Memphis' Achiuwa, UConn's Bouknight Earn Men's Basketball Weekly Honors". American Athletic Conference. November 25, 2019. Retrieved January 3, 2019.
  16. ^ "ECU's Gardner, Memphis' Achiuwa Earn Men's Basketball Weekly Honors". American Athletic Conference. December 23, 2019. Retrieved January 3, 2019.
  17. ^ "American Athletic Conference Announces Individual Awards" (Press release). American Athletic Conference. March 11, 2020. Retrieved March 11, 2020.
  18. ^ Collings, Buddy (April 3, 2020). "Orlando area college basketball All Stars for 2019-20". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
  19. ^ Giviony, Jonathan. "Memphis star, AAC Player of the Year Precious Achiuwa to enter NBA draft". espn.com. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
  20. ^ Goldberg, Rob (May 17, 2019). "5-Star SF Precious Achiuwa Commits to Penny Hardaway, Memphis over Kansas". Bleacher Report. Retrieved July 28, 2019.
  21. ^ Logan, Greg (July 23, 2011). "God'sgift happy to be at St. John's". Newsday. Retrieved July 28, 2019.
  22. ^ Darcy, Kieran (May 5, 2011). "St. John's blessed with gift from above". ESPN. Retrieved July 28, 2019.
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