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Awudu Abass

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Awudu Abass
Abass with Olimpia Milano in 2017
No. 5 – Dubai BC
PositionSmall forward
LeagueABA League
Personal information
Born (1993-01-27) 27 January 1993 (age 31)
Como, Italy
NationalityGhanaian / Italian
Listed height1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)
Listed weight100 kg (220 lb)
Career information
NBA draft2015: undrafted
Playing career2010–present
Career history
2010–2016Cantù
2016–2018Olimpia Milano
2018–2020Brescia Leonessa
2020–2024Virtus Bologna
2024–presentDubai BC
Career highlights and awards
Medals
Men's basketball
Representing  Italy
European U-20 Championship
Gold medal – first place 2013 Tallinn

Awudu Abass Abass (born 27 January 1993) is an Italian professional basketball player for Dubai BC of the ABA League. Standing at 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in), he plays at the small forward position. He has had a successful career in Italian basketball, winning the Italian League twice, winning the EuroCup, and playing for Cantu, Milano, Brescia and Bologna.

Professional career

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Abass joined local club Pallacanestro Cantù as a teenager, progressing quickly through the youth ranks to make his debut in 2011 aged only 18. He was too young to make an immediate impact, playing sparingly in his first three seasons, he did however grab minutes, and rebounds, in Europe's top-tier level EuroLeague, playing in two games, one against powerhouse Real Madrid.

The 2013–14 proved to be his breakthrough season, he earned regular minutes in the LBA and European second tier EuroCup, as a youth product he became a fan favourite and was awarded the captaincy the next season, becoming the youngest captain of Cantù's history.[1]

On 19 July 2018, Abass signed a two-year deal with Basket Brescia Leonessa.[2]

After two important seasons with Brescia, during which he became one of the most prominent Italian players of the league, in June 2020, he signed with Virtus Bologna.[3] After having knocked out 3–0 both Basket Treviso in the quarterfinals and New Basket Brindisi in the semifinals, on 11 June 2021 Virtus defeated 4–0 its historic rival Olimpia Milano in the national finals, winning its 16th national title and the first one after twenty years.[4] On 21 September, the team won its second Supercup, defeating Olimpia Milano 90–84.[5] Moreover, after having ousted Lietkabelis, Ulm and Valencia in the first three rounds of the playoffs, on 11 May 2022, Virtus defeated Frutti Extra Bursaspor by 80–67 at the Segafredo Arena, winning its first EuroCup and qualifying for the EuroLeague after 14 years.[6] However, despite having ended the regular season at the first place and having ousted 3–0 both Pesaro and Tortona in the first two rounds of playoffs, Virtus was defeated 4–2 in the national finals by Olimpia Milan.[7] On 29 September 2022, after having ousted Olimpia Milano in the semifinals, Virtus won its third Supercup, defeating 72–69 Banco di Sardegna Sassari and achieving a back-to-back, following the 2021 trophy. However, Abass did not play due to an injury.[8] However, despite good premises Virtus ended the EuroLeague season at the 14th place, thus it did not qualify for the playoffs.[9] Moreover, the team was defeated in the Italian Basketball Cup final by Brescia. In June, after having ousted 3–0 both Brindisi and Tortona, Virtus was defeated 4–3 by Olimpia Milan in the national finals, following a series which was widely regarded among the best in the latest years of Italian basketball.[10][11]

On July 10, 2023, Abass renewed his contract with Virtus for another season. On 24 September, after having ousted Olimpia Milano in the semifinals, Virtus won its fourth Supercup, and the third in a row, defeating 97–60 Germani Brescia.[12]

National team career

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Abass was called up soon after officially becoming Italian, joining the Under-20 side of the Italian national basketball team that won gold at the 2013 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship, where he was part of the All Tournament Team. He represented the Italian National Basketball team at the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup in China, where he averaged 8 points, 3 rebounds and 0.3 assists.[13]

Career statistics

[edit]
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  PIR  Performance Index Rating
 Bold  Career high

EuroLeague

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG PIR
2012–13 Cantù 2 0 18.5 .250 .200 — 6.0 — 1.0 — 3.5 4.5
2016–17 Milano 23 11 16.0 .420 .421 .840 1.9 .5 .4 .3 4.6 3.7
2017–18 10 0 4.7 .200 .125 .667 1.1 .2 .5 — 0.9 0.7
2022–23 Bologna 7 3 16.7 .581 .588 1.000 1.0 .7 .6 .3 6.7 5.7
2023–24 31 2 12.8 .410 .316 .846 1.7 .4 .4 .1 4.4 3.5
Career 73 16 13.3 .414 .361 .833 1.7 .4 .4 .2 4.2 3.4

Personal life

[edit]

Awudu Abass Abass father is originally from Ghana whilst his mother is from Nigeria (not Togo as erroneously reported by some sources), they met in Rome where they married before moving to Como where Awudu was born. He obtained Italian citizenship as soon as he could, at the age of 18, having to wait that long as he was born to foreign nationals.[14]

Abass still lived in Como, in 2012, at only 19, he was a candidate for the municipal elections as second on the Amo la Mia Città list, however it obtained only one seat so he was not elected.[15]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Comerio, Fabrizio. "Abass, the youngest captain in the history of the club". La Gazzetta dello Sport, 10 October 2014. Retrieved on 16 March 2015.
  2. ^ "Leonessa Brescia signs Awudu Abass to a two-year deal". Sportando.basketball. 19 July 2018. Archived from the original on 19 July 2018. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
  3. ^ Virtus Bologna: è fatta per Awudu Abass, Sportando
  4. ^ Virtus, sei magnifica! Bologna, scudetto dopo 20 anni, Milano schiacciata 4-0, Gazzetta dello Sport
  5. ^ Basket, la Virtus Bologna vince la Supercoppa: Milano ancora ko, la Repubblica
  6. ^ "Game Night: Virtus is the 7DAYS EuroCup champion and headed back to the EuroLeague!". euroleaguebasketball.net. 11 May 2022.
  7. ^ "Olimpia Milano campione d'Italia, Virtus Bologna ko 81-64 in gara-6". Sky Sport. 18 June 2022.
  8. ^ "Supercoppa, trionfa la Virtus Bologna! Canestro decisivo di Mickey, Sassari cede 72-69". Gazzetta dello Sport. 29 September 2022.
  9. ^ Virtus, il punto a fine EuroLega. BolognaBasket
  10. ^ Basket, Milano batte Bologna nella decisiva gara 7 e vince il suo 30esimo scudetto. Gli highlights. la Repubblica
  11. ^ Basket, Milano batte Bologna 67-55 nella finalissima e si conferma campione per la trentesima volta. Rai News
  12. ^ Una Virtus esagerata stravince la Supercoppa. la Repubblica
  13. ^ "Awudu ABASS". fiba.basketball. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  14. ^ Mocerino, Stefano. "Exclusive - Abass reveals all: Cantù, the national team, his origins." Archived 2016-03-15 at the Wayback MachineBasket Italy, 29 July 2013. Retrieved on 16 March 2015.
  15. ^ "The candidates."Amo la Mia Città. Retrieved on 16 March 2015.
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