Ike Nwankwo

Ike Nwankwo
Personal information
Born	December 27, 1973 (age 50); Houston, Texas
Nationality	American / Nigerian
Listed height	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)
Listed weight	257.4 lb (117 kg)
Career information
High school	Cypress Creek; (Houston, Texas)
College	UCLA (1993–1995); Long Beach State (1996–1997);
NBA draft	1998: undrafted
Playing career	1998–2010
Position	Power forward / Center
Career history
1998	Cocodrilos de Caracas (Venezuela)
1998	Piratas de Quebradillas (Puerto Rico)
1998–1999	Tuborg Pilsener (Turkey)
1999	Prokom Trefl Sopot (Poland)
1999	Piratas de Quebradillas (Puerto Rico)
1999	Tuborg Pilsener (Turkey)
2000	Prokom Trefl Sopot (Poland)
2000	Mets de Guaynabo (Puerto Rico)
2000	Vaqueros de Bayamón (Puerto Rico)
2000–2001	Sioux Falls Skyforce (IBL)
2001	Marinos de Oriente (Venezuela)
2001–2002	Dynamo Moscow (Russia)
2002	Cocodrilos de Caracas (Venezuela)
2003	Huntsville Flight (D-League)
2003	Darüşşafaka (Turkey)
2004	Huntsville Flight (D-League)
2004–2005	CAB Madeira (Portugal)
2005–2006	Ovarense Basquetebol (Portugal)
2006–2007	Queluz (Portugal)
2007	Club Ourense Baloncesto (Spain 3rd)
2007–2008	Belenenses (Portugal)
2008–2009	Club Malvín (Uruguay)
2009	Rotterdam Challengers (Netherlands)
2009–2010	Thailand Tigers (Thailand)

Ikenna Nwankwo (born December 27, 1973)^[1] is a former Nigerian-American professional basketball player. From Houston, Texas, he played college basketball with the UCLA Bruins, winning a national championship in 1995.

College career

Nwankwo played with the UCLA Bruins, and won a national championship on their 1994–95 team. In his second year as a reserve behind center George Zidek, he played in a career-high 23 games, averaging 2.7 points and 1.6 rebounds. After Zidek graduated, Nwankwo anticipated a larger role in 1995–96; however, freshman Jelani McCoy became the starting center instead. Seeking more playing time, Nwankwo transferred to Long Beach State in January 1996.^[2]

Nwankwo began his professional career in Venezuela with the Cocodrilos de Caracas. After a very successful stint where he was the league MVP he then moved to Puerto Rico where he was an MVP candidate in Puerto Rico, with Quebradillas Pirates of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN) from 1998-1999. In 1998 Nwankwo also played his first season in Turkey where he would play for the next two seasons. He played with Tuborg where he led the league in rebounds at 10. 1 per game. He returned to Tuborg the following year until a knee injury cut his season short. He then signed in Poland with Prokom Trefl Sopot. Nwankwo signed with the Miami Heat of the NBA in 2000, the following year he signed with the Houston Rockets. From 2001-2003, Nwankwo played for several European clubs including MBC Dynamo Moscow of the Russian Superleague. In 2003 Nwankwo joined the Huntsville Flight (now Albuquerque Thunderbirds) of the National Basketball Development League. 2004 saw Nwankwo return to Turkey, where he played with Darüşşafaka S.K. of the Turkish Basketball League (TBL). Since 2005, Nwankwo has played in the Portuguese Basketball League (LCB) (2005 with CAB Madeira and since 2006 with CA Queluz.^[3]

Nwankwo signed to play with an NBA squad every year from 2000-2004 except 2003, with the Miami Heat (2000), Houston Rockets (2001), Cleveland Cavaliers (2002)^[4] and the Los Angeles Lakers (2004)^[5] seasons.

Although born in the United States, Nwankwo has represented the land of his ancestry, Nigeria, in international competition. He played for Nigeria at the FIBA Africa Championship 2003 and 2006 FIBA World Championship.^[3]

His name "Ikenna" means "The Father's Strength" in Igbo^[6]

^ Sports Illustrated profile
^ Reid, Jason (February 10, 1996). "Southern Exposure : Nwankwo Left UCLA for Long Beach, and the 49ers Like Ike". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on February 12, 2016. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
^ ^a ^b Profile Basketpedya.com
^ Nwankwo, Barnes, and Cummings waived
^ Ike Nwankwo NBA.com profile
^ "Ikenna". Online Nigeria: Nigerian Names and Meanings. Retrieved December 22, 2014.