Ariel John Litang Edu (born January 1, 2000) is a Cypriot-born Filipino professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player for Toyama Grouses of the Japanese

B.League The B.League is a professional men's basketball league that began in Japan in September 2016. The league is operated by the Japan Professional Basketball League and was formed as a result of a merger between the National Basketball League that w ...

. Listed at and , he plays the power forward and center positions. He is a member of the

Philippine men's national basketball team The Philippines men's national basketball team ( fil, Pambansang koponan ng basketbol ng Pilipinas), commonly known as Gilas Pilipinas, is the basketball team representing the Philippines. The team is managed by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipi ...

Early life and career

Edu was born in

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

to a Nigerian father Ayotunde Edu and Filipina mother Josie Litang-Edu. His mother is a native of Surigao City, Philippines but moved to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

for work after finishing her education. She met Edu's father, a mathematics and physics professor. Standing , Ayotunde played basketball in his home country before becoming a high school coach in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. Edu began playing basketball at the age of seven in the junior ranks of Cypriot club AEL Limassol. He also played soccer in his childhood but began focusing on basketball due to his exceptional height. After his family moved to England a few years later, Edu joined the

Bristol Flyers The Bristol Flyers are a British professional basketball team based in the city of Bristol, England. The Flyers compete in the British Basketball League, after promotion from the English Basketball League in 2014. The team play their home game ...

cadet team and the Swansea Storm in the Wales League. With Swansea, he established himself as a top player at the under-16, under-18, and men's first division levels. With the Flyers, he trained with many former college basketball players. In 2017, Edu began playing for

South Gloucestershire and Stroud College South Gloucestershire and Stroud College, also known as SGS College, is a college of further education and higher education based in South Gloucestershire and Stroud, England. It was established in February 2012 following the merger of Filton Co ...

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

, England, where he was considered one of the top prospects in the country while competing in the Elite Academy Basketball League (EABL). After the 2017–18 season, he was named EABL West Conference Defensive Player of the Year, averaging 18.6 points, 14.7 rebounds, and 2.7 blocks per game. In 2018, he was invited to a Basketball Without Borders camp in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

College career

On April 12, 2018, Edu signed a

National Letter of Intent National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

with the Toledo Rockets under head coach of

Tod Kowalczyk Tod Edward Kowalczyk (born June 19, 1966) is an American college basketball coach and current head men's basketball coach at the University of Toledo. He was the head coach at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay A university () is an insti ...

. He played all 33 games, averaging 3.6 points, 3.9 rebounds and a team-high 1.7 blocks in 14.3 minutes per game. Edu recorded 57 blocks in the season, the most by a freshman in program history. He was named to the

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I collegiate athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Nine of the twel ...

(MAC) All-Freshman Team. Edu missed his entire sophomore season recovering from a knee injury suffered at the

2019 FIBA Under-19 World Cup The 2019 FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup (Greek: Παγκόσμιο Κύπελλο Μπάσκετ FIBA Under-19 2019) was the 14th edition of the FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup, the biennial international men's youth basketball championshi ...

. In December 2020, Edu tore his meniscus and missed the rest of the season. On July 9, 2021, he tore his left ACL during a practice.

Professional career

Toyama Grouses (2023–present)

On June 20, 2023, Edu signed his first professional contract with the Toyama Grouses of the

National team career

Edu was granted

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

citizenship from a young age after difficulties in receiving a

Cypriot Cypriot (in older sources often "Cypriote") refers to someone or something of, from, or related to the country of Cyprus. * Cypriot people, or of Cypriot descent; this includes: **Armenian Cypriots **Greek Cypriots **Maronite Cypriots **Turkish C ...

passport, which made him eligible to play for the Philippines in

FIBA The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. Originally known as the (hence FIBA), in 1989 it dropped the word ''amateur'' from its na ...

competition. However, he still drew interest from the Nigeria, Cyprus, and Great Britain. In 2017, Edu joined the Philippines at the

FIBA 3x3 U18 World Cup The FIBA 3x3 U18 World Cup is an under-18 basketball tournament run by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) since 2011. The tournament was known as the FIBA 3x3 U18 World Championships until the 2016 edition. History The event was held ...

Chengdu Chengdu (, ; Simplified Chinese characters, simplified Chinese: 成都; pinyin: ''Chéngdū''; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively Romanization of Chi ...

, China. He debuted for the Philippines at the

2018 FIBA Under-18 Asian Championship The 2018 FIBA Under-18 Asian Championship was the 25th edition of the Asian Championship for Junior Men aged 18 years old and below. The tournament was held in Nonthaburi, Thailand from August 5 to 11. held off , 72−63, to win their first-e ...

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...

, Thailand. In 6 games, Edu averaged 14.2 points, 11.5 rebounds, and 2.8 blocks per game, finishing with 4

double-doubles In basketball, a double-double is a single-game performance in which a player accumulates ten or more in two of the following five statistical categories: points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocked shots. The first "double" in the term ...

. He led his team to a fourth-place finish at the tournament, giving them a berth for the

. About two minutes into his first game at the Under-19 World Cup, Edu suffered a

torn ACL An anterior cruciate ligament injury occurs when the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is either stretched, partially torn, or completely torn. The most common injury is a complete tear. Symptoms include pain, an audible cracking sound during inju ...

and

torn meniscus A tear of a meniscus is a rupturing of one or more of the fibrocartilage strips in the knee called menisci. When doctors and patients refer to "torn cartilage" in the knee, they actually may be referring to an injury to a meniscus at the top of ...

in his right knee, as well as a

hairline fracture A stress fracture is a fatigue-induced bone fracture caused by repeated stress over time. Instead of resulting from a single severe impact, stress fractures are the result of accumulated injury from repeated submaximal loading, such as running or ...

on his right

femur The femur (; ), or thigh bone, is the proximal bone of the hindlimb in tetrapod vertebrates. The head of the femur articulates with the acetabulum in the pelvic bone forming the hip joint, while the distal part of the femur articulates with ...

. He missed the rest of the tournament with the injury. Edu was included in the 21-man pool for the

2023 FIBA World Cup The 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup will be the 19th tournament of the FIBA Basketball World Cup for men's national basketball teams. The tournament will be the second to feature 32 teams. For the first time in its history, the World Cup will be h ...

, where he was eventually included in the final 12-man lineup.

Career statistics

College

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Toledo Toledo most commonly refers to: * Toledo, Spain, a city in Spain * Province of Toledo, Spain * Toledo, Ohio, a city in the United States Toledo may also refer to: Places Belize * Toledo District * Toledo Settlement Bolivia * Toledo, Orur ...

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2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

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2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

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References

External links

Toledo Rockets bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Edu, A. J. 2000 births Living people 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup players Centers (basketball) Cypriot men's basketball players Cypriot people of Nigerian descent Cypriot people of Filipino descent Filipino expatriate basketball people in Japan Filipino expatriate basketball people in the United States Filipino men's basketball players Filipino people of Nigerian descent Power forwards Toledo Rockets men's basketball players Toyama Grouses players