Ariel Washington Hukporti (born 12 April 2002) is a German-Togolese 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

Melbourne United Melbourne United is an Australian professional basketball team based in Melbourne, Victoria. United compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at John Cain Arena. The team made their debut in the NBL in 1984 a ...

of the National Basketball League (NBL).

Early life and youth career

Hukporti was born in Stralsund, Germany to

Togo Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...

lese parents and was raised by a single mother. He grew up playing

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

as a defender. Hukporti stood at age nine and started playing basketball when he was 11 years old, in part due to his height. He began playing in the Jugend Basketball Bundesliga, the German U16 league, with USC Freiburg. After one season, he received offers from renowned clubs, including Bayern Munich and

Brose Bamberg Brose Bamberg is a German professional basketball team from Bamberg, Franconia / North Bavaria. The club has won the German Championship title nine times and the German Cup five times. The club currently plays in the German top tier Basketbal ...

. He decided to continue his career with

Riesen Ludwigsburg Riesen Ludwigsburg ( en, Giants Ludwigsburg), for sponsorship reasons MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg, is a professional basketball club that is based in Ludwigsburg, Germany. The club currently plays in the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL), the first tier of ...

and its junior team, Porsche BBA Ludwigsburg. In December 2018, at the Adidas Next Generation Tournament (ANGT)

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...

, Hukporti averaged 18 points, 15.2 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game for U18 Porsche Ludwigsburg, while leading the event in blocks (1.8 per game) and index rating (26.7). He helped his team to fourth place and was named to the all-tournament team. In 2019, Hukporti was honored as Rookie of the Year and All-Star Game MVP in the Nachwuchs Basketball Bundesliga (NBBL), the German U19 league. He played for U18 Porsche Ludwigsburg at ANGT

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

in February 2020 but did not return to action after suffering a foot injury in his second game. Hukporti was named NBBL MVP for the 2019–20 season after averaging 16.9 points and 9.4 rebounds per game for Porsche BBA Ludwigsburg.

Professional career

Riesen Ludwigsburg (2018–2020)

On 12 December 2018, Hukporti made his professional debut for

, scoring four points in one minute in an 88–76 loss to

Banvit Banvit is a feed and poultry producer based in Bandırma, Turkey. Business and activities Starting as a feed producer in 1968, Banvit gradually moved into the production of broiler chickens. Today Banvit has the country's largest single broiler ...

at the

Basketball Champions League The Basketball Champions League (BCL) is an annual professional basketball competition for European clubs, organised by FIBA. It is the top-level competition organised by FIBA Europe, therefore the champion participates in the FIBA Intercontin ...

. On 13 January 2019, he debuted in the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) versus

medi Bayreuth Medi Bayreuth, official stylized as medi bayreuth, is a German professional basketball club that is based in Bayreuth, Germany. It was re-founded as BBC Bayreuth in 1999. The team plays in the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL), the highest division o ...

. At the

NBA All-Star Weekend The National Basketball Association All-Star Weekend is a weekend festival held every February during the middle of the NBA regular season that consists of a variety of basketball events, exhibitions, and performances culminating in the NBA All-Star ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

in February 2020, Hukporti was named MVP of the

Basketball Without Borders Basketball Without Borders is a basketball instructional camp organized by the NBA in conjunction with FIBA. It presents itself as a “basketball development and community outreach program that unites young basketball players to promote the sport ...

camp. On 11 June 2020, he scored a career-high 10 points along with three rebounds and two blocks in a 103–74 win over

in the preliminary round of the 2020 BBL Final Tournament. In the 2019–20 season, Hukporti averaged three points and 2.3 rebounds in 7.9 minutes per game.

Nevėžis Kėdainiai (2020–2021)

On 3 July 2020, Hukporti signed with Nevėžis Kėdainiai of the

Lithuanian Basketball League Lithuanian may refer to: * Lithuanians * Lithuanian language * The country of Lithuania * Grand Duchy of Lithuania * Culture of Lithuania * Lithuanian cuisine * Lithuanian Jews as often called "Lithuanians" (''Lita'im'' or ''Litvaks'') by other Jew ...

(LKL).

Melbourne United (2021–present)

On 28 July 2021, Hukporti signed as a Next Star with

of the Australian National Basketball League (NBL). During the 2022 pre-season, Hukporti ruptured his achilles tendon and was ruled out for the entire

2022–23 NBL season The 2022–23 NBL season was the 45th season of the National Basketball League since its establishment in 1979. A total of ten teams contested in the 2022–23 season. Australian broadcast rights to the season are held by ESPN in the second sea ...

. On 31 March 2023, Hukporti recommitted to United for the 2023–24 NBL season.

National team career

Hukporti represented

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

at the 2017 FIBA U16 European Championship in

Podgorica Podgorica (Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Подгорица, ; Literal translation, lit. 'under the hill') is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Montenegro, largest city of Montenegro. The city was formerly known as Titograd ...

. He averaged 5.4 points, 8.9 rebounds and 1.4 blocks for the 13th-place team. In April 2018, he won a gold medal with Germany at the Albert Schweitzer Tournament. Later that year, at the

FIBA U16 European Championship The FIBA U16 European Championship, previously known as the FIBA Europe Championship for Cadets, is a youth basketball competition that was inaugurated with the 1971 edition. Through the 2003 edition, it was held every second year, but since th ...

Novi Sad Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; hu, Újvidék, ; german: Neusatz; see below for other names) is the second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the Pan ...

, Hukporti averaged 9.6 points and 5.9 rebounds, leading his team to ninth place. He averaged 10.1 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.6 blocks at the 2019 FIBA U18 European Championship in

Volos Volos ( el, Βόλος ) is a coastal port city in Thessaly situated midway on the Greek mainland, about north of Athens and south of Thessaloniki. It is the sixth most populous city of Greece, and the capital of the Magnesia regional unit ...

as his team finished in 11th place.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hukporti, Ariel Living people 2002 births BC Nevėžis players Centers (basketball) German men's basketball players German people of Togolese descent Melbourne United players People from Stralsund Power forwards (basketball) Riesen Ludwigsburg players Citizens of Togo through descent Togolese men's basketball players Sportspeople from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Expatriate basketball people in Australia German expatriate sportspeople in Australia German expatriate basketball people in Lithuania