Arinze Christopher Onuaku (born July 13, 1987) is an American former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player. He played college basketball for Syracuse University.

High school career

Onuaku attended DuVal High School in Lanham, Maryland before transferring in 2003, following his sophomore year, to Episcopal High School in

Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city in the northern region of the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of downtown Washington, D.C. In 2020, the population was 159,467. ...

. As a senior in 2004–05, he earned the Episcopal High School William Caskie Watts MVP Award after helping his squad to a 12-11 record.

College career

In his freshman season at Syracuse, Onuaku was named to the Big East Conference All-Academic Team and earned SU Athletic Director's Honor Roll recognition in each of his first two semesters. In 29 games, he averaged 2.0 points and 2.8 rebounds per game. In October 2006, Onuaku underwent surgery on his left knee and subsequently redshirted the 2006–07 season. He was, however, named to the Big East Conference All-Academic Team and earned SU Athletic Director's Honor Roll recognition for the second straight year following the fall and spring semesters. In his redshirted sophomore season, Onuaku ranked second in the Big East Conference and ninth in the nation in field-goal percentage with 62.8%. He was named to the Big East Conference All-Academic Team for the third straight year, and was on the SU Athletic Director's Honor Roll for the fall semester. In 35 games, he averaged 12.7 points, 8.1 rebounds, 1.0 steals and 1.3 blocks per game. In his junior season, Onuaku was again named to the SU Athletic Director's Honor Roll for the fall semester. In 38 games, he averaged 10.3 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game. In his senior season, Onuaku became the 52nd player in Syracuse history to score 1,000 points with four against Florida on December 10, 2009. For the fourth straight year, he was named to the SU Athletic Director's Honor Roll for the fall semester. He also earned 2009 Pre-season All-Big East Honorable Mention honors. In March 2010, he suffered a season-ending leg injury during the Big East Tournament quarter-finals against Georgetown. In 32 games (31 starts), he averaged 10.5 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in 22.8 minutes per game. Onuaku finished his career first on the Syracuse all-time list with a .648 field goal percentage (540-for-833), and 11th all-time with 148 blocked shots.

Professional career

2010–11 season

Onuaku went undrafted in the

2010 NBA draft The 2010 NBA draft was held on June 24, 2010, at the Theatre at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The draft, which started at 7:00 pm Eastern Daylight Time (2300 UTC), was broadcast in the United States on ESPN. In this draft, National ...

. On March 2, 2011, he was acquired by the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.

2011–12 season

On September 14, 2011, Onuaku signed with Klaipėdos Neptūnas of Lithuania for the 2011–12 season. In December 2011, he parted ways with Neptūnas following a knee injury.

2012–13 season

On November 2, 2012, Onuaku was selected by the Reno Bighorns in the fourth round of the 2012 NBA Development League draft. Three days later, he was traded to the Canton Charge. On February 4, 2013, he was named to the Futures All-Star roster for the 2013 NBA D-League All-Star Game.

2013–14 season

In July 2013, Onuaku joined the Phoenix Suns for the

2013 NBA Summer League The 2013 NBA Summer League is a pro basketball league run by the NBA just after the 2013 NBA draft. It gives newly drafted players a chance to test their skills against each other, and to give them a feel for professional basketball. All 30 NBA ...

and on August 22, 2013, he signed with the New Orleans Pelicans. However, they waived him on November 12. On November 27, he was re-acquired by the Canton Charge. On February 13, 2014, he was named to the Futures All-Star team for the 2014

NBA D-League All-Star Game The NBA D-League All-Star Game was an annual exhibition basketball game held by the NBA Development League (D-League). The D-League was founded in 2001 as the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) and later as the NBA Development League. ...

, as a replacement for

Dewayne Dedmon Dewayne Jamal Dedmon (born August 12, 1989) is an American professional basketball player for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "The Mechanic", he played college basketball for Antelope Valley College and USC. ...

. On February 22, 2014, Onuaku signed a 10-day contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers. He was assigned back down to the Charge the same day. The next day, he was recalled by the Cavaliers. On March 4, he signed a second 10-day contract with the Cavaliers. On March 8, he was reassigned to the Charge. He was recalled the same day after playing in the Charge's 118-110 win over the

Idaho Stampede Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyomi ...

. He also received assignments to the Charge on March 9 and March 11. On March 12, he was waived by the Cavaliers. The next day, he was re-acquired by the Charge. In May 2014, Onuaku joined the Chongqing Flying Dragons for the 2014 NBL season. He left the team in late June after averaging 28.6 points and 14.8 rebounds in 19 games.

2014–15 season

In July 2014, Onuaku joined the Indiana Pacers for the

Orlando Summer League The NBA Summer League, also known as the Las Vegas Summer League, is an off-season competition organized by the National Basketball Association. NBA teams come together to try out different summer rosters instead of their regular season line-ups ...

and the New Orleans Pelicans for the Las Vegas Summer League. On September 5, he signed with the Pacers, only to be waived by the team on October 25. On November 22, he was reacquired by the Canton Charge. On February 4, 2015, he was named to his third Futures All-Star team, this time for the 2015

. On April 7, 2015, Onuaku signed with the

Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. Founded in 19 ...

for the rest of the season to help the team deal with numerous injuries. Minnesota had to use an NBA hardship exemption in order to sign him as he made their roster stand at 16, one over the allowed limited of 15. He made his debut for the Timberwolves later that day, recording 6 points and 5 rebounds in a loss to the

Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference Pacific Division. The Kings are the oldest ...

2015–16 season

PBA - Meralco vs Alaska - Arinze Onuaku - Meralco - 2016-0425 (26374015110)

In July 2015, Onuaku joined the Indiana Pacers for the Orlando Summer League and the

Brooklyn Nets The Brooklyn Nets are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Nets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. The ...

for the Las Vegas Summer League. On October 6, 2015, he signed a three-month contract with Israeli powerhouse team

Maccabi Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv ( he, מכבי תל אביב) is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such ...

. On January 22, 2016, Onuaku was released by Maccabi, after he declined a one-month contract extension offered by the team. On February 6, 2016, Onuaku signed with the Meralco Bolts of the

Philippine Basketball Association The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is a men's professional basketball league in the Philippines composed of twelve company-branded franchised teams. Founded in 1975, it is the first professional basketball league in Asia and is the se ...

as the team's import for the

2016 PBA Commissioner's Cup The 2016 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Commissioner's Cup, also known as the 2016 Oppo-PBA Commissioner's Cup for sponsorship reasons, was the second conference of the 2015–16 PBA season. The tournament allowed teams to hire forei ...

. He went on to win the PBA Best Import of the Conference Award.

2016–17 season

In July 2016, Onuaku joined the Orlando Magic white team for the 2016 Orlando Summer League. On September 8, 2016, he signed with the Magic. On January 6, 2017, he was waived by the Magic after appearing in eight games. On June 8, 2017, Onuaku signed with Hunan of China for the 2017 NBL season.

2017–18 season

Onuaku signed with the

Zhejiang Golden Bulls The Zhejiang Golden Bulls, or Zhejiang Chouzhou Golden Rent are a Chinese professional basketball team based in Yiwu in Zhejiang, China. It competes in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA), in the Southern Division. Its corporate sponsor is Z ...

of the

Chinese Basketball Association The Chinese Basketball Association (), often abbreviated as the CBA, is the first-tier professional men's basketball league in China. The league is commonly known by fans as the CBA, and this acronym is even used in Chinese on a regular basis ...

for the remainder of the 2017-18 season on February 5, 2018, after the team waived Jarnell Stokes. In March 2018, Onuaku signed again with the Meralco Bolts of the

as their import for the

2018 PBA Commissioner's Cup The 2018 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Commissioner's Cup, also known as the 2018 Honda–PBA Commissioner's Cup for sponsorship reasons, was the second conference of the 2017–18 PBA season. The tournament allows teams to hire forei ...

The Basketball Tournament

Arinze Onuaku played for Boeheim's Army in the 2018 edition of

The Basketball Tournament The Basketball Tournament (TBT) is an open-application, single-elimination tournament played each summer in the United States. The 2022 edition features 64 teams with a $1 million winner-take-all prize, broadcast by ESPN. TBT was founded in 20 ...

. In 4 games, he averaged 9.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, and .5 blocks per game. Boeheim's Army reached the Northeast Regional Championship before falling to the Golden Eagles.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

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Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

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Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

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Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures re ...

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Personal life

Onuaku is the son of Christopher and Anastasia Onuaku, and has three siblings: Ify, Chinanu and Michael. Chinanu is also a professional basketball player.

References

External links

*
NBA D-League profile

Syracuse bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Onuaku, Arinze 1987 births Living people 21st-century African-American sportspeople African-American basketball players American expatriate basketball people in China American expatriate basketball people in Israel American expatriate basketball people in Lithuania American expatriate basketball people in the Philippines American men's 3x3 basketball players American men's basketball players American sportspeople of Nigerian descent Basketball players from Maryland BC Neptūnas players Big3 players Canton Charge players Centers (basketball) Beijing Royal Fighters players Cleveland Cavaliers players Episcopal High School (Alexandria, Virginia) alumni Maccabi Tel Aviv B.C. players Meralco Bolts players Minnesota Timberwolves players New Orleans Pelicans players Orlando Magic players People from Lanham, Maryland Philippine Basketball Association imports Power forwards (basketball) Rio Grande Valley Vipers players Syracuse Orange men's basketball players Undrafted National Basketball Association players Zhejiang Golden Bulls players