Benjamin Chukwukelo Uzoh (born March 18, 1988) is a Nigerian-American 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 who plays for
Marinos of the
Venezuelan SuperLiga
The Superliga Profesional de Baloncesto, commonly known as the SPB, is the Venezuelan first division national professional basketball league. Founded in 1974 as the Liga Especial de Baloncesto, it adopted the name Liga Profesional de Baloncesto i ...
. He also plays internationally for . Standing at , Uzoh has played in the
NBA
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...
for the
New Jersey Nets
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created.
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
Albums and EPs
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...
and
Toronto Raptors
The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. They play their home games a ...
.
College career
Uzoh played for the
Tulsa Golden Hurricane
The Golden Hurricane are the athletic teams that represent the University of Tulsa. These teams are referred to as the Tulsa Golden Hurricane (or variously as TU or Tulsa). Before adopting the name Golden Hurricane in 1922, the University of Tu ...
over his four-year
college basketball
In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...
career.
Uzoh is the only player in school history to be ranked top 10 among points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks. He's a three time All-Conference USA recipient including his selection to the first team his senior year. He started in 140 games out 141 game in his college career.
Professional career
In the summer of 2010, Uzoh earned Portsmouth Invitational Tournament All Third Team.
After going
undrafted
In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...
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 ...
, Uzoh signed a partially guaranteed contract with the
New Jersey Nets
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created.
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
Albums and EPs
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...
of the
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...
. On January 5, 2011, Uzoh was given a guaranteed contract to play out the rest of the year in New Jersey. He was briefly assigned to the
Springfield Armor
Springfield may refer to:
* Springfield (toponym), the place name in general
Places and locations Australia
* Springfield, New South Wales (Central Coast)
* Springfield, New South Wales (Snowy Monaro Regional Council)
* Springfield, Queensl ...
of the
NBA D-League
The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) from 2001 to 2005, and the NBA Dev ...
, during the month of March 2011.
In October 2011, he signed a one-year contract with
Lokomotiv Kuban
PBC Lokomotiv Kuban (russian: ПБК «Локомотив Кубань») is a Russian professional basketball team based in Krasnodar. The club participates in the VTB United League.
The team is one of the top tier basketball teams in Russia. T ...
of the
Russian League, but was released after playing just two games.
On March 27, 2012, he signed a 10-day contract with the
Toronto Raptors
The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. They play their home games a ...
of the
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...
. On April 16, 2012, the Raptors announced they had signed Ben Uzoh for the remainder of the 2011-2012 season. He recorded a
triple-double
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 ...
on April 26, against the Nets, the first by a Raptor in eleven years.
Uzoh joined the
Denver Nuggets
The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team was founded as the D ...
for their training camp in October 2012, but did not make the team's final roster. He was then acquired by the D-League team the
Rio Grande Valley Vipers
The Rio Grande Valley Vipers are an American professional basketball team of the NBA G League based in Edinburg, Texas, and are affiliated with the Houston Rockets. The Vipers play their home games at the Bert Ogden Arena. The Vipers have won f ...
. However, on November 5, 2012, Uzoh was traded to the Armor for
Tim Ohlbrecht
Tim Ohlbrecht (born August 30, 1988) is a retired German professional basketball player. He won 84 caps for the German men's national team, competing in the 2008 Olympic Games, the 2010 World Championships as well as the European Championships in ...
.
On October 31, 2013, Uzoh was acquired by the
Tulsa 66ers
Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...
in a trade involving the Iowa Energy and the Springfield Armor. On January 22, 2014, he was traded to the Canton Charge. On March 21, 2014, he was waived by the Charge due to a season-ending injury.
Ben Uzoh went to Nigeria in 2015 where he signed on to play for the Lagos Islanders.
On March 12, 2017, Uzoh signed with Belgian club
Okapi Aalstar
Okapi Aalst is a Belgian professional basketball club from Aalst, Belgium. The club competes in the top tier BNXT League and plays its home games in the Okapi Forum, which has a seating capacity of 2,800 people.
Okapi is a long-time participant o ...
for the rest of the 2016–17 season.
On February 10, 2018, he signed with
Caballeros de Culiacan of the
CIBACOPA league in Mexico.
On November 24, 2019, Uzoh signed with
Paris Basketball
Paris Basketball is a French professional basketball club based in Paris. The club currently plays in the LNB Pro A, the first division of basketball in France, and the EuroCup.
The club was founded in 2018 by David Kahn and Eric Schwartz. Th ...
of the
LNB Pro B
The LNB Pro B, commonly known as Pro B, is the French basketball league system, 2nd-tier level men's professional basketball league in France. It is the second division of the Ligue Nationale de Basket (LNB), which has organized the league since t ...
. On January 20, 2020,
Paris Basketball
Paris Basketball is a French professional basketball club based in Paris. The club currently plays in the LNB Pro A, the first division of basketball in France, and the EuroCup.
The club was founded in 2018 by David Kahn and Eric Schwartz. Th ...
and Uzoh jointly decided not to continue their collaboration.
In April 2021, Uzoh signed with the Nigerian team
Rivers Hoopers
Rivers Hoopers is a Nigerian basketball team based in Port Harcourt, Rivers. The team plays in the Nigerian Premier League. Established in 2009 as Royal Hoopers, the team has played in the Premier League since its inception. Hoopers have won the ...
to play in the
inaugural season of the
Basketball Africa League
The Basketball Africa League (BAL) is Africa's premier men's basketball league. The league consists of twelve teams, each qualified through their domestic competition, similar to the format of the UEFA Champions League. The league is a joint eff ...
(BAL). He scored the first-ever points in the BAL in the season opener against
Patriots BBC
Patriots Basketball Club, also known as simply Patriots, is a basketball club based in Kigali, Rwanda. Established in 2014, it plays its home games at Amahoro Indoor Stadium. The team is a four-time champion of the Rwanda Basketball League (RBL) ...
. He also became the first ex-
NBA
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...
player to play in the newly established competition. The Hoopers were eliminated in the regular season after two losses and one win, with Uzoh averaging a team-leading 14.7 points per game.
In September 2021, Uzoh was on the roster of South African team
Cape Town Tigers
Cape Town Tigers is a South African basketball club based in Cape Town. The team is located in the Gugulethu township. Established in 2019 by three American business partners, the club has won the South African national championship in 2021 and 20 ...
and helped the team win its first-ever national championship. He recorded 22 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists in the championship game against
Jozi Nuggets
Jozi Nuggets is a South African basketball club based in Johannesburg. The team plays in the Johannesburg Basketball League (JBL), in which it won championships in 2017 and 2018. The club won the National Club Championship in 2019.
The club’s d ...
.
On July 4, 2022, he signed with
Marinos of the
Venezuelan SuperLiga
The Superliga Profesional de Baloncesto, commonly known as the SPB, is the Venezuelan first division national professional basketball league. Founded in 1974 as the Liga Especial de Baloncesto, it adopted the name Liga Profesional de Baloncesto i ...
.
National team career
Uzoh has played for the
Nigerian national basketball team at the
2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...
, 2015, and 2017
FIBA Men's African Championships. He was also a member of the Nigerian team that participated at the
Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
Career statistics
NBA
Regular season
, -
, align="left" ,
, align="left" ,
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
, 42 , , 0 , , 10.4 , , .424 , , .375 , , .589 , , 1.5 , , 1.6 , , 0.3 , , 0.2 , , 3.8
, -
, align="left" ,
, align="left" ,
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. ...
, 2 , , 0 , , 6.5 , , .400 , , .000 , , .000 , , 2.0 , , 1.0 , , 0.5 , , 0.0 , , 2.0
, -
, align="left" ,
, align="left" ,
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
, 16 , , 8 , , 22.3 , , .351 , , .000 , , .579 , , 3.9 , , 3.7 , , 1.0 , , 0.2 , , 4.8
, - class="sortbottom"
, style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career
, 60 , , 8 , , 13.5 , , .395 , , .333 , , .587 , , 2.1 , , 2.2 , , 0.5 , , 0.2 , , 4.0
BAL
, -
, style="text-align:left;",
2021
File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...
, style="text-align:left;",
Rivers Hoopers
Rivers Hoopers is a Nigerian basketball team based in Port Harcourt, Rivers. The team plays in the Nigerian Premier League. Established in 2009 as Royal Hoopers, the team has played in the Premier League since its inception. Hoopers have won the ...
, 3 , , 3 , , 29.1 , , .559 , , .000 , , .667 , , 4.7 , , 5.3 , , 1.0 , , .7 , , 14.7
, -
, - class="sortbottom"
, style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career
, 3 , , 3 , , 29.1 , , .559 , , .000 , , .667 , , 4.7 , , 5.3 , , 1.0 , , .7 , , 14.7
References
External links
Ben Uzohat NBA.com
Ben Uzohat USBasket.com
Ben Uzohat ESPN.com
at Tulsa Golden Hurricanes website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Uzoh, Ben
1988 births
Living people
2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup players
African-American basketball players
American expatriate basketball people in Belgium
American expatriate basketball people in Canada
American expatriate basketball people in Russia
American men's basketball players
American sportspeople of Nigerian descent
Basketball players at the 2016 Summer Olympics
Basketball players from Houston
Canton Charge players
Cape Town Tigers players
Cleveland Cavaliers players
New Jersey Nets players
Nigerian expatriate basketball people in Canada
Nigerian expatriate basketball people in Russia
Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium
Nigerian men's basketball players
Okapi Aalstar players
Olympic basketball players of Nigeria
PBC Lokomotiv-Kuban players
Point guards
Rio Grande Valley Vipers players
Rivers Hoopers players
Basketball players from San Antonio
Springfield Armor players
Toronto Raptors players
Tulsa 66ers players
Tulsa Golden Hurricane men's basketball players
Undrafted National Basketball Association players
21st-century African-American sportspeople
20th-century African-American people
Marinos B.B.C. players