Chamberlain "Champ" Nnaemeka Oguchi (born April 28, 1986) is a Nigerian American professional basketball player who last played for

Boulazac Basket Dordogne Boulazac Basket Dordogne, also known as BBD or simply Boulazac, is a French professional basketball club, based in Boulazac. The team currently plays in the LNB Pro A currently named Jeep Elite for sponsoring reason, the first level of basketball ...

of the LNB Pro B. His name "Emeka" is an abbreviation of the Igbo name "Chukwuemeka" (meaning "God has done so much").

College career

Oguchi played college basketball for the Oregon Ducks from 2004 to 2007, before transferring to Illinois State University to play for the Illinois State Redbirds. He normed 39.5 percent on his 3-point attempts for the Redbirds.

Professional career

In 2009, Oguchi signed with the club STB Le Havre of the French Pro-A League. Since his time playing in the French League, Oguchi has played in the: NBA D-League, the Philippine Basketball Association, the Lebanese League, the West Asian League (with the Iraqi club

Duhok Duhok ( ku, دهۆک, translit=Dihok; ar, دهوك, Dahūk; syr, ܒܝܬ ܢܘܗܕܪܐ, Beth Nohadra) is a city in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. It's the capital city of Duhok Governorate. History The city's origin dates back to the Stone ...

), the Venezuelan League, the Russian Professional Basketball League, the Liga Endesa of Spain, the Polish Basketball League, the LNBP of Mexico, the French Pro-B League, and the Liga Nacional de Básket of Argentina. During his stint in the Philippines, he played for the

Meralco Bolts The Meralco Bolts is a professional basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association. The team began in 2010 after the Manila Electric Company (MERALCO) acquired the PBA franchise of the Sta. Lucia Realtors. The team is one of three ...

, where-in he became a well known import because of his efficiency in mid range shots coupled with his high percentage and deadly 3-point shooting from very far distances. In his first stint with the Bolts, Oguchi was the top scorer for the 2011 PBA Commissioner’s Cup on his 30.7 points per game. He averaged 28.3 points per game for his 11-game PBA career and shot 40.3 percent on his 3-point attempts. During the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, Oguchi drew interest from a number of

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 ...

teams. On November 1, 2012, Oguchi signed with the NBA D-League team the Maine Red Claws. On May 13, 2013, he signed with the Spanish League club Gran Canaria. In August 2015, he signed with Polish club Anwil Włocławek.

Nigerian national team

Oguchi has also been a member of the senior men's

Nigerian national basketball team The Nigeria national basketball team represents Nigeria in men's international basketball and it is overseen by the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF). In March 2021, the global governing body FIBA ranked Nigeria as Africa's top men's basket ...

. He played at the

2006 FIBA World Championship The 2006 FIBA World Championship was the 15th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's national teams. The tournament was hosted by Japan and held from 19 August to 3 September 2006. It was co-organised by ...

, the

, and the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

At the

2015 FIBA Africa Championship AfroBasket 2015 was the 28th edition of the AfroBasket, a men's basketball continental championship of Africa. It also served as the qualifying tournament for FIBA Africa at the 2016 Summer Olympics Basketball Tournament in Brazil. The tournament ...

, Oguchi led Nigeria to their first ever AfroBasket title, defeating Angola 74-65. Oguchi led the team in scoring, averaging 16.6 points per game. For his impressive performance throughout the tournament, he was named

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

and Best 3-Point Shooter. Oguchi was also named, with Al-Farouq Aminu, into the All Star Five of the 2015 Afrobasket in Tunisia.

References

External links