Akindele Jeleel Ayodeji (born April 2, 1983) is a Nigerian 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 for the

Halcones de Xalapa Halcones de Xalapa is a basketball club based in Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico that plays in the Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional The National Professional Basketball League ( or LNBP) is the top professional basketball league in Mexico. The l ...

of the

Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional The National Professional Basketball League ( or LNBP) is the top professional basketball league in Mexico. The league was founded in 2000 with 10 teams. Despite its short history, the LNBP has established itself as the one of the most important ...

(LNBP).

Collegiate career

Akindele chose

Chicago State Chicago State University (CSU) is a predominantly black public university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1867 as the Cook County Normal School, it was an innovative teachers college. Eventually the Chicago Public Schools assumed control of t ...

over

Rutgers Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and w ...

, St. Peters and St. Marys. During Akindele's first season in Chicago, the 7'1"

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

averaged 7.1 points per game, 5.6 rebounds and 1.94 blocks per game. In his second season, Akindele improved his block total by 8 in 4 fewer games (2.50 bpg), as well as improving his scoring average to 12 ppg. His best game, statistically, was when he registered 28 points (10-for-13 field goals), 21 rebounds, and 4 blocks in 79–71 loss to Green Bay on December 1, 2004. He was also named the

Mid-Continent Conference The Summit League, or The Summit, is an NCAA Division I intercollegiate athletic conference with its membership mostly located in the Midwestern United States from Illinois on the East of the Mississippi River to the Dakotas and Nebraska on the W ...

defensive player of the year for 2004–2005.

Professional career

Akindele left Chicago State after his sophomore year, declaring himself eligible for the

2005 NBA draft The 2005 NBA draft took place on June 28, 2005, in the Theatre at Madison Square Garden in New York City. In this draft, NBA teams took turns selecting amateur college basketball players and other first-time eligible players, such as players fr ...

. Going unselected in 2005, he had a short stint with the NBA team Golden State Warriors. Akindele was then selected in the fourth round of the Development League's Draft by the

Fort Worth Flyers The Fort Worth Flyers were a minor league basketball team in the NBA Development League (D-League) based in Fort Worth, Texas. They began play in the 2005–06 season and were shut down for the 2007–08 season. Franchise history In 2005, Sout ...

. In December 2010 he signed with

Montepaschi Siena Mens Sana 1871 Basket is an Italian professional basketball club based in Siena. It is a section of the sports club Polisportiva Mens Sana, founded in 1871. Under the name Montepaschi Siena, derived from sponsor Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, ...

until the end of the 2010–11 season. In August 2011 he returned to Russia to play for

Spartak Primorye BC Spartak Primorye (russian: БК «Спартак-Приморье») is a Russian professional basketball club that is based in Vladivostok, Russia. It currently plays in the Russian Super League 1. Players Current roster No ...

. In February 2012, he signed in Iran with Petrochimi Bandar Imam. In August 2012, he signed with

Juvecaserta Basket Sporting Club JuveCaserta (sometimes spelled Juve Caserta), also known as Decò Caserta after its title sponsor, is an Italian professional basketball team based in Caserta, Campania. The team currently plays in the Serie A2, the second tier of Ita ...

. In April 2013, he left them and signed with Champville in Lebanon. In August 2013, he signed with Budućnost Podgorica. Once the

Adriatic League The ABA League, renamed to the ABA League First Division in 2017, is the 1st-tier regional men's professional basketball league that originally featured clubs from the former Yugoslavia (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Mac ...

regular season finished, in April 2014 Akindele signed for

Gran Canaria Gran Canaria (, ; ), also Grand Canary Island, is the third-largest and second-most-populous island of the Canary Islands, an archipelago off the Atlantic coast of Northwest Africa which is part of Spain. the island had a population of that ...

until the end of the 2013–14 season. In September 2014, he signed with

Baloncesto Fuenlabrada Baloncesto Fuenlabrada, S.A.D., known as just Fuenlabrada and also Carplus Fuenlabrada because of sponsorship reasons,, is a professional basketball team based in Fuenlabrada, Spain. The team plays in the Liga ACB and plays their home games at F ...

of Spain for the

2014–15 ACB season The 2014–15 ACB season was the 32nd season of the Spanish basketball league, also called Liga Endesa in its sponsored identity. The regular season started on 4 October 2014 and finished on 24 May 2015. The playoffs, joined by the eight first qua ...

. He won the ACB Player of the Month Award in January 2015. On June 11, 2015, he signed with

Yeşilgiresun Belediye Yeşilgiresun Belediyespor, more commonly known as Yeşilgiresun, was a Turkish professional basketball club based in Giresun that played in the Turkish Basketball Super League. The team was founded by Giresun Municipality in 2006. Their home are ...

of the

Turkish Basketball League Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and ...

for the 2015–16 season. On June 27, 2015, he signed a short-term deal with

Vaqueros de Bayamón The Vaqueros de Bayamón are a Puerto Rican basketball team of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional based in Bayamón, Puerto Rico. The Vaqueros play their home games at Coliseo Rubén Rodríguez, Rubén Rodríguez Coliseum, a venue shared with the L ...

of Puerto Rico for the rest of the 2015 BSN season. In July 2015, he joined the

Metros de Santiago Metros de Santiago is a professional basketball team based in Santiago de los Caballeros, Santiago, Dominican Republic. The team currently plays in the Dominican top division Liga Nacional de Baloncesto. Championships Liga Nacional de Baloncesto ...

of Dominican Republic for the rest of the 2015 LNB season. In October 2016, Akindele signed with

Fuerza Regia The Fuerza Regia de Monterrey (''Monterrey Royal Force'' in English) is a Mexican professional basketball team based in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico playing in the Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional (LNBP). They currently play their home gam ...

of the Mexican LNBP. On April 5, 2017, he re-joined the Vaqueros de Bayamón. In December 2017, Akindele signed with Yalovaspor BK of the

Turkish Basketball First League The Turkish Basketball First League, also called TBL, is the second-tier level league of professional club basketball in Turkey. The league was previously known as Turkish Basketball Second League (TB2L). Format and promotion and relegation The ...

. On April 10, 2018, he returned to Puerto Rico with

Capitanes de Arecibo The Capitanes de Arecibo are a Puerto Rican professional basketball team based in Arecibo that competes in the Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN) league. In 2010, the team also had the distinction to play in the Premier Basketball League (PBL) ...

. Akindele rejoined Vaqueros de Bayamón on February 26, 2020, replacing the injured Greg Smith.

National team

He was part of the

Nigeria 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 ...

, and represented Nigeria at the 2007 and 2009 African Championships, averaging 8.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 0.6 assists per game.FIBA.com profile
. Libya2009.fiba.com. Retrieved on 2011-12-04.

References

External links