Ekenechukwu Brian "Ekene" Ibekwe (born July 19, 1985) is a Nigerian American professional basketball player for

Urunday Universitario Club Social y Deportivo Urunday Universitario is an Uruguayan sports club located in the Prado barrio of Montevideo Montevideo () is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census ...

of the Liga Uruguaya de Básquetbol. He played college basketball for the University of Maryland at College Park and represents the

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 ...

in international competitions.

High school career

Ibekwe attended Carson High School in

Carson Carson may refer to: People *Carson (surname), people with the surname *Carson (given name), people with the given name Places ;In the United States * Carson, California, a city * Carson Township, Fayette County, Illinois *Carson, Iowa, a city * ...

, California. As a senior in 2002–03, he was a second-team ''Parade'' All-American after averaging 19.9 points, 10.2 rebounds and 4.4 blocks per game in leading his squad to a 23–4 record and a semi-final finish in the Los Angeles city championship. He also earned all-state honors and a first team "All-Dream Team" nod by the Long Beach Press-Telegram as a senior, while he was named to the All-L.A. city first team, the All-South Bay first team and his team's MVP as a junior and senior.

College career

In his freshman season at Maryland, Ibekwe was the only freshman to play in all 32 games, drawing seven starts during his rookie season. He led the Terps in blocked shots with 44, an average of 1.4 per game, becoming the first freshman to lead the Terps in blocked shots since Joe Smith (1993–94). In those 32 games, he averaged 4.9 points and 3.9 rebounds per game. In his sophomore season, he played in 30 of 32 games on the season, starting 18 while finishing fifth on the team in scoring with 8.4 points per game and second in rebounding with 6.3 boards. He also led the team in blocks with 55, finishing fourth among ACC leaders with 1.83 blocks per game. On November 30, 2004, he recorded his first career double-double with a career-high 21 points on 10-of-13 shooting at Wisconsin. In his junior season, he appeared in 32 games and made 30 starts while averaging 11.1 points and 6.6 rebounds per game; also finished the year seventh in the ACC with 1.34 blocks per game. In his senior season, he earned ACC All-Defensive Team and All-ACC Honorable Mention honors. In 32 games, he averaged 10.4 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game. For his career, he accrued 1,107 points, 781 rebounds and 230 blocks, becoming the fourth player in school history (and the first since Lonny Baxter) to record 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 200 blocks.

Professional career

2007–08 season

Ibekwe went undrafted in the 2007 NBA draft. In August 2007, he signed with Hapoel Galil Elyon of Israel for the 2007–08 season. In October 2007, he was released by Galil Elyon and later signed with

Hapoel Gilboa/Afula Hapoel Afula ( he, הפועל עפולה) was a basketball club in Israel. The club was formed by a merger of Hapoel Gilboa and Hapoel Afula B.C., Hapoel Afula. The club played in the Israeli Basketball Super League until 2008 when it was relegate ...

. In February 2008, he parted ways with Gilboa/Afula. The next month, he joined

Besançon BCD Besançon Basket Comté Doubs was a basketball club based in Besançon, France that played in the Ligue Nationale de Basketball. Their home arena was the Palais des sports Ghani-Yalouz. The club was placed into receivership In law, receivership ...

of France for the rest of the season.

2008–09 season

In July 2008, Ibekwe joined the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Suns are the only team in t ...

for the 2008

NBA 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 ...

. He later signed with

Selçuk Üniversitesi Selçuk is a town in İzmir Province in the Aegean Region of Turkey. It is located northeast of the ancient city of Ephesus, that was once home to the Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Its previous Greek name, A ...

of Turkey for the 2008–09 season. In May 2009, he joined Gigantes de Carolina for the rest of the 2009 BSN season.

2009–10 season

In July 2009, Ibekwe joined the Toronto Raptors for the 2009 NBA Summer League. He later signed with Antalya Kepez Belediyesi of Turkey but was waived before the start of the season. In December 2009, he signed with Iman Harbour of the Iranian Basketball Super League. In January 2010, he left Iman and signed with Genç Banvitliler of Turkey for the rest of the season.

2010–11 season

In July 2010, Ibekwe joined the Portland Trail Blazers for the 2010 NBA Summer League. In August 2010, he signed with the

Artland Dragons QTSV Quakenbrück, representing its professional team as Artland Dragons, is a basketball club based in Quakenbrück, Germany. Their home arena was the Artland Arena, which has room for 3,000 spectators. From 2003 till 2015 the club played in the ...

of Germany for the 2010–11 season. On December 16, 2010, he parted ways with Artland. Three days later, he signed with Ironi Ashkelon of Israel for the rest of the season. In February 2011, he parted ways with Ironi and signed with

Bayreuth Bayreuth (, ; bar, Bareid) is a town in northern Bavaria, Germany, on the Red Main river in a valley between the Franconian Jura and the Fichtelgebirge Mountains. The town's roots date back to 1194. In the 21st century, it is the capital of U ...

of Germany for the rest of the season.

2011–12 season

On July 8, 2011, Ibekwe re-signed with Bayreuth for the 2011–12 season.

2012–13 season

In July 2012, Ibekwe re-joined the Portland Trail Blazers for the 2012 NBA Summer League. On August 16, 2012, he signed with Lagun Aro GBC of Spain for the 2012–13 season.

2014–15 season

On August 18, 2014, Ibekwe signed with the New Zealand Breakers for the

2014–15 NBL season The 2014–15 NBL season was the 37th season of competition since its establishment in 1979. A total of eight teams contested the league. The regular season was played between 10 October 2014 and 22 February 2015, followed by a post-season featu ...

. In what was a great season for Ibekwe, he earned All-NBL second team honors and helped lead the Breakers to the NBL Grand Final. After winning Game 1 against the Cairns Taipans in Cairns, Game 2 shifted to Auckland where in the dying seconds of the game, it was tied up 81–81. Coming out of the timeout, Ibekwe hit a game-winning fade-away shot to lift the Breakers over the Taipans 83–81 and thus clinched the team's fourth title in five seasons. On March 18, 2015, he signed with Atenienses de Manatí of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional to replace center Jerome James. His stint with Manatí lasted just 11 games as he parted ways with the club in mid-April. In those 11 games, he averaged 9.1 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game.

2015–16 season

On August 10, 2015, Ibekwe signed with Melbourne United for the

2015–16 NBL season The 2015–16 NBL season was the 38th season of competition since its establishment in 1979. A total of eight teams contested the league. The regular season was played between 7 October 2015 and 14 February 2016, followed by a post-season featuri ...

. However, on September 18, Ibekwe was released by United on compassionate terms after he requested permission to return to Europe to be with his heavily pregnant girlfriend. Eight days later, he signed with the Gießen 46ers of Germany's

Basketball Bundesliga The Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) (English language: ''Federal Basketball League''), for sponsorship reasons named easyCredit BBL, is the highest level league of professional club basketball in Germany. The league comprises 18 teams. A BBL season ...

. On November 22, he parted ways with Gießen. On January 2, 2016, he signed with the Russian club Krasny Oktyabr of the VTB United League. On May 2, 2016, Ibekwe signed with Hekmeh BC to replace the injured Todd O'Brien in the Final Four of the Lebanese Basketball League.

2016–17 season

On July 20, 2016, Ibekwe signed with ČEZ Nymburk of Czech Republic for the 2016–17 season. On October 20, 2016, he left Nymburk and signed a two-month contract with German club

Skyliners Frankfurt The Skyliners Frankfurt, currently known as Fraport Skyliners for sponsorship reasons, are a professional basketball club based in Frankfurt, Germany. Their home arena is Ballsporthalle. The club has played in the Basketball Bundesliga sinc ...

. Following the expiration of contract, he left Frankfurt. On December 30, 2016, he signed with Turkish club Uşak Sportif. On May 1, 2017, Ibekwe signed with the French

LNB Pro A The LNB Pro A, currently known for sponsorship reasons as Betclic Élite, is the top-tier men's professional basketball league in France. The competition has existed since 1921. Since 1987, the Ligue Nationale de Basket has governed the league. ...

club Élan Chalon for the rest of the

2016–17 Pro A season The 2016–17 Pro A season was the 95th season of the Pro A, the top basketball league in France organised by the Ligue Nationale de Basket (LNB). The season started on 24 September 2016 and ended on 24 June 2017. A total of 330 games were played ...

2017–18 season

On September 4, 2017, Ibekwe signed a three-month contract with German club

Oettinger Rockets Rockets is a German professional basketball team. It is originally based in Gotha, Germany but plays its home games in Erfurt. The Rockets are the first team of the BiG Gotha basketball club. In 2017, Rockets promoted to the Basketball Bundesliga ...

. On December 30, 2017, he signed with French club

Champagne Châlons-Reims Basket Champagne Basket is a French professional basketball club that is based in both the cities of Reims and Châlons-en-Champagne. The club was established in 2010 as part of the union between the old clubs of Reims Champagne Basket club (RCB) and the ...

for the rest of the

2017–18 Pro A season The 2017–18 Pro A season is the 96th season of the Pro A, the top basketball league in France organised by the Ligue nationale de basket (LNB). On 2 March 2018, Jeep became the new main sponsor of the league and the league was re-named the Je ...

2019–20 season

On November 29, 2019, he has signed with Élan Béarnais of the

. Ibekwe averaged 8.7 points and 6.6 rebounds per game.

2020–21 season

On August 7, 2020, Ibekwe signed with

. On February 11, 2021, he has signed with

Chorale Roanne Basket Chorale Roanne Basket is a professional basketball club that is based in Roanne, France. The club plays in the first division LNB Pro A. Their home arena is Halle André Vacheresse. The club was founded in 1937 and the team's colors are blue an ...

of the

International career

Ibekwe has been a member of the senior men's

. 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 ...

, where he was one of the team's leaders in points (4th) and rebounds (1st). He also played at the

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

and

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 ...

Personal

Ibekwe is the son of Nigerian parents, Agatha and Augustine Ibekwe. His brother, Onye, played college basketball for Long Beach State. He also has two sisters, Chinyere and Ify.

Ify Ibekwe Ifunanya Debbie "Ify" Ibekwe (born 5 October 1989) is a Nigerian American professional basketball player for the Virtus Eirene Ragusa and the Nigeria women's national team. Arizona statistics WNBA Ibekwe was selected in the second round ...

is also a professional basketball player, she represents the Nigerian women's national basketball team in international competitions.

References

External links

FIBA archive profileEurobasket.com profileDraftExpress.com profileMaryland bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ibekwe, Ekene 1985 births Living people 2006 FIBA World Championship players American expatriate basketball people in the Czech Republic American expatriate basketball people in Germany American expatriate basketball people in France American expatriate basketball people in Iran American expatriate basketball people in Israel American expatriate basketball people in Lebanon American expatriate basketball people in New Zealand American expatriate basketball people in Russia American expatriate basketball people in Spain American expatriate basketball people in Turkey American men's basketball players American sportspeople of Nigerian descent Artland Dragons players Basketball Nymburk players Basketball players at the 2012 Summer Olympics Basketball players at the 2016 Summer Olympics Basketball players from Los Angeles Besançon BCD players BC Krasny Oktyabr players Centers (basketball) Champagne Châlons-Reims Basket players Chorale Roanne Basket players Élan Chalon players Giessen 46ers players Gipuzkoa Basket players Hapoel Galil Elyon players Hapoel Gilboa/Afula players Ironi Ashkelon players Israeli Basketball Premier League players Liga ACB players Maryland Terrapins men's basketball players New Zealand Breakers players Nigerian men's basketball players Olympic basketball players of Nigeria Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) People from Carson, California Petrochimi Bandar Imam BC players Power forwards (basketball) Rockets (basketball club) players Skyliners Frankfurt players Uşak Sportif players Sagesse SC basketball players Al Riyadi Club Beirut basketball players