Eyassu Worku (

Amharic Amharic ( or ; (Amharic: ), ', ) is an Ethiopian Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amharas, and also serves as a lingua franca for all oth ...

: እያሱ ወርቁ; born 18 October 1998) is an American basketball player of Ethiopian descent.

Early and personal life

Eyassu Worku was born in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

to Ethiopian immigrants Shibeshi and Yodit Berhanu.Whicker: UC Irvine’s Evan Leonard and Eyassu Worku hope to dance like nobody’s watching
Mark Whicker (

Orange County Register ''The Orange County Register'' is a paid daily newspaper published in California. The ''Register'', published in Orange County, California, is owned by the private equity firm Alden Global Capital via its Digital Fiest/Media News subsidiaries. ...

), 11 March 2020. Accessed 2 December 2021. Worku originally played more

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

than basketball. He completely switched to basketball in

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

. Worku's former fellow UC Irvine wingman Evan Leonard is a childhood friend. Just like Worku, Leonard went on to play professionally in

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...

High school and college career

Worku left Los Alamitos High School as its all-time leading scorer. In 2017, he led his team to an undefeated

Sunset League The Sunset League was a minor league baseball circuit that operated from 1947 through 1950. The Sunset League was a Class C level league, with franchises based in the United States and Mexico. The league expanded from six to eight teams from ...

championship.Los Alamitos’ Eyassu Worku is 2016 Press-Telegram boys basketball Dream Team Player of the Year
Mike Guardabascio (

Press-Telegram The ''Press-Telegram'' is a paid daily newspaper published in Long Beach, California. Coverage area for the ''Press-Telegram'' includes Long Beach, Lakewood, Signal Hill, Artesia, Bellflower, Cerritos, Compton, Downey, Hawaiian Gardens, Lynw ...

), 12 April 2016. Accessed 7 December 2021. Worku played 119 games for the Los Alamitos Griffins over four years and piled up 1,777 points, good enough for highest career total in school history, breaking

Landry Fields Landry Addison Fields (born June 27, 1988) is an American professional basketball executive and former player. He is the general manager of the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Fields played five seasons in the NBA for ...

’ record. Worku shot 44 percent from the field and 78 percent from the free-throw line. He played for the 2018–19 UC Irvine Anteaters team under head coach

Russell Turner Russell William Turner (born 12 May 1941), an Australian politician, is a councillor of the City of Orange Council, since 2012. Turner was previously a Member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly representing Orange between 1996 and 20 ...

. As starter at

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the five Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position. Point guards are expected to run t ...

, he helped his team win the 2019 Big West Conference tournament.

References

External links

Eyassu Worku
at Eurobasket.com
Eyassu Worku
at RealGM
Eyassu Worku
at

UC Irvine Anteaters The UC Irvine Anteaters (referred to Anteaters) are the athletic teams fielded by the University of California, Irvine (UC Irvine). Its athletics programs participate in the NCAA's Division I, as members of the Big West Conference and the Mount ...

*
Eyassu Worku
at ABA League {{DEFAULTSORT:Worku, Eyassu 1998 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Croatia American expatriate basketball people in North Macedonia American men's basketball players American people of Ethiopian descent Guards (basketball) KK Zadar players Sportspeople from Los Alamitos, California Basketball players from Orange County, California UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball players KK Zabok players KK MZT Skopje players