Ebikekeme Hasain Fere “Ebi” Ere (; born August 2, 1981) is an American-Nigerian former 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.

High school and college career

Ere attended McLain High School and played two seasons of junior college basketball for Barton Community College. He then played two seasons of Division I college basketball for the Oklahoma Sooners between 2001 and 2003. In his two-year career at Oklahoma, he averaged 13.7 points and 5.3 rebounds in 70 games. He and teammate

Hollis Price Hollis Price (born October 29, 1979) is an American former professional basketball player. He is currently an assistant coach for the University of Houston men's basketball program. College career Price played college basketball at the Univers ...

led the Sooners to the Final Four in 2002 where they lost to the

Indiana Hoosiers The Indiana Hoosiers are the intercollegiate sports teams and players of Indiana University Bloomington, named after the colloquial term for people from the state of Indiana. The Hoosiers participate in Division I of the National Collegiate Ath ...

in the national semi-final.

Professional career

Early years

Ere spent his rookie season in Australia playing for the Sydney Kings during the 2003–04 NBL season. He helped the Kings win their second straight championship playing alongside the likes of C. J. Bruton and Matthew Nielsen. In 40 games for the Kings, Ere averaged 19.6 points, 5.7 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.2 steals per game. Ere's next playing stint came in 2005 with the Oklahoma Storm of the United States Basketball League (USBL). He averaged 18.7 points and 4.1 rebounds in 23 games and earned All-USBL first team honors. Following the 2005 USBL season, Ere signed with Liège Basket of Belgium for the 2005–06 season. In 30 games for Liège, he averaged 14.2 points, 3.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.4 steals per game. In 2006, Ere returned to Australia and joined the

Brisbane Bullets The Brisbane Bullets are an Australian professional men's basketball team in the National Basketball League (NBL) based in Brisbane, Queensland. They competed from 1979 to 2008, and returned to the league in 2016. Brisbane were one of ten NBL f ...

for the

2006–07 NBL season The 2006–07 NBL season was the 29th season of competition since its establishment in 1979. For the first time, a team was established from outside the Australasian area, with the Singapore Slingers taking over the licence of the Hunter Pirate ...

. He made it two championships in two NBL seasons as he led the Bullets to secure the title with a 3–1 grand final series win over the Melbourne Tigers. In 39 games for the Bullets in 2006–07, he averaged 17.3 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game. Following the NBL season, he joined Gigantes de Carolina of the

Baloncesto Superior Nacional The Baloncesto Superior Nacional, abbreviated as BSN, is the first-tier-level professional men's basketball league in Puerto Rico. It was founded in 1929 and is organized by the Puerto Rican Basketball Federation. The Baloncesto Superior Naci ...

. Ere re-signed with the Brisbane Bullets for the 2007–08 season and earned himself All-NBL first team honors. In 32 games for the Bullets in 2007–08, he averaged a career-high 26.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game. He again joined Gigantes de Carolina during the NBL off-season. With the Bullets folding following the 2007–08 season, Ere reportedly signed with the

South Dragons The South Dragons were an Australian professional men's basketball team in the National Basketball League (NBL). They made their debut in the 2006/07 season and played their final season in 2008/09. The club was based at MSAC in Melbourne's in ...

for the 2008–09 season but decided instead to pursue an NBA contract. When that fell through, he was unable to join the Dragons after the club signed

Tremmell Darden Tremmell Lequincy Dushun Darden (born December 17, 1981) is an American professional basketball player for Mitteldeutscher BC of the German Basketball Bundesliga. Standing at , he plays at the small forward and power forward positions. High sc ...

rather than waiting for Ere. Ere subsequently signed with cross-town rivals, the Melbourne Tigers. He earned All-NBL first team honors for a second straight year and helped lead the Tigers back to the Grand Final where they were ironically defeated by the South Dragons 3 games to 2. In 37 games for the Tigers, he averaged 20.7 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game. For a third straight year, he played for Gigantes de Carolina during the NBL off-season.

Italy and Spain

In July 2009, Ere signed a one-year deal with Pepsi Caserta of the

Lega Basket Serie A The Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) is a professional men's club basketball league that has been organised in Italy since 1920. Serie A is organised by Lega Basket, which is regulated by the Italian Basketball Federation (FIP). It is the highest-tier ...

. He led his team to the semi-finals and averaged 15.1 points and 3.7 rebounds in 38 games. In July 2010, Ere re-signed with Caserta for the 2010–11 season. In 30 league games for Caserta in 2010–11, he averaged 14.1 points and 3.2 rebounds per game. On August 14, 2011, Ere signed with

Obradoiro CAB Obradoiro Clube de Amigos do Baloncesto (lit, Obradoiro Friends of Basketball Club), also known as Monbus Obradoiro for sponsorship reasons, is a professional basketball team based in Santiago de Compostela, Galicia. They currently compete in th ...

of Spain for the 2011–12 season. His numbers dropped while playing for Obradoiro, averaging a career-low 8.1 points per game in the very competitive Liga ACB. On June 20, 2012, Ere signed a one-year deal (with the option of a second) with Cimberio Varese, returning to Italy for a second stint. He was named team captain in 2012–13 and in 39 games for Cimberio, Ere averaged 13.6 points, 4.9 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.0 steals per game. In July 2013, Ere opted in with Cimberio for the 2013–14 season. In 30 league games for Cimberio in 2013–14, he averaged 11.8 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game.

Later years

On May 24, 2014, Ere signed with

Caciques de Humacao Caciques de Humacao was a professional basketball team based in Humacao, Puerto Rico. The club competed in the National Superior Basketball (, BSN). History In 2010, Antonio "Tonin" Casillas, owner of the Grises de Humacao, decided to give the ...

of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional as a replacement for Zach Graham. He played 12 games for Humacao and averaged 19.0 points, 5.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.4 steals per game. In December 2014, Ere signed a short-term contract with Élan Béarnais Pau-Orthez of the LNB Pro A. On January 11, 2015, his contract was extended for a further two months. With the return of Marko Simonović from injury, Ere parted ways with the club on March 16. In 14 games for Pau-Orthez, he averaged 10.0 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.0 steals per game. Two days later, he signed 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 the Baloncesto Superior Nacional. In 32 games for Bayamón, he averaged 16.0 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game. On August 27, 2015, Ere signed with the

Adelaide 36ers The Adelaide 36ers, also known as the Sixers, are an Australian professional men's basketball team in the National Basketball League (NBL). The 36ers are the only team in the league representing the state of South Australia and are based in th ...

for the 2015–16 NBL season. Less than a month later, Ere sustained a calf injury which ruled him out of the 2015 Pre-season Blitz tournament. In his 36ers debut on October 7 in the team's season-opening game against the

New Zealand Breakers The New Zealand Breakers (also known as the Sky Sport Breakers for sponsorship reasons) are a New Zealand professional basketball team based in Auckland. The Breakers compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at ...

, Ere scored all 13 of his points in the first half to help the 36ers lead 51–26 at half time. The 36ers went on to win the game 90–71. On January 30, 2016, he had a season-best game with 28 points and six three-pointers in a 104–90 win over the Illawarra Hawks. He appeared in all 28 games for the fifth-placed 36ers in 2015–16, averaging 10.8 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game. On March 7, 2016, Ere signed 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) ...

for the 2016 BSN season. On September 2, 2016, Ere signed with French club

SLUC Nancy Basket Stade Lorrain Université Club Nancy Basket, commonly referred to as SLUC Nancy Basket, is a French professional basketball club based in Nancy. The club currently competes in the LNB Pro A, the top league in France, and holds two league titles. S ...

for the 2016–17 season. On January 17, 2018, Ere signed with

Defensor Sporting Club Defensor Sporting Club is a sports club based in Montevideo, Uruguay. Founded in 1913, Defensor has several sports sections, with football and basketball being the most important and the ones in which the club has achieved significant achievemen ...

of the Liga Uruguaya de Basketball.Defensor lands Ebi Ere
/ref>

National team career

Ere was among those selected to play for the Nigerian national team in 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 ...

in Japan. He scored a total of 67 points (average of 11.2ppg in six games), which was third behind

Gabe Muoneke Nnadubem Gabriel Enyinaya Muoneke (born 7 February 1978, in Ann Arbor, Michigan) is a Nigerian American professional basketball player. Despite being born in the United States, Muoneke represents Nigeria internationally. Muoneke attended Cypress F ...

and Ime Udoka.Ebi Ere's profile – FIBA.com
/ref> In 2009, Ere competed for Nigeria at the FIBA Africa Championship where he averaged 11.3 points in seven games.