Lionel Nathan Kouadio (born 1 September 2001) is an Ivorian

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player who plays for CB Morón and the Ivory Coast national team. Standing at , he plays as

shooting guard The shooting guard (SG), also known as the two, two guard or off guard,Shooting guards are 6'3"–6'7"BBC Sports academy URL last accessed 2006-09-09. is one of the five traditional positions in a regulation basketball game. A shooting guard's m ...

. He has been described as the "future of Ivorian basketball" by some media outlets.

Early and college career

Kouadio started playing basketball with CO Descartes. He also joined the Basketball Without Borders Africa camp in 2018. Kouadio later played for the LaBase Academy in

Abidjan Abidjan ( , ; N'Ko script, N’ko: ߊߓߌߖߊ߲߬) is the economic capital of the Ivory Coast. As of the Demographics of Ivory Coast, 2021 census, Abidjan's population was 6.3 million, which is 21.5 percent of overall population of the country, ...

. In August 2020, Kouadio was announced to be part of the incoming class of the

Daytona State College Daytona State College (DSC) is a public college with its main campus in Daytona Beach, Florida. DSC also has 6 smaller regional campuses throughout Volusia and Flagler counties. It is part of the Florida College System. The college offers more ...

basketball team.

Professional career

In 2021, he returned to Ivory Coast to play for Abidjan Azur in the

Ivorian Basketball Championship The Ivorian Basketball Championship is the premier basketball league for clubs in Ivory Coast. The league consist out of ten teams. The most notable team in the league's history is ABC Fighters, who won 21 titles. The champions of the national ch ...

. He was named the national league's season MVP after averaging 19 points, 7.5 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game. On 3 November 2021, Kouadio signed a two-year contract with

Club Ourense Baloncesto Club Ourense Baloncesto, S.A.D., more commonly referred to today by its sponsorship name of Río Ourense Termal, is a professional basketball team based in Ourense, Spain. The team currently plays in league LEB Oro. History Founded in 1978 as Club ...

of the LEB Oro. He later joined Solgáleo Bosco Salesianos of the

Liga EBA Liga Española de Baloncesto Aficionado (EBA), commonly known as Liga EBA, is a Spanish basketball championship that is the fourth tier level in the Spanish basketball league system, after the Liga ACB, LEB Oro, and LEB Plata. It is administered ...

, the Spanish fourth tier league. In September 2022, Kouadio was named the MVP of the Conference A Finals after scoring 37 points in the final. In the 2022–23 season, he played for CB Morón in the

LEB Plata The LEB Plata is the third basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system and the second basketball division organized by the Spanish Basketball Federation. Since 2019, three teams are promoted to LEB Oro and six teams are relegated t ...

National team career

Kouadio has represented the

Ivory Coast national basketball team The Ivorian Coast national basketball team is the men's basketball side that represents Ivory Coast in international competition. The team competes regularly in the African Championship and is administered by the Fédération Ivoirienne de Basket ...

as well as the U18 team. At age 19 on opening day, he was the youngest player on the roster for AfroBasket 2021. He won the silver medal at the

2023 FIBA AfroCan The 2023 FIBA AfroCan was the 2nd edition of the FIBA AfroCan. The tournament was held from 8 July to 16 July 2023 and was be hosted in Angola. DR Congo are the defending champions, having won the 2019 title. The second tournament was supposed ...

in Angola, and averaged 11.3 points and 7.5 rebounds per game.

References

External links

Lionel Kouadio
at RealGM {{DEFAULTSORT:Kouadio, Lionel 2001 births Living people Shooting guards Ivorian expatriate basketball people in Spain Ivorian men's basketball players Club Ourense Baloncesto players