Matthew Osei Bryan-Amaning (born 9 May 1988) is a British-Ghanaian professional basketball player, who played for AS Douanes of the Basketball Africa League (BAL). He has represented the Great Britain national team in international competition.

Early life

Bryan-Amaning was born in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, and tried rugby, swimming and football as a kid. He picked up basketball when he was 4 years old. Aged 16, he earned a scholarship at

South Kent School South Kent School, a private all-boys boarding school in South Kent, Connecticut, United States, is located on a campus in western Litchfield County. It is sited on Spooner Hill east of Bull's Bridge, overlooking the former Housatonic Valley ra ...

South Kent, Connecticut South Kent is a village located in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States, alongside the border with New York, and within and part of Kent, Connecticut. South Kent has its own Post Office whose ZIP code is 06785. South Kent is also home to ...

. There, he played alongside future NBA star Isaiah Thomas.

College career

Bryan-Amaning played four seasons for the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

Huskies Husky is a general term for a dog used in the polar regions, primarily and specifically for work as sled dogs. It refers to a traditional northern type, notable for its cold-weather tolerance and overall hardiness. Modern racing huskies that mai ...

, after joining in 2007 along with teammate Isaiah Thomas. During the 2010–11 season he averaged 16 points and 8 rebounds. Some of his best performances included 30 points against Arizona State on 22 January, 15 rebounds against Oregon State on 8 January and 4 steals and 7 blocks in a narrow 87–86 loss at

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

on 19 February. Such performances led to Bryan-Amaning being named Pac-10's most improved player and first-team All-Pac-10. At the 2011 Pacific-10 Conference men's basketball tournament Bryan-Amaning helped the Huskies to their third Pac-12 tournament championship.

Professional career

NBA Summer League

Following graduation, Bryan-Amaning was touted as a late second-round pick in the 2011 NBA draft, but went undrafted and decided to begin his career in Europe. In 2012, he was a member of the New Orleans Hornets squad in the NBA Summer League, where he averaged 2.2 ppg and 2.2 rpg with a 75 FT%. In 2013, Bryan-Amaning was again asked to play in the NBA Summer League, this time with the Chicago Bulls. He averaged 3.2 ppg, 3.0 rpg and 1.6 bpg, including a 5-block outing against the Portland Trail Blazers. In July 2014, he joined the Portland Trail Blazers for the

2014 NBA Summer League The 2014 NBA Summer League consists of two pro basketball leagues organized by the NBA and the Orlando Magic just after the 2014 NBA Draft. Ten teams took part in the week-long summer league at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida, from July 5 t ...

Overseas

Bryan-Amaning began his professional career with Hacettepe Üniversitesi of the Turkish Basketball League after signing a one-year contract with the club in July 2011. He signed with the Serbian team Radnički Kragujevac for the 2012–13 season, where he averaged 8.2 points and 3.2 rebounds per game in 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 Mace ...

. In October 2013 he signed a short-term deal with his hometown club London Lions of the

British Basketball League The British Basketball League (BBL) is a men's professional basketball league in Great Britain and represents the highest level of play in the countries. The league is contested by 10 teams from England and Scotland. There are no clubs howeve ...

, after a deal with Korean side

Anyang KGC The Anyang Korea Ginseng Corporation ( ko, 안양 KGC인삼공사), or Anyang KGC, is a professional basketball club in the Korean Basketball League, based at Anyang Arena in the city of Anyang. The club has won three KBL championship titles, in ...

fell through. On 29 October 2013 he signed with

Olympique Antibes Olympique Antibes, in full ''Olympique d'Antibes Juan-les-Pins'' and branded as Antibes Sharks, is a basketball club from the city of Antibes, France. Established in 1933, the club's men's senior team currently plays in LNB Pro B, the French seco ...

. He left them in April 2014, and moved to

SO Maritime Boulogne Stade Olympique Maritime Boulonnais, commonly known as SOMB, is a French professional basketball club based in Boulogne-sur-Mer, France. The team currently plays in the French third division, the Nationale Masculine 1. History SOMB was founded on ...

of the

LNB Pro B The LNB Pro B, commonly known as Pro B, is the French basketball league system, 2nd-tier level men's professional basketball league in France. It is the second division of the Ligue Nationale de Basket (LNB), which has organized the league since t ...

for the rest of the season. In September 2014 he signed a one-year deal with MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg of Germany. On 28 October 2014 he left Ludwigsburg after playing five games in

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

and averaging 7.2 points and 2.8 rebounds per game. Three days later, he signed with Soles de Mexicali of the Mexican LNBP. On 20 May 2015 he signed with Soles de Santo Domingo of Dominican Republic for the 2015 LNB season. On 2 September 2015, he returned to Soles de Mexicali. In April 2016, he signed with San Lorenzo de Almagro of the Argentine Liga Nacional de Básquet. He helped them to win the league title. In August 2016, Amaning signed with Japanese club

Rizing Fukuoka The Rizing Zephyr Fukuoka are a Japanese basketball team, playing in the second division of the B.League. They are based in Fukuoka Prefecture and were coached by Joe Bryant, the father of Kobe Bryant, in 2015. Roster Notable p ...

for the 2016–17 season. In August 2017, he signed with

Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine sports club headquartered in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its professional football team which, since its promotion in 1913, has always played in the A ...

of Argentina for the 2017–18 season. However, he never appeared in an official game for Boca Juniors. On 17 January 2018 he signed with Defensor Sporting Club of the

Liga Uruguaya de Basketball Liga or LIGA may refer to: People * Līga (name), a Latvian female given name * Luciano Ligabue, more commonly known as Ligabue or ''Liga'', Italian rock singer-songwriter Sports * Liga ACB, men's professional basketball league in Spain * Lig ...

. In March 2020, Bryan-Amaning signed with

Zamalek Zamalek ( ar, الزمالك , ''al zamalek'') is an affluent district of western Cairo encompassing the northern portion of Gezira Island in the Nile River. The island is connected with the river banks through three bridges each on the east an ...

in Egypt to play in the

2020 BAL season The 2021 BAL season, also known as BAL Season 1, was the inaugural season of the Basketball Africa League (BAL). Established as a joint effort between the National Basketball Association (NBA) and FIBA, the BAL is the highest tier continental leag ...

. The season was however delayed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, causing him to leave without playing a game. On 13 September 2020 he rejoined the London Lions. However, Bryan-Amaning parted ways with the team on 13 October. On 13 November 2020 Bryan-Amaning signed a short-term deal with the

Worcester Wolves The Worcester Wolves are a basketball club in Worcester, England, Worcester, England. The team plays in the National Basketball League (England), NBL Division 2, the third tier of British basketball. The club was formed in 2000, and from 2006 u ...

of the

(BBL), following his departure from the London Lions in pre-season. In February 2023, Bryan-Amaning joined AS Douanes from Senegal for the

2023 BAL season The 2023 BAL season, also known as BAL Season 3, is the third season of the Basketball Africa League (BAL). The season began on 11 March 2023 and will end on 27 May 2023, with the playoffs and finals being played in the BK Arena in Kigali, whic ...

where he was eligible to play as an African import because of his Ghanian heritage. With Douanes, he reached the

2023 BAL Final The 2023 BAL Final was the championship game of the 2023 BAL season, the third season of the Basketball Africa League (BAL), and concluded the playoffs. The final was played on 27 May 2023 in the BK Arena in Kigali, Rwanda, for a third year in ...

where the team lost to

Al Ahly AL, Al, Ål or al may stand for: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Al (''Aladdin'') or Aladdin, the main character in Disney's ''Aladdin'' media * Al (''EastEnders''), a minor character in the British soap opera * Al (''Fullmetal ...

. He was the back-up center of the team

British national team

Bryan-Amaning began his international career at Under-16 level with England in 2004, moving up to Under-18 level and then into the Under-20 ranks with Great Britain in 2008, where he was ranked fourth among all players in the European Championships in blocked shots with 1.6 per game, as well as 12th in scoring, including a 41-point haul against the Czech Republic. Bryan-Amaning made his senior debut for

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

against Canada in 2010. His best performance for GB came at the 2011 London Invitational where he averaged 1.7ppg and 2.7rpg against strong international competition including Croatia, China and France.GB lose first basketball test event game to France
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Personal

Bryan-Amaning's parents live in Ghana. He is close friends with Luol Deng.

References

External links

*
ESPN.com profile

Eurobasket.com profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bryan-Amaning, Matthew 1988 births Living people ABA League players Basketball players from Greater London Boca Juniors basketball players British expatriate basketball people in Argentina British expatriate basketball people in Serbia British expatriate basketball people in the United States English men's basketball players Hacettepe Üniversitesi B.K. players KK Radnički Kragujevac (2009–2014) players London City Royals players Riesen Ludwigsburg players Power forwards (basketball) Rizing Zephyr Fukuoka players Soles de Mexicali players South Kent School alumni Washington Huskies men's basketball players AS Douanes basketball players British expatriate basketball people in Japan British expatriate basketball people in Turkey British expatriate basketball people in France English expatriate sportspeople in Senegal Expatriate basketball people in Senegal British expatriate basketball people in Uruguay British expatriate basketball people in Mexico British expatriate basketball people in Germany Black British sportsmen English people of Ghanaian descent