Precious Ezinna Achiuwa (born September 19, 1999) is a Nigerian professional

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 for the

Toronto Raptors The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. They play their home games a ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

(NBA). He played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

for the

Memphis Tigers The Memphis Tigers are the Sport, athletic teams that represent the University of Memphis, located in Memphis, Tennessee. The teams compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I level as a member of ...

. He finished his high school career at

Montverde Academy Montverde Academy is a private PK–12 school in Montverde, Florida, United States. History The school was founded in 1912 as Montgomery Industrial School. The school president was Henry P. Carpenter. It underwent a major expansion in 1921, whe ...

Montverde, Florida Montverde is a town in Lake County, Florida, United States. The population was 1,655 at the 2020 census and an estimated 1,675 in 2018. It is part of the Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Montverde wa ...

and was a consensus five-star

recruit __NOTOC__ Recruit can refer to: Military * Military recruitment * Recruit training, in the military * '' Rekrut'' (English: Recruit), a military recruit or low rank in German-speaking countries * Seaman recruit Books *''Le Réquisitionnaire'' (E ...

and

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Early life and high school career

Achiuwa was born in Port Harcourt, Nigeria to Nigerian parents of Igbo descent and grew up mainly playing

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 ...

. He started focusing on

while in eighth grade, which is when he moved to the United States. As a high school freshman, Achiuwa played basketball for Our Saviour Lutheran School in

Centereach Centereach () is a hamlet and census-designated place in Suffolk County, New York, United States. The population was 31,578 at the 2010 census. History The hamlet of Centereach was first called West Middle Island, but primarily became known a ...

, New York. For his next two years, he attended

St. Benedict's Preparatory School St. Benedict's Preparatory School is a Catholic Church, Catholic college preparatory school in Newark, New Jersey run by the Benedictines. The school serves boys and girls in kindergarten through twelfth grade on a urban campus. The school h ...

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...

recruits. In his junior season, Achiuwa averaged 18.5 points, 10.5 rebounds, 2.9 blocks, and 2.2 steals per game, leading his team to a 28–2 record. He was named to the

MaxPreps MaxPreps is an American website that specializes in coverage of American high school sports. The site is owned by Paramount Global and is a division of CBS Sports. Founded on August 1, 2002, the company has covered up to 29 sports, including b ...

Junior All-American second team. Entering his senior year, Achiuwa transferred to

, a prep school in

with a successful basketball program that held the No. 1 national ranking in the previous season. He led Montverde with 14 points and 7.2 rebounds per game and helped his team reach the semifinals at GEICO High School Nationals. Achiuwa earned MaxPreps All-American fifth team, ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

'' All-USA third team, and ''USA Today'' All-USA Florida first team honors. On March 27, 2019, he played for the East team in the

McDonald's All-American Game The McDonald's All-American Game is the all-star basketball game played each year for American and Canadian boys' and girls' high school basketball graduates. Consisting of the top players, each team plays a single exhibition game after the concl ...

, leading all scorers with 22 points. On April 12, Achiuwa joined the World team at the

Nike Hoop Summit The Nike Hoop Summit is an international men's basketball all-star game sponsored by Nike, held once a year since 1995, except from 2001–2003, which features the USA Basketball Men's Junior Select Team against a World Select Team of internationa ...

Recruiting

On May 17, 2019, Achiuwa committed to play

for

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

under head coach

Penny Hardaway Anfernee Deon "Penny" Hardaway (born July 18, 1971) is an American college basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach of the Memphis Tigers men's basketball team in the American Athletic Conference (AAC). Hardaway pla ...

. He joined his former

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It has ...

(AAU) teammate, Lester Quinones, and the number one player in the 2019 class,

James Wiseman James Monteinez Wiseman (born March 31, 2001) is an American professional basketball player for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is currently in the NBA G League for the Santa Cruz Warriors. He played ...

College career

In his debut for Memphis, Achiuwa had 14 points and eight rebounds as the Tigers defeated

South Carolina State South Carolina State University (SCSU or SC State) is a public, historically black, land-grant university in Orangeburg, South Carolina, United States. It is the only public, historically black land-grant institution in South Carolina, is a me ...

97–64. Achiuwa scored a season-high 25 points in an 87–86 win over Ole Miss on November 23. As a result, he was named

American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference (The American or AAC) is an American collegiate athletic conference, featuring 11 member universities and five affiliate member universities that compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) ...

player of the week on November 25. He earned conference freshman of the week honors on December 23 after recording 20 points and nine rebounds in a 77–49 victory over

Jackson State Jackson State University (Jackson State or JSU) is a public historically black research university in Jackson, Mississippi. It is one of the largest HBCUs in the United States and the fourth largest university in Mississippi in terms of studen ...

. At the conclusion of the regular season, Achiuwa was named AAC Player and Freshman of the Year. He averaged 15.8 points, 10.8 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game as a freshman. He declared for the

2020 NBA draft The 2020 NBA draft was held on November 18, 2020. The draft was originally scheduled to be held at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on June 25, but due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it was instead conducted at ESPN's facilities in Bristol, Connecti ...

after his freshman season.

Professional career

Miami Heat (2020–2021)

Achiuwa was selected with the 20th pick in the

by the

Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast Division (NBA), Southe ...

. On November 25, 2020, Achiuwa signed a four-year contract with the Heat for just over $12.5 million to 2023–24.

Toronto Raptors (2021–present)

On August 6, 2021, the

acquired Achiuwa and

Goran Dragić Goran Dragić (born 6 May 1986) is a Slovenian professional basketball player for the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "the Dragon", he had played professional basketball in Slovenia and Spain before entering ...

from the Heat via a

sign-and-trade deal In the National Basketball Association (NBA), a sign-and-trade deal is a type of transaction allowed by the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) where one franchise/team signs an unrestricted free agent or restricted free agent player to a new co ...

in exchange for

Kyle Lowry Kyle Terrell Lowry (born March 25, 1986) is an American professional basketball player for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has been a six-time NBA All-Star and was named to the All-NBA Third Team in 2016. Lowry ...

. On October 20, 2021, on his season debut with the Raptors, Achiuwa had six points, seven rebounds, two assists and a steal in 19 minutes of play in a 96–83 loss to the

Washington Wizards The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast D ...

. On November 24, 2021, Achiuwa made a career-high three 3-pointers while having 17 points, four rebounds, two assists and a steal in a 126–113 win against the

Memphis Grizzlies The Memphis Grizzlies (referred to locally as the Grizz) are an American professional basketball team based in Memphis, Tennessee. The Grizzlies compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference ...

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

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Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

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Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, 73 , , 28 , , 23.6 , , .439 , , .359 , , .595 , , 6.5 , , 1.1 , , .5 , , .6 , , 9.1 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 134 , , 32 , , 18.4 , , .468 , , .357 , , .556 , , 5.1 , , .8 , , .4 , , .5 , , 7.2

Playoffs

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, 3 , , 0 , , 4.0 , , .750 , , — , , .250 , , 2.0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .7 , , 2.3 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

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, 6 , , 1 , , 27.8 , , .481 , , .313 , , .600 , , 4.8 , , 1.0 , , .2 , , .8 , , 10.2 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 9 , , 1 , , 19.9 , , .500 , , .313 , , .500 , , 3.9 , , .7 , , .1 , , .8 , , 7.6

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20 , style="text-align:left;",

, 31 , , 31 , , 30.4 , , .493 , , .325 , , .599 , , 10.8 , , 1.0 , , 1.1 , , 1.9 , , 15.8 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 31 , , 31 , , 30.4 , , .493 , , .325 , , .599 , , 10.8 , , 1.0 , , 1.1 , , 1.9 , , 15.8

Personal life

Achiuwa's older brother, God'sgift Achiuwa, played college basketball for St. John's from 2011 to 2014. His mother, Eunice, and father, Donatus, are both

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement

ministers. In addition to God'sgift, he has two other brothers, God'swill and Promise, and two sisters, Grace and Peace.

References

External links

Memphis Tigers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Achiuwa, Precious 1999 births Living people Basketball players at the 2020 Summer Olympics McDonald's High School All-Americans Memphis Tigers men's basketball players Miami Heat draft picks Miami Heat players Montverde Academy alumni National Basketball Association players from Nigeria Nigerian expatriate basketball people in Canada Nigerian expatriate basketball people in the United States Nigerian men's basketball players Olympic basketball players of Nigeria Power forwards (basketball) Sportspeople from Port Harcourt St. Benedict's Preparatory School alumni Toronto Raptors players