Rueben Abuchi Chinyelu (born 30 September 2003) is a Nigerian basketball player who plays for the

Washington State Cougars The Washington State Cougars (known informally as the Cougs) are the athletic teams that represent Washington State University. Located in Pullman, Washington, WSU is a member of the Pac-12 Conference in NCAA Division I. The athletic program co ...

, and for the Nigeria national team. He plays as center and is a graduate of the

NBA Academy Africa The NBA Academy Africa is a basketball team and academy operated by the National Basketball Association (NBA), located in Saly, Senegal. Opened in 2017, the academy offers both education and basketball trainings. Several alumni of the program have ...

Early life and career

Born in Enugu Agidi, a village in

Anambra State Anambra State is a Nigerian state, located in the southeastern region of the country. The state was created on August 27, 1991. Anambra state is bounded by Delta State to the west, Imo State to the south, Enugu State to the east and Kogi State ...

, Chinyelu picked up basketball in 2018 in

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the List of cities in Africa by population, second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national ca ...

when he joined

Raptors Basketball Academy Raptors Basketball Academy, better known as Raptors, is a Nigerian basketball team based in Lagos. It plays in the Nigerian Premier League. The team was founded in 2001 by coach Charles Ibeziakor as Spiders. In 2006, he changed the name to Raptor ...

. He later joined the

Saly Saly (also called Sali or Saly Portudal) is a seaside resort area in Thiès Region on the Petite Côte of Senegal, south of Dakar. It is the top tourist destination in all of West Africa and has the status of a commune. History Saly was original ...

, Senegal. Under the academy's agreement with the Basketball Africa League (BAL), he played in the 2022 season with Ferroviário da Beira, and in the

2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

season with

Stade Malien Stade Malien is a Malian professional football and sports club based in Bamako. One of the two dominant clubs of Malian football, their eastern Bamako training grounds host other sports as well, including a successful basketball club. Football ...

. Chinyelu played an important role as back-up center for Stade Malien, averaging 7.9 rebounds off the bench to help the team take the third place. At the 2022 NBA Academy Games in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, he won the championship and led the tournament in rebounding, leading to interest from American college scouts.

College career

Chinyelu was considered one of the best international prospects in the Class of 2023, and received offers from

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

and

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, and at least six other schools. In November 2022, Chinyelu committed to play for

Washington State Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

and joined the Cougars in 2023.

National team career

Chinyelu played at the FIBA U16 African Championship in 2019, averaging 12.3 points and a tournament-leading 17.6 rebounds per game, helping his team to a bronze medal in Cape Verde. On 27 August 2022, Chinyelu made his senior national team debut at age 18 in the qualifiers for the 2023 World Cup, scoring 3 points and grabbing 5 rebounds against

Guinea Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...

BAL career statistics

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, style="text-align:left;", Ferroviário da Beira , 3 , , 0 , , 9.7 , , .500 , , – , , .000 , , 3.3 , , .0 , , .3 , , .3 , , 3.3 , - , style="text-align:left;",

, style="text-align:left;",

, 8 , , 0 , , 20.1 , , .429 , , .000 , , .636 , , 8.8 , , .6 , , 1.4 , , 1.1 , , 5.4

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chinyelu, Rueben 2003 births Living people Nigerian men's basketball players People from Anambra State Centers (basketball) NBA Academy Africa players Stade Malien basketball players Clube Ferroviário da Beira basketball players Nigerian expatriate basketball people in the United States Washington State Cougars men's basketball players