Udoka Timothy Azubuike (; born September 17, 1999) is a Nigerian-American 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

Utah Jazz The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference, Northwest Division (NBA), ...

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

Kansas Jayhawks The Kansas Jayhawks, commonly referred to as simply KU or Kansas, are the athletic teams that represent the University of Kansas. KU is one of three schools in the state of Kansas that participate in NCAA Division I. The Jayhawks are also a mem ...

Early life

Born in Lagos, Nigeria, Azubuike was the youngest of 3, with two older brothers and two older sisters. His father, Fabian, was a police officer, and his mother, Florence, was a middle school teacher. Azubuike lost his father to an undiagnosed disease at the age of 10. In 2012, he caught the attention of recruiters with

Basketball Without Borders Basketball Without Borders is a basketball instructional camp organized by the NBA in conjunction with FIBA. It presents itself as a “basketball development and community outreach program that unites young basketball players to promote the sport ...

and was offered a scholarship to play basketball in the United States.

High school career

Azubuike attended Potter's House Christian Academy in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...

. His then assistant coach Harry Coxsome and his wife Donna took care of him and soon became his

legal guardians A legal guardian is a person who has been appointed by a court or otherwise has the legal authority (and the corresponding duty) to make decisions relevant to the personal and property interests of another person who is deemed incompetent, calle ...

. In his first high school game he was matched up against fellow future Kansas Jayhawk

Joel Embiid Joel Hans Embiid ( ; born 16 March 1994) is a Cameroonian professional basketball player for the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA), who also holds French and American citizenship. After one year of college basket ...

. Azubuike was a four-year starter averaging 16.9

points Point or points may refer to: Places * Point, Lewis, a peninsula in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland * Point, Texas, a city in Rains County, Texas, United States * Point, the NE tip and a ferry terminal of Lismore, Inner Hebrides, Scotland * Point ...

and 9.7

rebounds 'Rebound' is a term used in sports to describe the ball (or puck or other object of play) becoming available for possession by either opponent after an attempt to put the ball or puck into the goal has been unsuccessful. Rebounds are generally ...

per game his senior year.Potter’s House hoops star Udoka Azubuike commits to Kansas
/ref> He played

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) basketball for the Georgia Stars in the

Nike Elite Youth Basketball League The Nike Elite Youth Basketball League, also known as Nike EYBL, or simply EYBL, is a basketball circuit for teams of players aged 17 and under. The circuit was founded in 2010 and is composed of AAU travel teams. Both boys and girls play in the E ...

(EYBL).Azubuike was selected to play in the

2016 McDonald's All-American Boys Game The 2016 McDonald's All-American Boys Game was an All-star basketball game played on Wednesday, March 30, 2016 at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois, home of the Chicago Bulls. The game's rosters features the best and most highly recruited h ...

Jordan Brand Classic The Jordan Brand Classic is a high school All-Star basketball game played annually in April. The game's rosters feature the best and most highly recruited high school boys in the senior class including alumns like Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony, Bl ...

, and

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 ...

. He was also a member of the

National Honor Society The National Honor Society (NHS) is a nationwide organization for high school students in the United States and outlying territories, which consists of many chapters in high schools. Selection is based on four criteria: scholarship (academic achi ...

. He was rated by

Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...

as a five-star recruit and was ranked as the 27th best overall player while

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

ranked him 22nd overall in the Class of 2016. Azubuike received offers from many universities including

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

, and shortened his final list of colleges to

Florida State Florida State University (FSU) is a public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher e ...

, Kansas, and

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

. On January 28, 2016, he announced his choice to play college basketball at the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...

College career

Freshman year

In his freshman season he started in six of the 11 games he played in before tearing

ligament A ligament is the fibrous connective tissue that connects bones to other bones. It is also known as ''articular ligament'', ''articular larua'', ''fibrous ligament'', or ''true ligament''. Other ligaments in the body include the: * Peritoneal li ...

s in his left wrist, which ended his season. Before the injury, he averaged 5.0 points, 4.4 rebounds, 1.6 blocks, and 62.9%

field goal percentage Field goal percentage in basketball is the ratio of field goals made to field goals attempted. Its abbreviation is FG%. Although three-point field goal percentage is often calculated separately, three-point field goals are included in the gener ...

Sophomore year

For the 2017–2018 season, Kansas' coach

Bill Self Billy Eugene Self Jr. (born December 27, 1962) is an American basketball coach. He is the head men's basketball coach at the University of Kansas, a position he has held since 2003. During his 19 seasons as head coach, he has led the Jayhawks to ...

recruited Kansas football player James Sosinski to defend Azubuike during practice. Udoka started every game of the regular season but missed the Big 12 tournament after spraining his left

MCL The litre (international spelling) or liter (American English spelling) (SI symbols L and l, other symbol used: ℓ) is a metric unit of volume. It is equal to 1 cubic decimetre (dm3), 1000 cubic centimetres (cm3) or 0.001 cubic metre (m3) ...

. He returned for the NCAA tournament until KU's loss to eventual champion Villanova in the Final Four. He averaged 13.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, 1.7 blocks, and led the nation with a 77% field goal percentage for the season. His field goal percentage broke the single-season record for Kansas and the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its ...

. This high percentage was in part due to the majority of his field goals being slam dunks, which typically have a higher completion percentage than jump shots or layups. He had more dunks than any other college player going back to the 2009–2010 season. He was awarded All-Big 12 third team by the conference's coaches and second team by the AP. On April 20, 2018, Azubuike announced his intention to enter the

2018 NBA draft The 2018 NBA Draft was held on June 21, 2018, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur United States college basketball players and other eligible players, including inte ...

. He did not initially hire an agent, which would allow him to return before the combine. Azubuike was one of a record-high 69 prospects invited to the

NBA Draft Combine The NBA Draft Combine is a multi-day showcase that takes place every May before the annual June NBA draft. At the combine, college basketball players are measured and take medical tests, are interviewed, perform various athletic tests and shootin ...

that year. On May 17, he measured out to be a near 7' tall center (with shoes on) weighing in at 274 pounds and holding the second-longest wingspan at 7'7", behind only

Mohamed Bamba Mohamed Karlakwan Damala Bamba (born May 12, 1998) is an American professional basketball player for the Orlando Magic of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Texas Longhorns. He was highly regarded by ...

. On May 30, 2018, he announced his intent to withdraw from the draft and return to Kansas for his junior season.

Junior year

Azubuike was selected as an honorable mention to the 2018–2019 All-Big 12 preseason team. On December 4, 2018, he severely sprained his right ankle against Wofford and missed the following four games. On January 5, 2019, Azubuike injured his wrist during practice. An

MRI Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to form pictures of the anatomy and the physiological processes of the body. MRI scanners use strong magnetic fields, magnetic field gradients, and radio waves ...

revealed he tore a ligament in his right hand. He underwent season-ending surgery on January 9, 2019. Kansas won all nine games Azubuike played including against top ten teams

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

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

. He finished the season averaging 13.4 points and 6.8 rebounds. On April 22, 2019, Azubuike announced he would return to Kansas for his senior season. According to KU coach Bill Self, “We’re all very excited about Udoka making the decision not to enter the BAdraft. Unfortunately for him, injury is the reason as he still cannot participate (at) what would be the NBA combine or workouts for the NBA teams."

Senior year

Azubuike scored a career-high 29 points in a 90–84 overtime win over

Dayton Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Da ...

on November 27, 2019. On February 22, 2020, Azubuike scored 23 points and had a career-high 19 rebounds in a 64–61 win over top-ranked Baylor. At the conclusion of the regular season, Azubuike was named the Big 12 Player of the Year and

NABC Defensive Player of the Year The NABC Defensive Player of the Year is an award given annually by the National Association of Basketball Coaches to recognize the top defensive player in United States college basketball. The award has been given since 1987 and was previously kn ...

. Azubuike averaged 13.7 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 2.6 blocks per game as a senior. Azubuike's career field goal percentage of 74.9% is an NCAA record.

Professional career

Utah Jazz (2020–present)

Azubuike was selected with the 27th pick in the first round of 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 ...

by the

. On November 24, 2020, the

announced that they had signed Azubuike. Azubuike was assigned to the Jazz's

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official List of developmental and minor sports leagues, minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development ...

affiliate, the

Salt Lake City Stars The Salt Lake City Stars are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Salt Lake City, Utah, and are affiliated with the Utah Jazz. As of the 2022-23 season, the Stars play in the Maverik Center in West Valley City, U ...

, for the start of the 2021 G League season, making his G League debut on February 10, 2021. On March 25, 2022, Azubuike underwent right foot surgery and was ruled out for the rest of the 2021–22 season.

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

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Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

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, 17 , , 6 , , 11.5 , , .755 , , , , .545 , , 4.2 , , .0 , , .1 , , .6 , , 4.7 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 32 , , 6 , , 7.9 , , .707 , , , , .667 , , 2.6 , , .0 , , .1 , , .5 , , 3.0

Playoffs

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College

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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 ...

, , 11 , , 6 , , 12.9 , , .629 , , – , , .380, , 4.1, , .2 , , .2 , , 1.6 , , 5.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2017–18 , style="text-align:left;",

, , 36 , , 34 , , 23.6 , , style="background:#cfecec;", .770* , , – , , .413, , 7.0 , , .7 , , .6 , , 1.7 , , 13.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;",

, , 9 , , 9 , , 20.4 , , .705 , , – , , .344 , , 6.8 , , .6 , , .4 , , 1.6 , , 13.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20 , style="text-align:left;",

, , 31 , , 30 , , 27.7 , , style="background:#cfecec;", .748* , , – , , .441 , , 10.5 , , .9 , , .5 , , 2.6 , , 13.7 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , , 87 , , 79 , , 23.4 , , .746 , , – , , .416 , , 7.9 , , .7 , , .5 , , 2.0 , , 12.3

References

External links

Kansas Jayhawks bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Azubuike, Udoka 1999 births Living people All-American college men's basketball players Basketball players from Jacksonville, Florida Centers (basketball) Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball players Amateur Athletic Union men's basketball players McDonald's High School All-Americans Nigerian expatriate basketball people in the United States Nigerian men's basketball players Salt Lake City Stars players Sportspeople from Lagos Utah Jazz draft picks Utah Jazz players