Kieron Robert Nnamdi Achara MBE (born 3 July 1983) is a Scottish professional

basketball player Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

who last played for the

Glasgow Rocks The Caledonia Gladiators are a professional basketball club in Glasgow, Scotland. The Gladiators compete in the British Basketball League, the top tier of British basketball. Since 2012, the team have played their home games at the Emirates A ...

. He is a 6'10" (2.08 m) forward who played college basketball at

Duquesne University Duquesne University of the Holy Spirit ( or ; Duquesne University or Duquesne) is a private Catholic research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded by members of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit , image = Holy Gh ...

and represented

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

and

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 i ...

at national team level.

Professional career

After graduating from

Achara turned professional in 2008. He began his career abroad in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. He came back to Scotland in 2010 when he joined Scotland's only professional basketball team, the

. On 26 September 2010, Achara debuted for the

in a game against

Sheffield Sharks The Sheffield Sharks, currently known as "B.Braun Sheffield Sharks" for sponsorship reasons, are a professional basketball team from the city of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The Sharks play in the British Basketball League and play thei ...

, which they won 80–76. Following two successful years in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

Achara signed a short two-week contract in 2012 with the

. After further spells in Europe, Achara re-signed for the Rocks for the 2014-15 season. Achara was recognised by Stirling Highland Games as a famous born son of Stirling and offered him the honorary position as their 2019 Games Chieftain.

National team career

Achara is the youngest player ever to play for the Scotland national team, featuring in the FIBA Europe Promotion Cup. He made his debut for Great Britain in 2008, shortly before turning professional. Achara was a part of the British Basketball team which took part in the

London 2012 Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

References

External links

College BioGreat Britain Basketball ProfileLegabasket Profile
1983 births Living people Basketball players at the 2012 Summer Olympics Bàsquet Manresa players Duquesne Dukes men's basketball players British expatriate basketball people in Greece British expatriate basketball people in Italy British expatriate basketball people in Spain Fortitudo Pallacanestro Bologna players Glasgow Rocks players Kavala B.C. players Liga ACB players Olympic basketball players of Great Britain Pallacanestro Biella players PBC Academic players Power forwards (basketball) Scottish men's basketball players Scottish expatriates in Italy Scottish expatriates in Spain Sportspeople from Stirling S.S. Felice Scandone players Basketball players at the 2018 Commonwealth Games British expatriate basketball people in the United States Commonwealth Games competitors for Scotland {{UK-basketball-bio-stub