Drake Ellison U'u (born January 18, 1990) is an American-Australian former 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 (appro ...

player. He played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

for the

University of Hartford The University of Hartford (UHart) is a private university in West Hartford, Connecticut, United States. Its main campus extends into neighboring Hartford and Bloomfield. It enrolled approximately 6,000 undergraduate and graduate students as ...

and

California Polytechnic State University California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly San Luis Obispo or Cal Poly) is a public university in San Luis Obispo County, California, United States, - Cites the location of the university and shows that the university ...

, before playing two seasons in the Australian National Basketball League (NBL) with the

Perth Wildcats The Perth Wildcats are an Australian professional basketball team based in Perth, Western Australia. The Wildcats compete in the National Basketball League (Australia), National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at Perth Arena, ...

, where he won a championship in 2014. He was part of the

Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Confere ...

organization between 2015 and 2020, including serving as the assistant general manager of the

Stockton Kings The Stockton Kings are an American professional basketball team of the NBA G League based in Stockton, California, and are affiliated with the Sacramento Kings. The Kings play their home games at the Adventist Health Arena and compete in the G ...

High school career

U'u attended

Rio Americano High School Rio Americano High School, colloquially known as Rio, is a public high school in Arden-Arcade, California, just outside Sacramento, California, Sacramento, serving students in grades 9 through 12 as part of the San Juan Unified School District. ...

Sacramento Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat of Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in Northern California's Sacramento Valley, Sacramento's 2020 p ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, where he was a three-time first-team All-Capital League honoree. As a senior in 2007–08, he averaged 17.9 points and 5.0 rebounds per game, as he earned Sacramento Bee third-team All-Metro honors after helping the Raiders finish with a 22–6 record. U'u also earned two letters in swimming, with All-America honors in both the 50- and 100-yard freestyle events.

College career

As a freshman for

Hartford Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...

in 2008–09, U'u appeared in 18 games with five starting assignments and averaged 2.9 points and 1.7 rebounds per game. In 2009, U'u transferred to

and subsequently redshirted the 2009–10 season due to NCAA transfer regulations. As a redshirted sophomore for Cal Poly in 2010–11, U'u appeared in 18 games and averaged 14.0 minutes per game. He scored a season-high 10 points during a 55–48 victory over

Loyola Marymount Loyola Marymount University (LMU) is a private Jesuit and Marymount research university in Los Angeles, California. LMU enrolls over 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students, making it the largest Catholic university on the west coast of the ...

on November 24, 2010. He finished the season averaging 2.7 points and 2.1 rebounds per game. As a junior in 2011–12, U'u started during 18 of 26 appearances, averaged 21.2 minutes played and finished sixth among Mustangs with 6.1 points per game; also averaged 3.7 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.0 steals per game. He hit three 3-pointers to finish with a season-high 13 points against Mississippi Valley State on November 26, 2011. He later missed Cal Poly's final seven games of the season after injuring his left hand. As a senior in 2012–13, U'u averaged 5.3 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 32 games (20 starts). He recorded career highs of 14 points and eight assists against

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

on January 24, 2013.

Professional career

In August 2013, U'u arrived in Australia to trial with the

of the National Basketball League. On September 16, he signed with the Wildcats as an injury replacement for Mathiang Muo, who was ruled out of the 2013–14 season with an Achilles injury. On January 10, 2014, U'u scored 10 of his season-high 13 points in the second quarter of the Wildcats' 102–87 win over the

Townsville Crocodiles The Townsville Crocodiles were an Australian professional men's basketball team based in the North Queensland city of Townsville. They competed in the National Basketball League (NBL) and played their home games at the Townsville Entertain ...

. He finished the game 4-of-4 from 3-point range. He helped the Wildcats reach the 2014 NBL Grand Final series, where they defeated the

Adelaide 36ers The Adelaide 36ers are an Australian professional men's basketball team in the National Basketball League (NBL). The 36ers are the only team in the league representing the state of South Australia and are based in the state's capital of Adela ...

2–1 to win the

championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

. He came off the bench to score eight points in the deciding game of the grand final series against Adelaide. On September 17, 2014, U'u re-signed with the Wildcats on a three-year deal. On December 14, 2014, he scored a career-high 20 points on 7-of-7 shooting, including 5-of-5 from 3-point range, in a 97–76 win over the 36ers. On May 15, 2015, U'u decided not to take the option on his contract which would have allowed him to stay at the Wildcats until 2017. In 61 games for the Wildcats over two seasons, he averaged 2.8 points and 1.2 rebounds per game.

Front office career

In August 2015, U'u joined the

' front office as manager of player development. In August 2018, he was appointed the assistant general manager of Sacramento's

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is a professional basketball league in North America that serves as the Minor league#Basketball, developmental league of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league comprises 31 teams; as of ...

affiliate, the

. In September 2020, he was

furlough A furlough (; from , "leave of absence") is a temporary cessation of paid employment that is intended to address the special needs of a company or employer; these needs may be due to economic conditions that affect a specific employer, or to thos ...

ed by the Kings organization following the delayed start to the

2020–21 NBA G League season The 2020–21 NBA G League season was the 20th season of the NBA G League, the official minor league basketball organization owned by the National Basketball Association (NBA). The season was indefinitely postponed following the previous season' ...

due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. He ultimately did not return to the Kings.

Career statistics

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2008–09 , style="text-align:left;",

, 18 , , 5 , , 11.1 , , .290 , , .140 , , .500 , , 1.7 , , .3 , , .4 , , .1 , , 2.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2009–10 , style="text-align:left;", Cal Poly , style="text-align:center;" colspan="11", Transfer , - , style="text-align:left;",

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, style="text-align:left;", Cal Poly , 18 , , 1 , , 14.0 , , .288 , , .133 , , .526 , , 2.1 , , .8 , , .4 , , .1 , , 2.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2011–12 , style="text-align:left;", Cal Poly , 26 , , 18 , , 21.2 , , .438 , , .292 , , .681 , , 3.7 , , 1.3 , , 1.0 , , .3 , , 6.1 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, style="text-align:left;", Cal Poly , 32 , , 20 , , 21.8 , , .347 , , .300 , , .592 , , 3.2 , , 2.5 , , .6 , , – , , 5.3 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 94 , , 44 , , 18.1 , , .358 , , .219 , , .602 , , 2.9 , , 1.4 , , .6 , , .1 , , 4.6

Personal life

U'u has a Samoan father, Al, and an Australian mother, Caroline. He was born in the United States and has dual American and Australian citizenship. He has two younger siblings, a sister named Greer and a brother named Parker.

References

External links

Cal Poly bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:U'u, Drake 1990 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Australia American men's basketball players Basketball players from Sacramento, California Cal Poly Mustangs men's basketball players Hartford Hawks men's basketball players Perth Wildcats players Point guards Shooting guards 21st-century American sportsmen