Ekpedeme Friday "Ekpe" Udoh ( ; born May 20, 1987) 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 (appro ...

coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Easte ...

of the

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

(NBA). 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

Michigan Wolverines The Michigan Wolverines comprise 29 varsity sports teams at the University of Michigan. These teams compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division I, Division I and in the Big Ten Conference in all sports except wo ...

and the

Baylor Bears The Baylor Bears are the athletic teams that represent Baylor University. The teams participate in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as one of only three private school members of the Big 12 Conference. Prior t ...

. In the

2010 NBA draft The 2010 NBA draft was held on June 24, 2010, at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The draft, which started at 7:00 pm Eastern Time Zone, Eastern Daylight Time (2300 Coordinated Universal Time, UTC), was broadcast in the ...

, he was selected by the

Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. Founded in 1946 i ...

with the sixth overall pick. With a 7'4 "

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the opposite wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingsp ...

, Udoh was the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida ...

's leading shot blocker during the 2009–10 season. He led the conference in his only season at Baylor (2009–10), after transferring from

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

where, as a sophomore for the 2007–08 Michigan Wolverines, he led the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

in blocked shots with 2.9 per game (92 blocks total) in 2007–08. A two−time

All-EuroLeague Team The All-EuroLeague Team is an EuroLeague awards, award for European professional club basketball system, Europe's premier level league, the EuroLeague, that is given to the league's top ten basketball players for each season, since the 2000–01 s ...

selection, Udoh led Fenerbahçe to a

EuroLeague The EuroLeague is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier and the most prestigious men's basketball league in Europe. The league consists of 20 teams, of which 16 are given lon ...

title in

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

, earning the EuroLeague Final Four MVP award in the process. Udoh was selected for the senior Nigerian national team for both the 2019 FIBA World Cup and the

2020 Olympic Games The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

College career

Udoh played three seasons of college basketball, two at Michigan and one at Baylor, averaging 8.4 points, 6.3 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 2.8 blocks per game in 103 career games. In 2009–10, Udoh earned honorable mention All-American honors by the Associated Press, as well as being named to the All-Big 12 second team, Big 12 All-Defensive team, Big 12 Newcomer of the Year, Big 12 All-Rookie team, USBWA All-District VII team and NABC Division I All-District 8 second team. On April 13, 2010, he declared for the NBA draft, foregoing his final year of college eligibility.

Professional career

Golden State Warriors (2010–2012)

Udoh was selected with the sixth overall pick in the

by the

. Because of a wrist injury, Udoh did not make his NBA debut until December 11, 2010, against 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 Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern C ...

in the final three minutes of the game, scoring two points.

Bnei Herzliya (2011)

On November 21, 2011, Udoh signed with

Bnei Herzliya Bnei Herzliya Basket (, lit. ''Sons of Herzliya''), is a professional basketball club that is based in Herzliya, in central Israel. The club plays in the Israeli Basketball Premier League, the top division of Israeli basketball. History The club w ...

of Israel for the duration of the NBA lockout. In December 2011, he returned to the Warriors after managing just one game for Bnei where he recorded 22 points, 16 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 blocks.

Milwaukee Bucks (2012–2014)

On March 13, 2012, Udoh, along with

Monta Ellis Monta Jerome Ellis ( ; born October 26, 1985) is an American former professional basketball player. Ellis attended Lanier High School (Jackson, Mississippi), Lanier High School in Jackson, Mississippi, where he was a McDonald's All-American Game, ...

and Kwame Brown, was traded to the

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

in exchange for

Andrew Bogut Andrew Michael Bogut (born 28 November 1984) is an Australian professional basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach with the Sydney Kings of the National Basketball League (NBL). Bogut spent the majority of his career in t ...

and Stephen Jackson.

Los Angeles Clippers (2014–2015)

On September 3, 2014, Udoh signed with the

Los Angeles Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. The ...

. Throughout the season, he appeared in 33 games, failing to secure larger playing time and role.

Fenerbahçe (2015–2017)

On July 28, 2015, Udoh signed a one-year deal with the Turkish club Fenerbahçe. In his first season with the team, Udoh already had a starting role, being one of the team's leaders. Fenerbahçe won the

Turkish Cup The Turkish Cup () is a football cup competition in Turkish football, run by the Turkish Football Federation since 1962. During a brief sponsorship period with Fortis, its sponsored name was ''Fortis Türkiye Kupası''. Now Ziraat Bankası is ...

, with 67–65 win over Darüşşafaka. Fenerbahçe also reached the final game of the 2016 EuroLeague Final Four, but fell short of winning the EuroLeague championship, after an

overtime Overtime is the amount of time someone works beyond normal working hours. The term is also used for the pay received for this time. Normal hours may be determined in several ways: *by custom (what is considered healthy or reasonable by society) ...

96–101 loss to

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow () is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was the central part of the Armed Forces (sports ...

. Over 27 EuroLeague games, he averaged 12.6 points and 5.1 rebounds per game. At the end of the season, Fenerbahçe also won the

Turkish League Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The w ...

championship. On July 11, 2016, Udoh re-signed with Fenerbahçe, on a 1+1 contract. In the 2016–17 season, Udoh won the

championship with Fenerbahçe. He was named the EuroLeague Final Four MVP, after his performance in the

Final Four In sports, the final four is the last four teams remaining in a playoffs, playoff tournament. Usually the final four compete in the two games of a single-elimination tournament's semi-final (penultimate) round. Of these teams, the two who win in ...

. On July 14, 2017, he parted ways with Fenerbahçe in order to return to the NBA.

Utah Jazz (2017–2019)

On July 21, 2017, Udoh signed with 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 Northwest Division of the Western Conference. Since the 1991–92 season, the ...

for two years, $6.5M deal.

Beijing Ducks (2019–2020)

On July 7, 2019, Udoh signed with the Beijing Ducks for a one-year contract.

Beijing Royal Fighters (2021)

On March 4, 2021, Ekpe Udoh signed with the Beijing Royal Fighters.

Virtus Bologna (2021–2022)

On July 18, 2021, Udoh signed a two-year deal with

Virtus Bologna Virtus Pallacanestro Bologna, known for sponsorship reasons as Virtus Segafredo Bologna, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna. The club was founded in 1929, which makes it the oldest club in Italy and one ...

of the Italian LBA. Virtus also plays in the EuroCup. On September 18, 2021, he suffered a serious

patellar tendon The patellar tendon is the distal portion of the common tendon of the quadriceps femoris, which is continued from the patella to the tibial tuberosity. It is also sometimes called the patellar ligament as it forms a bone to bone connection whe ...

injury during the quarterfinals of the 2021 Italian Supercup. However, on September 21, the team won its second Supercup, defeating

Olimpia Milano Pallacanestro Olimpia Milano, commonly known as Olimpia Milano or as EA7 Emporio Armani Milan after its title sponsor, is an LBA Italian professional basketball team, based in Milan, Italy. Its colors are white and red, and the team is sometimes ...

90–84. However, after having ousted Lietkabelis, Ulm and

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

in the first three rounds of the

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

, on 11 May 2022, Virtus defeated Frutti Extra Bursaspor by 80–67 at the Segafredo Arena, winning its first EuroCup and qualifying for the

after 14 years. However, despite having ended the regular season at the first place and having ousted 3–0 both

Pesaro Pesaro (; ) is a (municipality) in the Italy, Italian region of Marche, capital of the province of Pesaro and Urbino, on the Adriatic Sea. According to the 2011 census, its population was 95,011, making it the second most populous city in the ...

and

Tortona Tortona (; , ; ) is a ''comune'' of Piemonte, in the Province of Alessandria, Italy. Tortona is sited on the right bank of the Scrivia between the plain of Spinetta Marengo, Marengo and the foothills of the Ligurian Apennines. Its ''frazione'' of ...

in the first two rounds of playoffs, Virtus was defeated 4–2 in the national finals by Olimpia Milan.

Shimane Susanoo Magic (2022–2023)

On December 24, 2022, Udoh signed with the Shimane Susanoo Magic.

Kyoto Hannaryz (2023)

On February 28, 2023, he signed with the Kyoto Hannaryz.

National team career

Udoh was a member of the senior men's Nigerian national team. He represented Nigeria at the 2019 FIBA World Cup, and at the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

Coaching career

Atlanta Hawks (2023–present)

On June 14, 2023, Udoh was announced as an assistant coach for the

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

under head coach

Quin Snyder Quin Price Snyder (born October 30, 1966) is an American professional basketball coach who is the head coach for the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). After being named a McDonald's All American as a high school player i ...

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Golden State , 58 , , 18 , , 17.8 , , .437 , , — , , .656 , , 3.1 , , .7 , , .4 , , 1.5 , , 4.1 , - , style="text-align:left;" rowspan="2", , style="text-align:left;", Golden State , 38 , , 6 , , 21.8 , , .443 , , — , , .719 , , 3.9 , , .8 , , .7 , , 1.7 , , 5.5 , - , style="text-align:left;",

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

, 23 , , 5 , , 20.1 , , .409 , , .000 , , .800 , , 4.7 , , 1.1 , , .7 , , 1.6 , , 5.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 76 , , 9 , , 17.3 , , .435 , , .000 , , .748 , , 3.3 , , .6 , , .5 , , 1.1 , , 4.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 42 , , 14 , , 19.1 , , .399 , , — , , .638 , , 3.5 , , .7 , , .4 , , 1.0 , , 3.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", L.A. Clippers , 33 , , 0 , , 3.9 , , .458 , , — , , .778 , , .8 , , .2 , , .2 , , .2 , , .9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

, 63 , , 3 , , 12.9 , , .500 , , .000 , , .750 , , 2.4 , , .8 , , .7 , , 1.2 , , 2.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 51 , , 1 , , 6.3 , , .694 , , — , , .633 , , 1.8 , , .5 , , .2 , , .6 , , 2.3 , - class="sortbottom" , align="center" colspan="2", Career , 384 , , 56 , , 14.8 , , .453 , , .000 , , .718 , , 2.9 , , .7 , , .5 , , 1.1 , , 3.5

Playoffs

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

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

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

, 4 , , 0 , , 13.5 , , .444 , , – , , – , , 1.5 , , .3 , , .5 , , .5 , , 2.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

, style="text-align:left;", L.A. Clippers , 4 , , 0 , , 3.0 , , .333 , , – , , – , , .8 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .5 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

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

, 6 , , 0 , , 3.5 , , 1.000 , , – , , .000 , , .5 , , .0 , , .0 , , .3 , , .3 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

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

, 2 , , 0 , , 3.1 , , .000 , , – , , – , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , - class="sortbottom" , align="center" colspan="2", Career , 16 , , 0 , , 5.8 , , .429 , , – , , .000 , , .8 , , .1 , , .1 , , .3 , , .8

EuroLeague

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2015–16 , style="text-align:left;" rowspan="2", Fenerbahçe , 27 , , 24 , , 27.8 , , .555 , , .000 , , .768 , , 5.1 , , 1.3 , , .7 , , style="background:#CFECEC;", 2.3* , , 12.6 , , 16.0 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#AFE6BA;", 2016–17† , 31 , , 22 , , 32.0 , , .584 , , .000 , , .644 , , style="background:#CFECEC;", 7.8* , , 2.2 , , 1.0 , , style="background:#CFECEC;", 2.2* , , 12.1 , , 20.7 , - class="sortbottom" , align="center" colspan="2", Career , 58 , , 46 , , 30.0 , , .570 , , .000 , , .700 , , 6.5 , , 1.8 , , .9 , , 2.2 , , 12.3 , , 18.5

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2006–07 , style="text-align:left;",

, 35 , , 7 , , 20.3 , , .469 , , .000 , , .585 , , 4.0 , , .8 , , .7 , , 1.9 , , 5.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2007–08 , style="text-align:left;",

, 32 , , 24 , , 26.0 , , .437 , , .375 , , .589 , , 5.0 , , .9 , , .8 , , 2.9 , , 6.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2008–09 , style="text-align:left;", Baylor , style="text-align:center;" colspan="11", Transfer , - , style="text-align:left;", 2009–10 , style="text-align:left;", Baylor , 36 , , 36 , , 35.1 , , .490 , , .335 , , .685 , , 9.8 , , 2.7 , , .8 , , 3.7 , , 13.9 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 103 , , 67 , , 27.2 , , .472 , , .289 , , .649 , , 6.3 , , 1.5 , , .8 , , 2.8 , , 8.4

Individual awards

EuroLeague Final Four MVP * EuroLeague 2016–17 EuroLeague MVP of the Month * EuroLeague 2015–16, April *EuroLeague Best Defender (2017) by ''Eurohoops'' EuroLeague Weekly MVPs *EuroLeague 2015–16 – Playoffs, Game 2, with 25 PIR *EuroLeague 2015–16 – Playoffs, Game 3, with 33 PIR * EuroLeague 2016–17 – Regular Season, Round 4, with 31 PIR

Personal life

Udoh is the son of Nigerian parents, Alice and Sam Udoh, and he has one older brother, Eddie, and two younger sisters, Esther and Sefon. Udoh enjoys reading and runs a public, mostly online book club in his spare time. He is quoted as saying, "If I can play in the NBA and still find time to read — so can you!".As quoted by a Fox News article from February 11, 2019, retrieved April 19, 2022
/ref>

References

External links

*

EuroLeague profile
* *
Udoh's Book Club
{{DEFAULTSORT:Udoh, Ekpe 1987 births Living people 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup players 20th-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen American expatriate basketball people in China American expatriate basketball people in Turkey American men's basketball players American basketball players of Nigerian descent Basketball players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Basketball players from Oklahoma Baylor Bears men's basketball players Beijing Ducks players Centers (basketball) Fenerbahçe men's basketball players Golden State Warriors draft picks Golden State Warriors players Kyoto Hannaryz players Los Angeles Clippers players Michigan Wolverines men's basketball players Milwaukee Bucks players Nigerian expatriate basketball people in Turkey Nigerian basketball coaches Nigerian men's basketball players Olympic basketball players for Nigeria Power forwards Sportspeople from Edmond, Oklahoma Utah Jazz players Virtus Bologna players Nigerian expatriate basketball people in Japan Nigerian expatriate basketball people in China American expatriate basketball people in Japan Nigerian expatriate basketball people in Italy 21st-century American sportsmen Beijing Royal Fighters players 21st-century Nigerian sportsmen