Olumide_Oyedeji

Olumide Oyedeji

Olumide Oyedeji

Nigerian basketball player

"Oyedeji" redirects here. For the Ghanaian sports historian, see James Oyedeji.

Olumide Oyedeji (born 11 May 1981) is a Nigerian professional basketball center who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for three seasons.

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Professional career

Oyedeji played at the 1999 and 2000 Nike Hoop Summits. He was selected by the Seattle SuperSonics, in the 2nd round (42nd overall) of the 2000 NBA draft. He played a total of 93 games during 3 seasons in the NBA, and had career averages of 1.4 points per game, 2.1 rebounds per game, 0.1 assists per game, and 0.2 steals per game.[1] His final NBA game was played on April 1, 2003, in a 105–118 loss to the San Antonio Spurs where he recorded no stats. He also played in the Spanish League with Granada.

Oyedeji played with Shanxi Zhongyu in the Chinese Basketball Association.[2] He played with Changwon LG Sakers of the Korean Basketball League in 2011. However, he was released from the team, despite averaging 10.8 points, 15.0 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks per game. Oyedeji then signed on with the London Lions, who compete in the British Basketball League, in 2015.

National team

Oyedeji has been a member of the senior men's Nigerian national basketball team since 1997. He contributed immensely to his national team's participation at the FIBA Africa Nations Cup in 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2011, 2013 and 2015. He led Nigeria to its first ever AfroBasket trophy in Tunisia in 2015. Oyedeji won silver medals in 1997, 1999 and 2003 respectively during the FIBA Africa Nations Cup. He won the bronze medal at the 2005 FIBA Africa Championship and 2011 FIBA Africa Championship. Oyedeji has represented his home country in the All Africa Games winning bronze in 1999, 2007 and 2015, silver in 2003 and gold in 2011. He also played at the FIBA World Cup in 1999 and at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Oyedeji is the inaugural African player to ever feature in all major basketball tournaments on the global stage, including Olympic Games, World Cup, Commonwealth Games, All Africa Games, NBA, Euro-League, and Asia Championships.[citation needed]

Oyedeji featured in the invitational tournament in South Africa where he captained the team and led them to victory in the finals. Nigeria's basketball team, D'Tigers, emerged overall winners of the 2015 Four Nations' invitational basketball tournament hosted by South Africa on Sunday 22 March 2015. Oyedeji, the long serving captain of the Nigerian Men's national team, emerged the MVP of the tournament. D'Tigers beat Mozambique 72-59 in their final game to win the inaugural tournament held at the Wembley Indoor Arena in Johannesburg. He retired from the Nigerian national basketball team several weeks before the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.[3]

FIBA

The International Basketball Federation, FIBA, Central Board appointed Oyedeji, to the FIBA Players commission for the 2014-2019 term. Oyedeji's appointment resulted from his nomination by the Nigerian Basketball Federation in line with the criteria provided by the world governing body of basketball. He is expected to serve in the newly inaugurated FIBA Players commission under the chairmanship of former Serbian International and NBA great, Vlade Divac. Oyedeji is also a member of the board of the Nigeria Basketball Federation.

Personal life

Oyedeji had his secondary education at Loyola College, Ibadan where he started playing as a member of the school's senior basketball team.

Oyedeji is married to Adegoke Fajemisin. They have five children together.[4]

References

  1. [1]
    "Olumide Oyedeji Historical Profile". Nba.com. 11 May 1981.
  2. [2]
    "Bonzi Wells joins CBA with Shanxi Zhongyu". News.xinhuanet.com. 12 December 2008. Archived from the original on 15 December 2008.
  3. [3]
    "It was tough calling it quits with d'tigers — Oyedeji". Punch Newspapers. 28 January 2017. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  4. [4]
    "OLUMIDE OYEDEJI- My wife is four in one!". The Nation Nigeria. 21 December 2013. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
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