Ademola Okulaja

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Ademola Okulaja
Position Small forward
Height 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
Weight 235 lb (107 kg)
Team Khimki
Nationality Flag of Germany Germany
Born July 10, 1975
College North Carolina
Pro career 1999–present
Former teams ALBA Berlin (1999–2000)
Girona (2000–01)
FC Barcelona (2001–02)
Unicaja Málaga (2002–03)
Girona (2003–04)
Benetton Treviso (2004)
Pamesa Valencia (2004–05)
RheinEnergie Köln (2005–06)

Ademola Okulaja, (born July 10, 1975 in Lagos, Nigeria) is a German professional basketball player. He moved from Nigeria to Berlin, West Germany when he was only three years old.

The 6' 9", 235 lb (2.06 m, 107 kg) forward played college basketball in the United States at North Carolina and flirted briefly with the NBA before moving on to a successful international professional basketball career in Europe. He currently plays for Khimki Moscow in the Russian Super League. He has been nicknamed "The Warrior" for his fighting spirit.

Contents

[edit] Collegiate career

Okulaja played college basketball at North Carolina from 1995 to 1999. During the 1997-1998 NCAA season, he was a member of new coach Bill Guthridge's successful "six starters" rotation with Antawn Jamison, Vince Carter, Ed Cota, Shammond Williams and Makhtar N'Diaye. In his senior season, he was named MVP of the Tar Heels basketball team, and won a spot on the 1998-99 All-Atlantic Coast Conference First Team.

[edit] Professional Career

Okulaja has played professionally for a variety of Euroleague teams, including ALBA Berlin (1999-2000) and RheinEnergie Köln (2005-2006) in Germany; CB Girona (2000-2001 and 2003-04), Barcelona (2001-2002), Unicaja Malaga (2002-2003) and Pamesa Valencia (2004-2005) in Spain; and Benetton Treviso in Italy (2004).[1] [2] His ALBA Berlin team won the 1999-2000 German National (Bundesliga) Championship. He won the "Rookie of the Year" award with Girona, and was an All-League 1st Team selection that year.[3] In 2002, he won the award for "Most Spectacular Player" at the Spanish All-Star Game.[4]

[edit] International Career

Okulaja is also an experienced member of the Germany national basketball team. He has played with the team in the European Championships in 1995, 1997, 1999 and 2001. He competed with the German National Team in Japan in the 2006 FIBA World Basketball Championship tournament alongside NBA star Dirk Nowitzki.

[edit] Trivia

[edit] External links

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ http://www.basket-stats.info/players/playerfile/o/ademola-okulaja.htm
  2. ^ http://www.ulebcup.com/ulebcup/home/on-court/players/showplayer?clubcode=khi&pcode=ASB
  3. ^ http://www.uncbasketball.com/stories/061301_blueheaven.shtml
  4. ^ http://www.euroleague.net/plantillas/jugador.jsp?id=ASB&temporada=E05
  5. ^ http://www.basket-stats.info/euroleague/2002-2003/teams/unicaja.htm
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