Ejike Ugboaja
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Ejike Ugboaja (born May 28, 1985) is a Nigerian basketball player. Known for his personal drive and determination on and off the court, Ugboaja is considered an inspiration by many young athletes in Africa. He is the first African player to be drafted by the American NBA straight from Africa (Cleveland Cavaliers, second round, 2006) without playing for any time for a European team or American college. He served as an agent for other African players before making the NBA, and treated his friends and clients fairly.
After having a try-out in Poland with Kager Gydnia , he now signed a pro-contract in Cyprus to play for Omonia Nicosia.The talented power forward was also a member of the junior-national team of Nigeria that competet in the World Championships in Argentina and the senior-national team that competed in the Commonwealth Games in Australia.[citation needed]
2006 NBA Draft | ||
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First Round Andrea Bargnani | LaMarcus Aldridge | Adam Morrison | Tyrus Thomas | Shelden Williams | Brandon Roy | Randy Foye | Rudy Gay | Patrick O'Bryant | Mouhamed Sene | J.J. Redick | Hilton Armstrong | Thabo Sefolosha | Ronnie Brewer | Cedric Simmons | Rodney Carney | Shawne Williams | Oleksiy Pecherov | Quincy Douby | Renaldo Balkman | Rajon Rondo | Marcus Williams | Josh Boone | Kyle Lowry | Shannon Brown | Jordan Farmar | Sergio Rodríguez | Maurice Ager | Mardy Collins | Joel Freeland |
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Second Round James White | Steve Novak | Solomon Jones | Paul Davis | P.J. Tucker | Craig Smith | Bobby Jones | Kosta Perovic | David Noel | Denham Brown | James Augustine | Daniel Gibson | Marcus Vinicius | Lior Eliyahu | Alexander Johnson | Dee Brown | Paul Millsap | Vladimir Veremeenko | Leon Powe | Ryan Hollins | Cheick Samb | Guillermo Diaz | Yotam Halperin | Hassan Adams | Ejike Ugboaja | Edin Bavcic | Loukas Mavrokefalidis | J.R. Pinnock | Damir Markota | Will Blalock |