Ike Diogu

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ikechukwu Somtochukwu Diogu, better known as Ike Diogu (born September 11, 1983 in Buffalo, New York), is an American professional basketball player for the NBA's Indiana Pacers. His parents are natives of Nigeria and moved to the United States in 1980 to pursue further education. He later moved from Buffalo, New York to Garland, Texas and enrolled in Garland High School.

Diogu stands at 6 feet, 8 inches (2.03 m) tall which is considered slightly undersized for an NBA power forward, but makes up for his lack of height with his muscle and 7'3½" wingspan.^{[citation needed]}

Diogu attended Arizona State University, where he excelled on the team under head coach Rob Evans. He garnered several honors, both in the Pac-10 and nationally. Many in the public speculated that Diogu would enter the draft after playing for his third season with Arizona State. On June 21, he made the decision to enter the draft. Earlier that year, his father had told the media about this decision, but Diogu, speaking for himself, denied making any such decision. It was revealed afterwards that Diogu preferred to return to school, but his parents encouraged him to go pro.

Diogu was selected 9th overall in the first round of the 2005 NBA Draft by the Golden State Warriors. On December 23, 2005, he recorded a professional career-best 27 points on 13-15 shooting.

On January 17, 2007, Diogu, whom Larry Bird called the "gem" of the deal, was dealt to the Indiana Pacers along with teammates Mike Dunleavy, Jr., Troy Murphy, and Keith McLeod for Stephen Jackson, Al Harrington, Sarunas Jasikevicius, and Josh Powell.^[1]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Ike Diogu Info Page at NBA.com
• Ike Diogu Statistics at Basketball-Reference.com
• Arizona State University biography
• Ike Diogu at Phoenixnews

This biographical article relating to a Nigerian basketball figure is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.