Eric Obeysekere

Eric Obeysekere is a Sri Lankan American basketball player. He was the first person from the Indian subcontinent to be offered a Division 1 scholarship to play men's basketball. At 6'8.5" and with a 7'4" wingspan, he is currently the tallest living Sri Lankan man in the world. Unlike many post players, Eric has a fairly complete offensive game to go with his strong defensive presence, scoring from 20 feet in on a range of jump shots, hook shots, post up moves, finger rolls and dunks. Known as a finesse player, Obeysekere is deceptively strong, has outstanding court vision and runs the open court extremely well.^[1]

High school basketball career

At Miramonte High School in Orinda, California, Obeysekere was captain of the men's varsity basketball team as a senior. In his junior year he averaged 13.4 points per game, 5.8 blocks per game, and 11 rebounds per game. His senior year he increased his scoring average to 17.5 points a game and averaged 12 rebounds and 5 blocked shots per game. He led his team in scoring, rebounding and blocked shots for the second straight year.^[2] He also led the Diablo Foothill Athletic League in blocks for two years straight, holds Miramonte High School's all time block record and per game block record and holds the school's career rebound record. In the summer, Eric plays basketball on the famed Oakland Soldiers Elite AAU team, which has produced over 20 professional basketball players, including LeBron James, Kendrick Perkins and Leon Powe.

After his Junior year, Eric received interest from a number of Division 1 college basketball programs. He choose The College of the Holy Cross in October 2008 due to its storied basketball tradition and strong academic reputation.

Collegiate basketball career

Obeysekere plays for the Holy Cross Crusaders men's basketball team.

References