Gani Lawal
 Lawal playing for Georgia Tech | |
| No. 31 – Emporio Armani Milano | |
|---|---|
| Position | Power forward / Center |
| League |
Italian League Euroleague |
| Personal information | |
| Born |
November 7, 1988 College Park, Georgia |
| Nationality | American / Nigerian |
| Listed height | 6 ft 9 in (206 cm) |
| Listed weight | 234 lb (106 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Norcross (Norcross, Georgia) |
| College | Georgia Tech (2007–2010) |
| NBA draft | 2010 / Round: 2 / Pick: 46th overall |
| Selected by the Phoenix Suns | |
| Pro playing career | 2010–present |
| Career history | |
| 2010–2011 | Phoenix Suns |
| 2010 | →Iowa Energy |
| 2011 | Zastal Zielona Góra |
| 2011–2012 | Xinjiang Flying Tigers |
| 2012 | Zastal Zielona Góra |
| 2012 | Chorale Roanne |
| 2012–2013 | Virtus Roma |
| 2013 | Guangzhou Liu Sui |
| 2013–present | Emporio Armani Milano |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Gani Oladimeji Lawal, Jr. (born November 7, 1988) is a Nigerian American professional basketball player for Emporio Armani Milano of the Italian League. He played college basketball with the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets men's basketball team for 3 years. As a junior, Lawal led the team in field-goal percentage and blocked shots in the 2007–08 season.[1]
High school
During his time at Norcross High School, Lawal was named to the McDonald's All-American Team, following his senior season, and was Mr. Basketball 2007 in Georgia.[2]
College career
2007–08
In his freshman season of 2007–08, Lawal scored 10 points on 5-of-6 shots, with four rebounds at Duke, snapping a streak of six games in single digits.[2] He also had a game-high nine rebounds in a 77–64 win over Presbyterian on January 6, 2008.[3]
2008–09
In his sophomore season of 2008–09, Lawal scored a career-best 34 points[4] in an 85–83 Georgia Tech loss to Penn State, on December 3, 2008.[5] He had a career-high 16 rebounds in a 63–58 win over Tennessee State, on December 30, 2008.[6] He bettered that mark by one rebound, when he pulled down 17 in a 70–56 home loss to Duke, on January 14, 2009.[7] After originally entering the NBA draft following his sophomore year, Lawal pulled out of the draft on June 14, 2009, to return to Georgia Tech for his junior year.[8]
NCAA career statistics
| Legend | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field goal percentage | FT% | Free throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007–08 | Georgia Tech | 32 | ... | 17.3 | .570 | .000 | .495 | 3.5 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 1.0 | 7.2 |
| 2008–09 | Georgia Tech | 31 | ... | 29.7 | .556 | .000 | .559 | 9.5 | 0.6 | 1.0 | 1.5 | 15.1 |
| 2009–10 | Georgia Tech | 36 | ... | 25.7 | .529 | .000 | .572 | 8.5 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 1.4 | 13.1 |
| Career[9] | 99 | ... | 24.2 | .419 | .000 | .752 | 7.2 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 1.3 | 11.8 |
Professional career
Lawal was drafted by the Phoenix Suns, with the 16th pick in the second round (46th overall), of the 2010 NBA Draft. Lawal played for the Phoenix Suns in the NBA Summer League in 2010. On August 2, 2010, Lawal signed a contract with the Suns.[10] On November 16, 2010, after playing in none of the Suns prior regular season games, Lawal was assigned to the Iowa Energy of the NBA Development League.[11]
He only played in only one regular season game with the Suns before tearing his ACL on January 6, 2011, effectively ending his 2010-11 season. In the two minutes he played against the Detroit Pistons on December 31, 2010, he recorded only one foul.
During the 2011 NBA lockout, Lawal signed with Zastal Zielona Góra of the Polish League.[12] After the lockout ended, the Suns ended up waiving Lawal, due to their depth situation at the power forward position.[13] Lawal then went to the San Antonio Spurs, to try out in their training camp, but he was cut afterwards. After the announcement that Kenyon Martin was leaving the Xinjiang Flying Tigers, Lawal signed with Xinjiang, as Martin's replacement. However, when the 2012 CBA Playoffs started, Lawal ended up being waived from the Flying Tigers, and he was replaced by Ike Diogu. He eventually ended up returning to Zastal, but was waived after a few weeks because, "he was not the same player who started the season with the club".
In April 2012, he signed with the French League club Chorale Roanne, until the end of the season.[14] In August 2012, he joined the Italian League team Virtus Roma.[15] In July 2013, he played two games in the 2nd-teir Chinese NBL with Guangzhou Liu Sui.[16] On August 9, 2013, Lawal signed a one-year deal with the Latvian League team VEF Rīga.[17] However, it was reported that he chose not to travel with the team for a Euroleague qualification match on October 1, 2013. The team's coach also said that he was disappointed with Lawal's attitude.[18] On October 3, 2013, Lawal officially parted ways with VEF Rīga.[19]
On October 5, 2013, he signed with the Philadelphia 76ers.[20] However, he was waived on October 27.[21]
On November 5, 2013, he signed with Olimpia Milano of Italy.[22]
Nigerian national team
Lawal has also been a member of the senior men's Nigerian national basketball team. He played at the 2013 FIBA Africa Championship.
Personal
Lawal's mother's name is Michelle, and his father, Gani, Sr., a real estate developer and mortgage broker, is from Nigeria. He has two sisters, Khalilah and Chasitie, and one brother, Khalil.[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Gani Lawal Profile at scout.com
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Profile at RamblinWreck.com
- ↑ Georgia Tech 77, Presbyterian 64 – Recap
- ↑ Georgia Tech beats Vanderbilt 63–51
- ↑ Penn State 85, Georgia Tech 83 – Box score
- ↑ Georgia Tech 63, Tennessee St. 58 – Recap
- ↑ Singler, Henderson stabilize No. 2 Duke against careless Georgia Tech
- ↑
- ↑ Gani Lawal, statsheet.com, accessed 25 October 2010.
- ↑ NBA Summer League Rosters - Vegas
- ↑ Phoenix Suns Assign Gani Lawal To Iowa NBA.com, November 16, 2010
- ↑ Phoenix Suns' Gani Lawal signs with Polish club
- ↑ http://www.azcentral.com/sports/suns/articles/2011/12/09/20111209phoenix-suns-vince-carter-gani-lawal.html
- ↑ Chorale Roanne tabs Gani Lawal
- ↑ Virtus Roma officially lands Gani Lawal
- ↑ "Gani Lawal played two games in NBL with Guangzhou Liu Sui". Sportando.net. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
- ↑ "VEF Riga announced Gani Lawal". Euroleague.net. Retrieved 9 August 2013.
- ↑ Ramunas Butautas: 'Gani Lawal himself decided not to travel with us'
- ↑ "VEF Riga, Gani Lawal officially part ways". Sportando.net. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
- ↑ Sixers sign Gani Lawal, waive Solomon Alabi
- ↑ Philadelphia 76ers waive Rodney Williams and Gani Lawal
- ↑ "Olimpia: Gani Lawal is on board". OlimpiaMilano.com. November 5, 2013. Retrieved November 8, 2013.
External links
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