Stan Okoye
| Perth Redbacks | |
|---|---|
| Position | Small forward / Power forward |
| League | State Basketball League |
| Personal information | |
| Born |
March 19, 1991 Raleigh, North Carolina |
| Nationality | American / Nigerian |
| Listed height | 6 ft 6 in (198 cm) |
| Listed weight | 215 lb (98 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school |
Knightdale (Knightdale, North Carolina) |
| College | VMI (2009–2013) |
| NBA draft | 2013 / Undrafted |
| Pro playing career | 2013–present |
| Career history | |
| 2013 | Barak Netanya (Israel) |
| 2014–present | Perth Redbacks (Australia) |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Stanley "Stan" Okoye (born March 19, 1991)[1] is a Nigerian-American professional basketball player. He is a 6'6", 215-pound forward who was named the 2012–13 Big South Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year, while playing for Virginia Military Institute (VMI).[2] He averaged 21.5 points, 9.4 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per game, en route to winning the award.[3]
High school career
Okoye, a native of Raleigh, North Carolina, attended Knightdale High School from 2005–06 through 2008–09. During his four-year varsity career he scored over 1,300 points and grabbed over 550 rebounds, both of which are school records.[4] Okoye also scored a single game record 42 points during a Class 4A playoff game.[4] Knightdale won 73 games during his tenure.[4] Despite this production on the court, only two NCAA Division I schools offered him basketball scholarships – Campbell University and VMI.[4] Campbell later rescinded their offer, however, leaving Okoye with VMI as his only Division I opportunity, which he then accepted.[4]
College career
Okoye enrolled in fall 2009 at VMI to play for the Keydets. He had initial struggles coping with college life, especially at a military school where upperclassmen put mental and physical pressures on freshmen.[2] At one point he contemplated dropping out before having played in a single college basketball game, but Okoye stuck with it because of support from his teammates.[2] He said, "I stuck it out because of the other guys. I figured if they could take it, I could too."[2]
In 2009–10, Okoye led all Big South Conference freshmen in scoring and field goal percentage in overall games.[1] In conference games, he led all freshmen in scoring, field goal percentage and blocks.[1] For the season he averaged 14.2 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game and was named to the Big South All-Freshman Team.[3][1]
As a sophomore in 2010–11, Okoye improved his averages in points, rebounds, assists and steals per game.[3] His blocks per game dipped slightly from his freshman season, however.[3] Okoye finished his second year with 933 career points.[3] Okoye followed a sophomore year with a junior season that saw him claim a Second Team All-Conference selection.[1] In Big South games he averaged 19.5 points and 8.2 rebounds per game, which were second and fourth, respectively, within the league.[1] He led the Keydets to the Big South Tournament championship game, but they lost to UNC Asheville 80 to 64.
Okoye had a breakout senior season in 2012–13 in which he 21.5 points, 9.4 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game.[3] He was named the preseason conference player of the year, an honor he would then garner at the conclusion of the season as well.[2][1] His scoring and rebounding averages led the Big South and was named its Player of the Week five times throughout the season.[5] VMI lost to Charleston Southern in the conference tournament, thus ending VMI's hopes of a postseason tournament bid. Okoye finished his collegiate career with 2,146 points, 962 rebounds, 212 assists, 152 steals and 103 blocks.[3]
Professional career
Okoye went undrafted in the 2013 NBA draft. On August 13, 2013, he signed with Ikaros of Greece for the 2013–14 season.[6] He left Ikaros before playing in a game for them. On October 27, 2013, he signed with Barak Netanya of Israel for the rest of the season.[7] In November 2013, he left Netanya after just 4 games.
On February 6, 2014, Okoye signed with the Perth Redbacks for the 2014 SBL season.[8]
International career
Okoye has been a member of the senior men's Nigerian national basketball team, representing them at the 2013 FIBA Africa Championship.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 "#11 Stan Okoye". vmikeydets.com. Retrieved February 7, 2014.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Stevens, Tim (March 7, 2013). "Knightdale’s Stan Okoye wins Big South player of the year". NewsObserver.com. Retrieved May 15, 2013.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 "Stan Okoye Stats". Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved May 15, 2013.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Moody, Aaron (March 9, 2013). "Column: Stan Okoye peaks, for now". Eastern Wake News. Retrieved May 15, 2013.
- ↑ "Okoye Named All-State; Will Play in PIT". vmikeydets.com. April 9, 2013. Retrieved May 15, 2013.
- ↑ "Ikaros Halkidas sign Stan Okoye". Sportando.net. August 13, 2013. Retrieved August 14, 2013.
- ↑ "Barak Netanya signs Stan Okoye". Sportando.net. October 27, 2013. Retrieved February 7, 2014.
- ↑ "Redbacks Sign Okoye for 2014". FoxSportsPulse.com. February 6, 2014. Retrieved February 7, 2014.
External links
| |||||