Suleiman Braimoh

Suleiman Braimoh
No. 12 – Hawke's Bay Hawks
Position Power forward / Center
League NBL
Personal information
Born October 19, 1989
Benin City, Nigeria
Nationality Nigerian / American
Listed height 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Listed weight 230 lb (104 kg)
Career information
High school United Nations International School
(New York City, New York)
Lawrenceville School
(Lawrenceville, New Jersey)
College Rice (2007–2011)
NBA draft 2011 / Undrafted
Pro career 2011–present
Career history
2011–2012 Rio Grande Valley Vipers
2012 Al-Gharafa
2013 Al Rayyan
2013–2014 Niigata Albirex
2014 Shinshu Brave Warriors
2014 Taranaki Mountainairs
2014–2015 Huracanes de Tampico
2015–present Hawke's Bay Hawks
Career highlights and awards
  • LNBP All-Star (2015)
  • NBL All-Star five (2014)
  • Qatar Emir Cup champion (2013)
  • Qatar Heir Apparent Cup champion (2013)

Suleiman Okhaifoede Braimoh, Jr. (born October 19, 1989) is a Nigerian-American professional basketball player who currently plays for the Hawke's Bay Hawks of the New Zealand National Basketball League (NBL). He played college basketball for Rice University before playing professionally in the NBA Development League, Qatar, Japan, New Zealand and Mexico.

Early life

Braimoh was born in Benin City, Nigeria, but moved to the United States with his parents in 2001. Playing primarily soccer as a child, it was not until 2004–05 that he started playing organised basketball.[1]

High school career

Braimoh attended the United Nations International School in New York City. As a senior in 2005–06, he averaged 27 points, 11 rebounds, and four blocks as he was named athlete of the year and league MVP. In 2006–07, he prepped at Lawrenceville School in Lawrenceville, New Jersey where he averaged 14 points, 12 rebounds, and five blocks for coach Ron Kane. He was named second-team all-prep by the Trenton Times and the Trentonian and was selected to the All-Middle Atlantic Prep League team as the Big Red posted an 18-11 overall record.[2]

College career

In his freshman season at Rice, Braimoh was the Owls sixth man and was the team's leading shooter from the field, connecting on 46.3 percent of his shots. In 30 games (seven starts), he averaged 4.0 points and 3.3 rebounds per game.[2][3]

In his sophomore season, his role and production was relatively similar as he was still the team's sixth man. In 32 games (15 starts), he averaged 4.5 points and 3.0 rebounds per game.[2][3]

In his junior season, he played 31 games, averaging 4.5 points and 3.8 rebounds in 12.3 minute per game. In his senior season, he played 31 games, averaging 4.4 points and 2.1 rebounds in 10.8 minutes per game.[2][3]

Professional career

2011–12 season

After going undrafted in the 2011 NBA draft, Braimoh tried out for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the NBA Development League in November and successfully made the team. In February 2012, he left the Vipers after appearing in just 15 games. The next month, he joined Al-Gharafa of Qatar for the rest of the season.

2012–13 season

On October 6, 2012, Braimoh signed with the Taranaki Mountainairs for the 2013 New Zealand NBL season.[1] He was later acquired by the Reno Bighorns on November 1[4] but did not end up making the final team as he was waived on November 21 prior to the start of the season. In January 2013, he signed with Al Rayyan of Qatar for the rest of the season, going on to help the club win the 2013 Emir Cup and Heir Apparent Cup.

In April 2013, he was released from his contract with the Mountainairs after his application for a visa was turned down.[5]

2013–14 season

In October 2013, Braimoh signed with Niigata Albirex of Japan for the 2013–14 season.[6] On February 5, 2014, he left Niigata and joined the Shinshu Brave Warriors for the rest of the season, but on February 21, he was released by Shinshu after appearing in just three games.[7]

In March 2014, he re-signed with the Taranaki Mountainairs for the 2014 New Zealand NBL season.[8][9][10] On May 1, he was named Player of the Week for Round 4.[11] He went on to earn Player of the Week honors the following three rounds as well, making it four consecutive on the season.[12][13][14] He finished the season with averages of 24.9 points, 12.2 rebounds and 1.5 blocks in 18 games and subsequently earned All-Star five honors.[15]

2014–15 season

In September 2014, Braimoh signed with Huracanes de Tampico of Mexico for the 2014–15 LNBP season. In 46 games for Huracanes, he averaged 20.1 points and 8.2 rebounds per game.

On March 25, 2015, he signed with the Hawke's Bay Hawks for the 2015 New Zealand NBL season.[16][17] On May 1, he was named Player of the Week for Round 4 after recording 21 points and 14 rebounds against Taranaki on April 26.[18]

Personal

Braimoh is the son of Suleiman Sr., a PhD holder, and Igho, a law school graduate.[1]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Mountain Airs get 'big man'". Stuff.co.nz. October 6, 2012. Retrieved April 18, 2014.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "Suleiman Braimoh Bio". RiceOwls.com. Retrieved April 18, 2014.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Suleiman Braimoh Stats". Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved April 18, 2014.
  4. ↑ "Bighorns Select Eight Players in NBA D-League Draft". OurSportsCentral.com. November 2, 2012. Retrieved April 18, 2014.
  5. ↑ "Gabriel flies in to try out the Mountain Airs". Stuff.co.nz. April 6, 2013. Retrieved April 18, 2014.
  6. ↑ "Bambitious beat Hannaryz for first-ever win". JapanTimes.co.jp. November 9, 2013. Retrieved April 18, 2014.
  7. ↑ "Namizato returns to Ryukyu Golden Kings". JapanTimes.co.jp. February 21, 2014. Retrieved April 18, 2014.
  8. ↑ "Mountain Airs land new big man". Stuff.co.nz. March 17, 2014. Retrieved April 18, 2014.
  9. ↑ "Mountain Airs Make Import Swap". NZhoops.co.nz. April 4, 2014. Retrieved April 18, 2014.
  10. ↑ "Second time lucky for Mountain Airs' Braimoh". Stuff.co.nz. April 5, 2014. Retrieved April 18, 2014.
  11. ↑ "Braimoh is Round Four player of the week". Basketball.org.nz. May 1, 2014. Archived from the original on May 2, 2014.
  12. ↑ "Braimoh wins back to back awards". Basketball.org.nz. May 7, 2014. Archived from the original on May 15, 2014.
  13. ↑ "Three in a row for Braimoh". Basketball.org.nz. May 15, 2014. Archived from the original on May 18, 2014.
  14. ↑ "4 in a row for Braimoh". Basketball.org.nz. May 21, 2014. Archived from the original on May 21, 2014.
  15. ↑ "Hawks v Saints Final". Basketball.org.nz. July 4, 2014. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014.
  16. ↑ "HAWKS SNARE ALL STAR BRAIMOH". Basketball.org.nz. March 25, 2015. Retrieved March 31, 2015.
  17. ↑ Hills, Murray (March 31, 2015). "Impressive big man Suleiman Braimoh snubs Mountain Airs for Bay Hawks". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved March 31, 2015.
  18. ↑ "BRAIMOH IS ROUND FOUR PLAYER OF THE WEEK". Basketball.org.nz. May 1, 2015. Retrieved May 1, 2015.

External links