Akinlolu Akinayi Akingbala (born 25 March 1983) is a Nigerian professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player who last played for Sáenz Horeca Araberri of the

LEB Oro The Primera FEB, formerly known as LEB or LEB Oro, is the second basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system after the Liga ACB. It is run by the Spanish Basketball Federation, FEB. The FEB leagues are divided into three categorie ...

. He played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

for

Clemson University Clemson University () is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university near Clemson, South Carolina, United States. - The blue-shaded pattern denotes university property. This shows Clemson University is ''out ...

. He is 2.09m (6 ft 10) tall and he can play both

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to center (basketball), centers and are typi ...

and

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

positions.

College career

After playing high school basketball at

Brunswick School Brunswick School is a private, college-preparatory school for boys in Greenwich, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1902 by George B. Carmichael. History Brunswick School was founded in 1902 by George B. Carmichael. The school is ...

Greenwich, Connecticut Greenwich ( ) is a New England town, town in southwestern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it had a population of 63,518. It is the largest town on Gold Coast (Connecticut), Connectic ...

, Akingbala played

, with the

Clemson Tigers The Clemson Tigers are the sport, athletic teams that represent Clemson University, located in Clemson, South Carolina. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I level (NCAA Divis ...

. A highlight of his college career was a 21-point, 16-rebound performance, in an 86–81 win over

Virginia Tech The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, commonly referred to as Virginia Tech (VT), is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States ...

, on 1 March 2006.

Professional career

Akingbala went undrafted in the 2006 NBA draft. In July 2006, he joined the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), ...

for the 2006 NBA Summer League. He later signed with the Celtics, but they waived him in October 2006. He then joined the

Los Angeles D-Fenders The South Bay Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles, California, that competes in the NBA G League. Founded in 2006 as the Los Angeles D-Fenders, the team is owned by the Los Angeles Lakers, who were the first ...

of the

NBA D-League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is a professional basketball league in North America that serves as the developmental league of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league comprises 31 teams; as of the 2024–25 season, ...

. In December 2006, he moved to Spain and signed with Plus Pujol Lleida of the

LEB Gold The Primera FEB, formerly known as LEB or LEB Oro, is the second basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system after the Liga ACB. It is run by the Spanish Basketball Federation, FEB. The FEB leagues are divided into three categorie ...

for the rest of the season.Akin Akingbala player profile
/ref> In October 2007, he signed a one-year deal with

Ventspils Ventspils () is a state city in northwestern Latvia in the historical Courland region of Latvia, and is the sixth largest city in the country. At the beginning of 2020, Ventspils had a population of 33,906. It is situated on the Venta River and ...

of Latvia. In September 2008, he signed with

Universitet Yugra Surgut Universitet Yugra, also called Universitet Yugra Surgut is a Russian professional basketball team. The team competes in the Russian Super League. Honours *Russian Basketball Super League 1 The Russian Basketball Super League 1, or Super Liga ...

of Russia. He left them on 10 December 2008. On 15 December 2008, he moved to France and signed with

SLUC Nancy Basket Stade Lorrain Université Club Nancy Basket, commonly referred to as SLUC Nancy Basket, is a French professional basketball club based in Nancy. The club currently competes in the LNB Pro A, the top league in France, and holds two league titles. S ...

for the remainder of the season. In June 2009, he extend his contract with two more years. In July 2011, he extended his contract for one more year. In August 2012, he signed a one-year deal with

BC Azovmash MBC Mariupol (, formerly BK Azovmash) was a Ukrainian professional basketball club. It was founded in 1990 in the city of Mariupol in South-Eastern Ukraine. Mariupol was one of the strongest teams in Ukraine along with Kyiv, Khimik, and Cher ...

of Ukraine. In July 2013, he signed with

Enel Brindisi New Basket Brindisi, for sponsorship reasons named Valtur Brindisi or shortly Brindisi, is a professional Italian basketball based in Brindisi, Apulia. They compete in Serie A2, second level of Italian basketball system. Founded in 2004, the we ...

of Italy. He left them before the start of the season. In December 2013, he signed a one-year deal with VOO Wolves Verviers-Pepinster of Belgium. In July 2014, he signed a one-year deal with

SPO Rouen Basket SPO may refer to: Politics * Serbian Renewal Movement (''Srpski pokret obnove''), a political party in Serbia * Socialist Party of Ontario, Canada * Strengthening Participatory Organization, a rights-based organization in Pakistan * SPÖ, Social ...

of the French

LNB Pro A LNB may refer to: Sport * Liga Nacional de Baloncesto, a professional basketball league in the Dominican Republic * Liga Nacional de Básquetbol, an Argentine basketball league * Liga Nacional de Básquetbol (Paraguay), Liga Nacional de Básquetb ...

. In February 2015, Rouen released him. On 6 January 2017, Akingbala signed with Spanish club Sáenz Horeca Araberri for the rest of the

2016–17 LEB Oro season The 2016–17 LEB Oro season will be the 21st season of the Spanish basketball second league LEB Oro. Dates must be determined yet. Teams On 20 July 2016 the Spanish Basketball Federation confirmed the expansion of the league to 18 teams. The ...

. One month later, he parted ways with Araberri.Akin Akingbala y el Araberri llegan a un acuerdo para rescindir su contrato

Nigerian national team

Akingbala has also been a member of the senior men's

Nigerian national basketball team The Nigeria men's national basketball team represents Nigeria in international basketball, and it is governed by the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF). In March 2021, the global governing body FIBA ranked Nigeria as Africa's top men's baske ...

. He played at the 2009 FIBA African Championship.

References

External links

*
archive

Akinlolu Akingbala
at

Eurobasket.com Eurobasket.com, also commonly referred to as "Eurobasket News", is a basketball-centered website that provides coverage of every professional and semi-professional club basketball league from around the world, as well as many amateur level lea ...

Akin Akingbala
at Euroleague.net (archived)
Akin Akingbala
at

LNB Élite The LNB Élite, currently known for sponsorship reasons as Betclic Élite, is a professional basketball league in France and is the highest level of the French basketball system. The competition has existed since 1921. Since 1987, the Ligue Nat ...

Akin Akingbala
at