Chukwunonso Nduka "BeeJay" Anya (born March 9, 1995) is an American former

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. He played college basketball for the

NC State Wolfpack The NC State Wolfpack is the nickname of the athletic teams representing North Carolina State University. The Wolfpack competes at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I (NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subd ...

. He was named

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

Sixth Man of the Year in 2015. Anya represented the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

youth team at the

2012 FIBA Under-17 World Championship The 2012 FIBA Under-17 World Championship (Lithuanian: 2012 m. FIBA iki 17 metų pasaulio čempionatas) was the 2nd edition of the FIBA Under-17 World Championship, the biennial international men's youth basketball championship contested by the ...

, winning the gold medal.

College career

Anya 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 NC State where he was best known for his shot blocking ability. During his sophomore season in a game against

Jacksonville Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

, he set the NC State school record for blocks in a single game with 10. In setting the record, Anya at one point recorded 4 blocks in a single possession. His 91 blocks during the 2014–2015 season put him second on the NC State single season blocks list, behind Thurl Bailey's 95 blocks in 1983. Anya entered the 2015–2016 season in 5th place on NC State's career blocks list with 137 career blocks. He finished his career with the Wolfpack in 2017 with 243 career blocked shots, a school record. Anya also holds the record for longest wingspan recorded for a non-7-foot player in the NBA Draft Express database for basketball prospects, with a wingspan of 7 ft 9 in.

Professional career

In January 2020, Anya signed with TLN Kalev of the Latvian-Estonian Basketball League where he appeared in two games. In January 2021, Anya signed with Torta del Casar Extremadura of the Spanish

Liga EBA The Tercera FEB, formerly known as Liga EBA (''Liga Española de Baloncesto Aficionado''), is a Spanish basketball championship that is the fourth tier level in the Spanish basketball league system, after the Liga ACB, Primera FEB and Segunda FEB ...

where he appeared in one game.

Personal

Anya is of Nigerian descent, his father Ben Anya having played

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

while growing up. His sister Stephanie competed as a

center for

American University The American University (AU or American) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Its main campus spans 90-acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, in the Spri ...

References

External links

NC State Wolfpack bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anya, BeeJay 1995 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Estonia American expatriate basketball people in Spain American men's basketball players American basketball players of Nigerian descent Basketball players from Prince George's County, Maryland Centers (basketball) DeMatha Catholic High School alumni NC State Wolfpack men's basketball players Sportspeople from Cheverly, Maryland Power forwards 21st-century American sportsmen