Nwachukwu Iheukwumere Chima Moneke (born 24 December 1995) is a Nigerian-Australian professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player for

AS Monaco Basket Association Sportive de Monaco Basketball Club, commonly referred to as A.S. Monaco Basket, is a French-registered Monaco-based professional basketball club. They are a part of the Monaco-based multi-sports club of A.S. Monaco, which was founde ...

of the French

LNB Pro A The LNB Pro A, currently known for sponsorship reasons as Betclic Élite, is the top-tier men's professional basketball league in France. The competition has existed since 1921. Since 1987, the Ligue Nationale de Basket has governed the league ...

and the EuroLeague. At 1.96 m. tall, he plays at the power forward position. He also represents the Nigerian national team in international competition.

Early life

He was born in Abuja, Nigeria, before moving to Canberra, Australia to begin schooling. His parents, Sydney and Eucharia Moneke, were diplomats of the Nigerian Embassy. He attended Farrer Primary School before traveling again throughout the world.

College career

In 2013, he enrolled at Northeast Community College in Norfolk, Nebraska, where he stayed for two seasons (2013-15). In his sophomore season he averaged 17 ppg and 12.1 rpg which led the team to a 25-7 record. He then transferred to the University of California at Davis. After his

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Entertainment * ''Red Shirts'' (film), a 1952 film about Anita Garibaldi by Franco Rossi * Redshirt (stock character), originally derived from ''Star Trek'', a stock character who dies soon after b ...

season, he led the Aggies to an NCAA tournament berth for the first time in school history in the 2016-17 season. He was named Big West Conference tournament MVP. In the tournament they defeated NC Central in the play-in game where Moneke had 18 points and 12 rebounds. They would go on to lose to the #1 overall seed Kansas, where Chima finished with 20 points and 9 rebounds. He averaged 14.6 points, 9.5 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game with 14 double-doubles In the 2017-18 season, with the

UC Davis Aggies The UC Davis Aggies (also referred to as the Ags or Aggies) are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Davis. Seventeen of the school's 25 intercollegiate sports - baseball, men's basketball, men's cross country, men's g ...

he averaged 18.4 points, 9.6 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per performance in 21 games.

Professional career

France (2018–2021)

After not being selected in the

2018 NBA Draft The 2018 NBA Draft was held on June 21, 2018, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur United States college basketball players and other eligible players, including inter ...

, he signed his first professional contract with the Rouen Métropole Basket of the French

LNB Pro B The LNB Pro B, commonly known as Pro B, is the 2nd-tier level men's professional basketball league in France. It is the second division of the Ligue Nationale de Basket (LNB), which has organized the league since the year 1987. The regular seaso ...

. After the season, Moneke signed with the South East Melbourne Phoenix of the Australian NBL before it was blown off due to problems with his passport. In November 2018, he would leave Rouen Métropole Basket to sign for Denain Voltaire Basket, also from the French

. He averaged 14.3

points Point or points may refer to: Places * Point, Lewis, a peninsula in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland * Point, Texas, a city in Rains County, Texas, United States * Point, the NE tip and a ferry terminal of Lismore, Inner Hebrides, Scotland * Point ...

, 6.6

rebounds 'Rebound' is a term used in sports to describe the ball (or puck or other object of play) becoming available for possession by either opponent after an attempt to put the ball or puck into the goal has been unsuccessful. Rebounds are generally ...

and 1.7 assists in 27 games. In the 2019–20 season, he signed for the

Béliers de Kemper Béliers de Kemper (in English: Quimper Rams), known before the 2020–21 season as UJAP Quimper 29, is a French basketball club based in Quimper. The home arena of the club is the OS Michel Gloaguen, which has a capacity of 2,049. The club curren ...

of the French LNB Pro B, in which he averaged 15.8 points, 6.75 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game. The season was cancelled early due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in France The COVID-19 pandemic in France has resulted in confirmed cases of COVID-19 and deaths. The virus was confirmed to have reached France on 24 January 2020, when the first COVID-19 case in both Europe and France was identified in Bordeaux. ...

. In the 2020–21 season, he signed for the

Orléans Loiret Basket Orléans Loiret Basket, formerly known as Entente Orléanaise and Entente Orléanaise 45 Loiret, is a professional basketball club that is based in the city of Orléans, France. "45" is the number of Loiret. The club plays in the French Pro A Lea ...

of the

, with averages of 12.5 points, 6 rebounds, 1.8 assists and almost a block per performance in the 21 games played.

Manresa (2021–2022)

On July 13, 2021, Moneke signed a one-year-deal with the Bàsquet Manresa of the Spanish Liga Endesa and the Basketball Champions League (BCL). He helped Manresa to a surprising season in the BCL as they reached the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: * Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

where they lost to

Tenerife Tenerife (; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands. It is home to 43% of the total population of the Archipelago, archipelago. With a land area of and a population of 978,100 inhabitant ...

in the final. Moneke was named the MVP of the 2021–22 season after averaging 13.1 points per game. In the Spanish ACB, Moneke was named to the ALL-ACB 1st team after leading Manresa to the playoffs. He averaged 14.8 points per game on 53% percent shooting. He was second in the entire league in rebounding with 8.4 per game. He led the entire league in total steals (56), steals per game (1.6) and defensive rebounds.

Sacramento Kings (2022–2023)

On July 18, 2022, Moneke signed with the

Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference Pacific Division. The Kings are the oldest ...

, uniting with Nigeria's national team coach Mike Brown. On January 6, 2023, Moneke was waived by the Kings.

Monaco (2023–present)

On January 16, 2023, he signed with

of the

National team career

He debuted with the

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

in 2020, playing three qualifying matches for the Afrobasket. In 2021, he was summoned for the pre-selection to compete in the 2020 Summer Olympics.

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

, 2 , , 0 , , 4.0 , , .500 , , , , .000 , , 1.0 , , .5 , , .0 , , .0 , , 1.0

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2015–16 , style="text-align:left;",

UC Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the Uni ...

, style="text-align:center;" colspan="11",

Redshirt , - , style="text-align:left;", 2016–17 , style="text-align:left;",

, 36 , , 33 , , 27.3 , , .527 , , , , .645 , , 9.5 , , .8 , , .9 , , 1.4 , , 14.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2017–18 , style="text-align:left;",

, 21 , , 21 , , 30.0 , , .515 , , .375 , , .714 , , 9.6 , , 1.0 , , 1.0 , , 1.1 , , 18.4 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 57 , , 54 , , 28.3 , , .522 , , .375 , , .674 , , 9.5 , , .9 , , .9 , , 1.3 , , 16.0

Personal

Moneke attended Canberra High School and Lake Ginninderra College in Canberra, Australia where he played high school basketball with Dante Exum.

References

External links

Chima Moneke
at

RealGM RealGM.com is a sports website created in 2000. The site was originally a basketball site, but has since expanded its scope to provide information about American football, baseball, ice hockey and soccer. According to Alexa, the site ranked in t ...

FIBA

UC Davis Aggies bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moneke, Chima 1995 births Living people Australian men's basketball players Bàsquet Manresa players Denain Voltaire Basket players Junior college men's basketball players in the United States Liga ACB players National Basketball Association players from Nigeria Nigerian expatriate basketball people in France Nigerian expatriate basketball people in Spain Nigerian men's basketball players Orléans Loiret Basket players People from Abuja Power forwards (basketball) Rouen Métropole Basket players Sacramento Kings players Stockton Kings players UC Davis Aggies men's basketball players Undrafted National Basketball Association players