Chris Obekpa
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Christopher Ewaoche Obekpa (born 14 November 1993) 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 the
Fujian Sturgeons Fujian SBS Xunxing Sturgeons (Simplified Chinese: 福建SBS浔兴鲟) or Fujian Xunxing or Fujian SBS are a Chinese professional men's basketball team in the Chinese Basketball Association, based in Jinjiang, Quanzhou, Fujian. The "SBS" reflects c ...
of the
Chinese Basketball Association The Chinese Basketball Association (), often abbreviated as the CBA, is the first-tier men's professional basketball league in China. The league is commonly known by fans as the CBA, and this acronym is even used in Chinese on a regular basis ...
(CBA). He played college basketball for St. John's University in
Jamaica, New York Jamaica is a neighborhood in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. It has a popular large commercial and retail area, though part of the neighborhood is also residential. Jamaica is bordered by Hollis, Queens, Hollis, ...
from 2012 to 2015. As a freshman in 2012–13 St. John's Red Storm men's basketball team, 2012–13 he List of NCAA Division I men's basketball season blocks leaders, led NCAA Division I in blocks per game with a 4.03 average. After three years at St. John's, Obekpa transferred to UNLV Runnin' Rebels basketball, UNLV, Redshirt (college sports), redshirted 2015–16, but then declared for the 2016 NBA draft.


Early life

Chris Obekpa was born in Makurdi, Nigeria to parents Elizabeth O. Ameh, his mother, and Gabriel Obekpa. He has six sisters and three brothers. His grandfather used to be the king of the Idoma people, Idoma tribe, his father is a prince, and his uncle Elias Ikeoyi Obekpa is the current king. Obekpa's grew up around soccer fans, but his interest in basketball was stronger. Word of his talents spread and he eventually was selected to play for the Nigerian under-16 national team. In 2010, he moved to the United States to attend his final two years of high school in hopes of being noticed by college programs (Chris' older brother, Ofu, played one year of basketball at the University of Maine at Machias). He moved to New York City and enrolled at Our Savior New American School (OSNAS) in Centereach, New York, Centereach. As a Junior (education year), junior in 2010–11 he helped the school finish with a 17–10 record behind averages of 10 points, eight rebounds and five blocks per game. In three separate tournaments he was named the Most Valuable Player. The following season, Obekpa's senior (education), senior year in 2011–12, he led OSNAS to a 25–5 overall record as well as a final national top-10 ranking by MaxPreps.com. He nearly averaged a triple-double: 12 points, 13 rebounds and nine blocks per game. The National Association of Christian Athletes named him a first team All-American, and national recruiting services listed him as a top-100 overall recruit (top-20 for center (basketball), centers).


College career

Colleges that expressed interest in him were UCLA Bruins men's basketball, UCLA, Connecticut Huskies men's basketball, Connecticut, DePaul Blue Demons men's basketball, DePaul, Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball, Cincinnati, Oregon Ducks men's basketball, Oregon, and St. John's Red Storm men's basketball, St. John's, among others. Obekpa ultimately chose St. John's because it was in his adopted home city and he did not want to have to re-adjust to another city's culture so quickly; he felt comfortable in New York. Obekpa quickly established himself as a premier shot blocker during his freshman campaign in 2012–13. In his first collegiate game, he set a St. John's record with eight blocks. Less than one month later, on 8 December 2012, he recorded a new school record 11 blocks in a game against 2012–13 Fordham Rams men's basketball team, Fordham; this total was one shy of the Big East Conference record. Obekpa finished his first year as the top shot blocker in the nation with a 4.03 per game average after recording 133 blocks in 33 games. St. John's earned a berth into the 2013 National Invitation Tournament where they lost to 2012–13 Virginia Cavaliers men's basketball team, Virginia in the second round. On 4 August 2015, Obekpa announced he was transferring to UNLV Rebels men's basketball, UNLV. After sitting out the 2015–16 UNLV Runnin' Rebels basketball team, 2015–16 season due to NCAA transfer rules, Obekpa declared for the NBA draft. On 23 April 2016, Obekpa hired an agent, which officially prohibited him from finishing his college career.


Professional career

After going undrafted in the 2016 NBA draft, Obekpa joined the Miami Heat for the 2016 NBA Summer League. On 21 October, he signed with the Golden State Warriors, but was waived the next day. On 31 October 2016, he was acquired by the Santa Cruz Warriors of the NBA Development League as an affiliate player of Golden State. In July 2017, Obekpa played for the Phoenix Suns during the 2017 NBA Summer League. For the 2017–18 season, he played in Turkey with Trabzonspor B.K., Trabzonspor. For the 2018–19 season, Obekpa played in Lebanon for Sporting Al Riyadi Beirut, Al Riyadi. On 7 June 2019, Obekpa signed with Italian team S.S. Felice Scandone, Sidigas Avellino. He never made it to Italy however, instead signing with the New Zealand Breakers for the 2019–20 NBL season on 6 August 2019. He was released by the Breakers a week before the start of the season due to a knee injury, was replaced by Brandon Ashley. On 28 February 2022, Obekpa joined Guinean club SLAC (basketball club), SLAC of the Basketball Africa League (BAL) In five games in the Sahara Conference, he led the league with 4.6 blocks per game. On 25 September 2022, he joined Al-Ahli Benghazi (basketball club), Al-Ahli Benghazi for the Arab Club Basketball Championship. In November 2022, Obekpa signed a short-term contract with Nigerian club Rivers Hoopers in the 2022 NBBF Premier League Final 8. In January 2023, Obekpa joined the Al-Karamah SC (men's basketball), Al-Karamah SC of the Syrian Basketball League. In February 2023, he signed with the ABC Fighters for 2023 BAL season, Season 3 of the BAL. He averaged 3.6 points and 7.4 rebounds in five games with the Fighters. On November 21, 2023, Obekpa made his debut for Burundian club Dynamo BBC, Dynamo with 8 points and 8 rebounds in a 76–61 Road to BAL loss to the Cape Town Tigers. Obekpa joined Senegalese club AS Douanes (basketball), AS Douanes for the 2024 BAL season and made his debut with the team on May 4, 2024. In November 2024, Obekpa joined Urunani BBC from Burundi.


BAL career statistics

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2022 BAL season, 2022 , style="text-align:left;", SLAC (basketball club), SLAC , 5 , , 5 , , 34.0 , , .553 , , .571 , , .615 , , 10.2 , , 2.0 , , 1.8 , , style="background:#cfecec;", 4.6* , , 13.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2023 BAL season, 2023 , style="text-align:left;", ABC Fighters , 5 , , 5 , , 26.4 , , .333 , , .000 , , 1.000 , , 7.4 , , 2.4 , , 1.2 , , 1.4 , , 3.6 , -


See also

* List of NCAA Division I men's basketball season blocks leaders


References


External links

*
UNLV profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Obekpa, Chris 1993 births Living people 21st-century Nigerian sportsmen ABC Fighters players Al Ahly Benghazi basketball players Al Riyadi Club Beirut basketball players Al-Arabi SC basketball players AS Douanes basketball players Basketball players from Suffolk County, New York Centers (basketball) Dynamo BBC players Expatriate basketball people in Burundi Fujian Sturgeons players Nigerian men's basketball players Nigerian expatriate basketball people in China Nigerian expatriate basketball people in Guinea Nigerian expatriate basketball people in Lebanon Nigerian expatriate basketball people in Turkey Nigerian expatriate basketball people in the United States Idoma people People from Centereach, New York People from Makurdi Rivers Hoopers players Santa Cruz Warriors players Sichuan Blue Whales players SLAC (basketball club) players Sportspeople from Benue State Sportspeople from Brookhaven, New York St. John's Red Storm men's basketball players University of Nevada, Las Vegas alumni