Akinfayoshe Daniel Oturu (born September 20, 1999) is a Nigerian-American 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 for

Hapoel Tel Aviv Hapoel Tel Aviv () is a sports club in Israel, founded in the 1920s, and part of the Hapoel association. It runs several sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv which have competed in a variety of sports over the years, such as football, basketball, w ...

of the Israeli Ligat HaAl and the

EuroLeague The EuroLeague is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier and the most prestigious men's basketball league in Europe. The league consists of 20 teams, of which 16 are given lon ...

. 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 the

Minnesota Golden Gophers The Minnesota Golden Gophers (commonly shortened to Gophers) are the college athletics, college sports teams of the University of Minnesota. The university fields a total of 21 (9 men's, 12 women's) teams in both men's and women's sports and com ...

High school career

Oturu played basketball for

Cretin-Derham Hall High School Cretin-Derham Hall High School (CDH) is a private, co-educational Catholic high school in Saint Paul, Minnesota operated by the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. It is co-sponsored by the Brothers of the Christian Schools and the Sis ...

Saint Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (often abbreviated St. Paul) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County, Minnesota, Ramsey County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, ...

for four years. He grew from 6'6 as a freshman to 6'9 as a junior and developed good hand-eye coordination and navigation on the court. As a senior, he averaged 18.8 points, 11.5 rebounds and 6.1 blocks per game and became his school's all-time leader in each of the three categories. In his final season, Oturu led his team to a Class 4A state championship over Apple Valley High School, scoring a game-winning dunk with 0.5 seconds left in regulation. Despite his strong play, he was excluded from the all-tournament team for sportsmanship reasons, as he had received a

technical foul In basketball, a technical foul (colloquially known as a "T" or a "tech") is any infraction of the rules penalized as a foul which does not involve physical contact during the course of play between opposing players on the court, or is a foul by a ...

for shoving opposing player,

Tre Jones Tre Isiah Jones ( ; born January 8, 2000) is an American professional basketball point guard for the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Like his older brother, fellow NBA player Tyus Jones, he played college basketball f ...

, in the first half. Oturu was invited to play for the World Select team, representing his parents' home country of Nigeria, at the

Nike Hoop Summit The Nike Hoop Summit is an international basketball all-star game sponsored by Nike, Inc., Nike, held once a year, which features the USA Basketball Men's Junior Select Team against a World Select Team of international players. The players demons ...

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

. He was considered a four-star recruit and committed to play

for

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

over offers from

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

, among others.

College career

Oturu had shoulder surgery prior to his freshman season. On December 24, 2018, Oturu was named

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives in 1 ...

freshman of the week after scoring 20 points and pulling down 11 rebounds in a 86–67 win over North Carolina A&T. He tied his season-high of 20 points in a 68–64 loss to

Rutgers Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College and was aff ...

on February 24, 2019. Despite Oturu's strong play, he was not named in the Big Ten Freshman Team, which he cited as motivation. Oturu averaged 10.8 points per game and led Big Ten freshman in rebounding with 7.0 per game, blocked shots with 46, and field goal percentage with 55 percent. In the offseason, Oturu worked on bulking up to help replace the loss of Jordan Murphy. During his sophomore season he was named Big Ten player of the week on December 30, after posting 21 points and a career-high 20 rebounds in an 89–62 win against Florida International, shooting 8-of-12 from the floor. On January 12, 2020, Oturu scored a career-high 30 points in a 75–67 upset of

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

despite playing with a shoulder injury. He was named Big Ten Player of the Week on January 13. At the close of the regular season, Oturu was named to the Second Team All-Big Ten by the coaches and media and to the All-Defensive Team.

Professional career

Los Angeles Clippers (2020–2021)

Oturu was selected with the 33rd pick in the

2020 NBA draft The 2020 NBA draft was held on November 18, 2020. The draft was originally scheduled to be held at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on June 25, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was instead conducted at ESPN's facilities in Bristol, Connecticut, wi ...

by the

Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves (often referred to as the Wolves or T-wolves) are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Divisio ...

, becoming the first University of Minnesota player to be drafted since

Kris Humphries Kristopher Nathan Humphries (born February 6, 1985) is an American former professional basketball power forward who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played in the NBA for the Utah Jazz, Toronto Raptors, Dallas Mavericks, ...

in 2004. Oturu was subsequently traded to the

Los Angeles Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. The ...

. On November 28, 2020, the

announced that they had signed with Oturu.

Windy City Bulls (2021)

On August 16, 2021, Oturu was traded to the

Memphis Grizzlies The Memphis Grizzlies (referred to locally as the Grizz) are an American professional basketball team based in Memphis, Tennessee. The Grizzlies compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division of the ...

, who waived him on September 23. Four days later, he signed with the

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded on January 16 ...

, but was waived on October 11. Oturu joined the

Windy City Bulls The Windy City Bulls are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, and are affiliated with the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls play their home games at Now Arena, from Chicago. It became the thirte ...

as an affiliate player.

Toronto Raptors (2021–2022)

On December 26, 2021, Oturu signed a 10-day contract with the

Toronto Raptors The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), E ...

Return to Windy City Bulls (2022–2023)

On January 3, 2022, Oturu was reacquired and activated by the

of the

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is a professional basketball league in North America that serves as the Minor league#Basketball, developmental league of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league comprises 31 teams; as of ...

Yukatel Merkezefendi (2023–2024)

On July 26, 2023, Oturu signed with Yukatel Merkezefendi of the Turkish

Basketbol Süper Ligi The Basketball Super League (; TBSL), also known as the Türkiye Sigorta Basketbol Süper Ligi for sponsorship reasons, is the top men's professional basketball division of the Turkish basketball league system. It replaced the former Turkish Bas ...

Loan to Anadolu Efes and than permanent transfer (2023–2025)

On December 4, 2023, Oturu has been loaned to

Anadolu Efes Anadolu Efes Spor Kulübü, commonly referred to as Anadolu Efes or simply Efes, is a Turkish professional basketball team based in Istanbul. Founded in 1976, the club was formerly known as Efes Pilsen until 2011. Efes is the 2021–22 EuroLeagu ...

of the Turkish

(BSL).

Hapoel Tel Aviv (2025–present)

On July 6, 2025, Oturu signed with

of the Israeli Ligat HaAl.

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", L.A. Clippers , 30 , , 0 , , 5.4 , , .423 , , .200 , , .750 , , 1.6 , , .3 , , .1 , , .2 , , 1.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, 3 , , 0 , , 9.0 , , .500 , , .000 , , .600 , , 1.7 , , .0 , , .0 , , .7 , , 3.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 33 , , 0 , , 5.7 , , .431 , , .167 , , .706 , , 1.6 , , .3 , , .1 , , .3 , , 1.9

Playoffs

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

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

, style="text-align:left;", L.A. Clippers , 8 , , 0 , , 1.9 , , .400 , , .000 , , .500 , , .5 , , , , , , .1 , , .6 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 8 , , 0 , , 1.9 , , .400 , , .000 , , .500 , , .5 , , , , , , .1 , , .6

EuroLeague

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2023–24 , style="text-align:left;",

, 22 , , 3 , , 15.5 , , .684 , , , , .585 , , 3.9 , , .5 , , .3 , , .9 , , 7.2 , , 8.8 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 22 , , 3 , , 15.5 , , .684 , , , , .585 , , 3.9 , , .5 , , .3 , , .9 , , 7.2 , , 8.8

Domestic leagues

{, class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:100%; text-align:right;" ! Year ! Team ! League ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! , - , style="text-align:left;", 2021–22 , , style="text-align:left;",

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

G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is a professional basketball league in North America that serves as the Minor league#Basketball, developmental league of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league comprises 31 teams; as of ...

, , 29 , , 22.2 , , .573 , , .237 , , .570 , , 7.0 , , .9 , , .5 , , .5 , , 13.3 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

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

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

, , 24 , , 17.5 , , .612 , , .125 , , .524 , , 5.8 , , .5 , , .5 , , .5 , , 11.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2023–24 , , style="text-align:left;", M. B. Denizli , , style="text-align:center;", TBSL , , 10 , , 32.9 , , .652 , , , , .631 , , 9.6 , , 1.4 , , 1.1 , , 1.6 , , 20.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2023–24 , , style="text-align:left;",

, , style="text-align:center;", TBSL , , 21 , , 25.7 , , .644 , , .000 , , .631 , , 5.8 , , 1.5 , , .5 , , 1.1 , , 15.0

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;",

, 35 , , 31 , , 23.8 , , .551 , , .500 , , .615 , , 7.0 , , .5 , , .5 , , 1.3 , , 10.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20 , style="text-align:left;",

, 31 , , 31 , , 33.9 , , .563 , , .365 , , .707 , , 11.3 , , 1.1 , , .5 , , 2.5 , , 20.1 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 66 , , 62 , , 28.5 , , .558 , , .370 , , .671 , , 9.0 , , .8 , , .5 , , 1.8 , , 15.2

Personal life

Both of Oturu's parents are natives of

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

. His mother, Deborah, is from Ife and his father, Francis, is from Fadeyi, a suburb of

Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...

. Francis played

table tennis Table tennis (also known as ping-pong) is a racket sport derived from tennis but distinguished by its playing surface being atop a stationary table, rather than the Tennis court, court on which players stand. Either individually or in teams of ...

for the Nigerian national team and moved to the United States because of his table tennis career. Oturu has an older sister, Eunice. As well as a two younger siblings named David, and Priscilla. Oturu was given his middle name, Daniel, by his mother, who viewed it as a strong

biblical The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) biblical languages ...

name. His first name, Akinfayoshe, combines the Yoruba words "Akin" (hero) and "fayoshe" (joy and happiness). Oturu comes from a

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

family. Both of his parents are

ministers Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...

at a branch of the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries in

. His favorite NBA player was

Kobe Bryant Kobe Bean Bryant ( ; August 23, 1978 – January 26, 2020) was an American professional basketball player. A shooting guard, he List of NBA players who have spent their entire career with one franchise, spent his entire 20-year career with t ...

, and he cites

Joel Embiid Joel Hans Embiid ( ; born 16 March 1994) is a Cameroonian and American professional basketball player for the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). After one year of college basketball with the Kansas Jayhawks men's ...

as a role model.

References

External links

Minnesota Golden Gophers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oturu, Daniel 1999 births Living people 21st-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century American sportsmen All-American college men's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Canada American expatriate basketball people in Turkey American men's basketball players American basketball players of Nigerian descent Anadolu Efes S.K. players Basketball players from Brooklyn Basketball players from Saint Paul, Minnesota Centers (basketball) Los Angeles Clippers players Merkezefendi Belediyesi Denizli Basket players Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball players Minnesota Timberwolves draft picks Toronto Raptors players Windy City Bulls players