Efemena Tennyson Abogidi (born 11 October 2001) 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 for the Central Districts Lions of the

NBL1 Central NBL1 Central, formerly the Premier League, is a semi-professional basketball league in South Australia, comprising both a men's and women's competition. In 2020, Basketball South Australia partnered with the National Basketball League (NBL) to ...

. 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

Washington State Cougars The Washington State Cougars (known informally as the Cougs) are the sport, athletic teams that represent Washington State University. Located in Pullman, Washington, WSU is a member of the Pac-12 Conference in NCAA Division I. The athletic pr ...

of the

Pac-12 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I level for all sports, and its Co ...

Early life and career

Abogidi grew up in

Ughelli Ughelli is a town in Delta State, Nigeria, and one of the 24 kingdoms that make up the Urhobo people, Urhobo Nation. It also serves as the headquarters of Ughelli North local government area of Delta State. The city is indigenous to the Urhobo ...

, a town in

Delta State Delta is a States of Nigeria, state in the South South (Nigeria), South-South geopolitical zone of Nigeria. Named after the Niger Delta—a large part of which is in the state—the state was formed from the former Bendel State, on 27 August 1 ...

, Nigeria. He competed in

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

, including

sprinting Sprinting is running over a short distance at the top-most speed of the body in a limited period of time. It is used in many sports that incorporate running, typically as a way of quickly reaching a target or goal, or avoiding or catching an op ...

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

and

high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

. Abogidi watched highlight videos of

Tim Duncan Timothy Theodore Duncan (born April 25, 1976) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. He List of NBA players who have spent their entire career with one franchise, spent his entire 19-year career with the San Antonio Sp ...

, who he tried to emulate in local pick-up basketball games. In 2015 and 2016, he was named

most valuable player In team sports, a most valuable player (MVP) award is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particular competition, or ...

of a camp run by

Olumide Oyedeji Olumide Oyedeji (born 11 May 1981) is a Nigerian former professional basketball center. He is now President oHoops N' Readbasketball club. He played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for three seasons. He is the President of Nig ...

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 ...

. Abogidi joined Hoops & Read, a program created by Oyedeji's foundation, and helped his team earn a promotion into the

Nigerian Premier League The Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) (formerly the Nigeria Professional Football League) is the highest level of club football in Nigerian football league system. The Nigerian Premier League has suffered like many others, from the financ ...

in 2016. In the next year, he moved to Senegal to attend the NBA Academy Africa in its first year. In June 2017, at the NBA Academy Games in

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

, Australia, he suffered a torn ACL, MCL and

meniscus Meniscus may refer to: *Meniscus (anatomy), crescent-shaped fibrocartilaginous structure that partly divides a joint cavity *Meniscus (liquid) In physics (particularly liquid statics), the meniscus (: menisci, ) is the curve in the upper sur ...

while attempting a

slam dunk A slam dunk, also simply known as a dunk, is a type of basketball shot that is performed when a player jumps in the air, controls the ball above the horizontal plane of the rim, and scores by shoving the ball directly through the basket with on ...

. He underwent surgery and began attending the NBA Global Academy in Canberra. He committed to playing college basketball for

Washington State Washington, officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is often referred to as Washington State to distinguish it from the national capital, both named after George Washington ...

over offers from Creighton and

UT Arlington The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA or UT Arlington) is a public research university in Arlington, Texas, United States. It is the second oldest university in the University of Texas System and was founded in 1895. It was in the Texas A&M ...

College career

Abogidi played two seasons of

for the

between 2020 and 2022. In December 2020, Abogidi recorded three consecutive

double-double In basketball, a double-double is a single-game performance in which a player accumulates ten or more in two of the following five statistical categories: points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocked shots. The first "double" in the ter ...

s and was named

Pac-12 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level for all sports, and its football teams compete in the Football Bowl ...

Freshman of the Week. He averaged 8.9 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game as a freshman, earning Pac-12 All-Freshman Team honors for the 2020–21 season. In 2021–22, he played all 37 games and made 29 starts while finishing fourth on the team in scoring at 8.1 points on 51.0% shooting and averaging a team-best 5.8 rebounds per game.

Professional career

NBA G League Ignite (2022–2024)

On June 24, 2022, Abogidi signed with the

NBA G League Ignite The NBA G League Ignite was a developmental basketball team in the NBA G League. Originally based in Walnut Creek, California, with home games planned to have been played at the Ultimate Fieldhouse for their first two seasons before moving to Hende ...

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 ...

. On January 3, 2023, he suffered a knee injury during the first quarter of the team's game against the

Birmingham Squadron The Birmingham Squadron are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Birmingham, Alabama, and are affiliated with the New Orleans Pelicans. The Squadron play their home games at Legacy Arena. The team began play in 20 ...

. He was subsequently ruled out for the rest of the season after undergoing surgery. In 22 games during the 2022–23 season, he averaged 8.3 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 1.0 blocks in 18.6 minutes per game. Abogidi returned to the Ignite 2023–24 season but did not appear in a game. In October 2024, Abogidi signed with the Central Districts Lions of the

in Australia for the 2025 season.

Career statistics

College

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2020–21 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 ...

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References

External links

Washington State Cougars bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abogidi, Efe 2001 births Living people Centers (basketball) NBA G League Ignite players Nigerian men's basketball players Nigerian expatriate basketball people in the United States Sportspeople from Delta State Washington State Cougars men's basketball players 21st-century Nigerian sportsmen