Ekenechukwu "E-Beks" Ibekwe (born July 19, 1985) is a

Nigerian American Nigerian Americans (; ; ) are Americans who are of Nigerians, Nigerian ancestry. The number of Nigerian immigrants residing in the United States is rapidly growing, expanding from a small 1980 population of 25,000. The 2022 American Community S ...

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 Urunday Universitario of the Liga Uruguaya de Básquetbol. 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 University of Maryland at College Park and represents the

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

in international competitions.

High school career

Ibekwe attended Carson High School in Carson,

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. As a senior in 2002–03, he was a second-team ''Parade'' All-American after averaging 19.9 points, 10.2 rebounds and 4.4 blocks per game in leading his squad to a 23–4 record and a semi-final finish in the Los Angeles city championship. He also earned all-state honors and a first team "All-Dream Team" nod by the Long Beach Press-Telegram as a senior, while he was named to the All-L.A. city first team, the All-South Bay first team and his team's MVP as a junior and senior.

College career

In his freshman season at

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

, Ibekwe was the only freshman to play in all 32 games, drawing seven starts during his rookie season. He led the Terps in blocked shots with 44, an average of 1.4 per game, becoming the first freshman to lead the Terps in blocked shots since Joe Smith (1993–94). In those 32 games, he averaged 4.9 points and 3.9 rebounds per game. In his sophomore season, he played in 30 of 32 games on the season, starting 18 while finishing fifth on the team in scoring with 8.4 points per game and second in rebounding with 6.3 boards. He also led the team in blocks with 55, finishing fourth among ACC leaders with 1.83 blocks per game. On November 30, 2004, he recorded his first career double-double with a career-high 21 points on 10-of-13 shooting at Wisconsin. In his junior season, he appeared in 32 games and made 30 starts while averaging 11.1 points and 6.6 rebounds per game; also finished the year seventh in the ACC with 1.34 blocks per game. In his senior season, he earned ACC All-Defensive Team and All-ACC Honorable Mention honors. In 32 games, he averaged 10.4 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game. For his career, he accrued 1,107 points, 781 rebounds and 230 blocks, becoming the fourth player in school history (and the first since Lonny Baxter) to record 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 200 blocks.

Professional career

2007–08 season

Ibekwe went undrafted in the 2007 NBA draft. In August 2007, he signed with Hapoel Galil Elyon of Israel for the 2007–08 season. In October 2007, he was released by Galil Elyon and later signed with Hapoel Gilboa/Afula. In February 2008, he parted ways with Gilboa/Afula. The next month, he joined Besançon BCD of France for the rest of the season.

2008–09 season

In July 2008, Ibekwe joined the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Suns compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA), We ...

for the 2008

NBA Summer League The NBA Summer League, also known as the Las Vegas Summer League, is an off-season basketball competition organized by the National Basketball Association (NBA). NBA teams come together to try out different summer rosters instead of their regula ...

. He later signed with Selçuk Üniversitesi of Turkey for the 2008–09 season. In May 2009, he joined Gigantes de Carolina for the rest of the 2009 BSN season.

2009–10 season

In July 2009, Ibekwe joined 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 ...

for the 2009 NBA Summer League. He later signed with Antalya Kepez Belediyesi of Turkey but was waived before the start of the season. In December 2009, he signed with Iman Harbour of the Iranian Basketball Super League. In January 2010, he left Iman and signed with Genç Banvitliler of Turkey for the rest of the season.

2010–11 season

In July 2010, Ibekwe joined the

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (N ...

for the 2010 NBA Summer League. In August 2010, he signed with the

Artland Dragons QTSV Quakenbrück, widely known as Artland Dragons is a professional basketball club based in Quakenbrück, Germany. The club's home arena is the Artland Arena, which has a capacity of 3,000 spectators. From 2003 till 2015 the club played in the B ...

of Germany for the 2010–11 season. On December 16, 2010, he parted ways with Artland. Three days later, he signed with Ironi Ashkelon of Israel for the rest of the season. In February 2011, he parted ways with Ironi and signed with

Bayreuth Bayreuth ( or ; High Franconian German, Upper Franconian: Bareid, ) is a Town#Germany, town in northern Bavaria, Germany, on the Red Main river in a valley between the Franconian Jura and the Fichtel Mountains. The town's roots date back to 11 ...

of Germany for the rest of the season.

2011–12 season

On July 8, 2011, Ibekwe re-signed with Bayreuth for the 2011–12 season.

2012–13 season

In July 2012, Ibekwe re-joined the Portland Trail Blazers for the 2012 NBA Summer League. On August 16, 2012, he signed with Lagun Aro GBC of Spain for the 2012–13 season.

2014–15 season

On August 18, 2014, Ibekwe signed with the

New Zealand Breakers The New Zealand Breakers (also known as the Bank of New Zealand, BNZ Breakers for sponsorship reasons) are a New Zealand professional basketball team based in Auckland. The Breakers are the only non-Australian side currently competing in Austral ...

for the 2014–15 NBL season. In what was a great season for Ibekwe, he earned All-NBL second team honors and helped lead the Breakers to the NBL Grand Final. After winning Game 1 against the

Cairns Taipans The Cairns Taipans are an Australian professional basketball team based in Cairns, Queensland. The Taipans compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at the Cairns Convention Centre, known colloquially as "The S ...

in Cairns, Game 2 shifted to Auckland where in the dying seconds of the game, it was tied up 81–81. Coming out of the timeout, Ibekwe hit a game-winning fade-away shot to lift the Breakers over the Taipans 83–81 and thus clinched the team's fourth title in five seasons. On March 18, 2015, he signed with Atenienses de Manatí of the

Baloncesto Superior Nacional The Baloncesto Superior Nacional, abbreviated as BSN, is the first-tier-level professional men's basketball list of basketball leagues, league in Puerto Rico. It was founded in 1929 and is organized by the Puerto Rican Basketball Federation. T ...

to replace center Jerome James. His stint with Manatí lasted just 11 games as he parted ways with the club in mid-April. In those 11 games, he averaged 9.1 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game.

2015–16 season

On August 10, 2015, Ibekwe signed with Melbourne United for the 2015–16 NBL season. On September 26, he signed with the

Gießen 46ers The GIESSEN 46ers (formerly GIESSEN 46ers) is a professional basketball club based in Gießen, Germany, that plays in the ProA. Their home arena is Sporthalle Gießen-Ost, with a capacity of 4,003 people. History The biggest achievements in clu ...

of Germany's

Basketball Bundesliga The Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) (English language: ''Federal Basketball League''), for sponsorship reasons named easyCredit BBL, is the German basketball league system, highest level Sports league, league of professional club basketball in German ...

. On November 22, he parted ways with Gießen. On January 2, 2016, he signed with the Russian club Krasny Oktyabr of the

VTB United League The VTB United League () is an international professional men's club basketball league that was founded in 2009. It is made up of mostly Russian clubs, along with one each from Belarus and Kazakhstan. Since 2013, it is the first tier of Russian ...

. On May 2, 2016, Ibekwe signed with

Hekmeh BC Sagesse Sports Club (French language , French: '' Club Sportif de la Sagesse''), known as Hekmeh in Arabic, is a Lebanese sports club founded in 1943 and is based in Beirut. The basketball team was established in 1992, as part of the Club Sages ...

to replace the injured Todd O'Brien in the Final Four of the

Lebanese Basketball League The Lebanese Basketball League is recognized as the top-tier professional men's basketball list of basketball leagues, league in Lebanon. It is organized annually as a national championship with playoffs and a national cup by the Lebanese Basketb ...

2016–17 season

On July 20, 2016, Ibekwe signed with

ČEZ Nymburk Basketball Nymburk, also known as ERA Nymburk due to sponsorship reasons, is a professional basketball team that is based in the town of Nymburk. The club plays in the top-tier level professional Czech National League (NBL). Nymburk regularly pl ...

of Czech Republic for the 2016–17 season. On October 20, 2016, he left Nymburk and signed a two-month contract with German club Skyliners Frankfurt. Following the expiration of contract, he left Frankfurt. On December 30, 2016, he signed with Turkish club Uşak Sportif. On May 1, 2017, Ibekwe signed with the French

LNB Pro A LNB may refer to: Sport * Liga Nacional de Baloncesto, a professional basketball league in the Dominican Republic * Liga Nacional de Básquetbol, an Argentine basketball league * Liga Nacional de Básquetbol (Paraguay), Liga Nacional de Básquetb ...

club

Élan Chalon Élan Sportif Chalonnais, commonly known as Élan Chalon, is a French professional basketball club that is based in Chalon-sur-Saône, France. The team's main colors are red and white, and their mascot is a moose. The team's home arena is called ...

for the rest of the 2016–17 Pro A season.

2017–18 season

On September 4, 2017, Ibekwe signed a three-month contract with German club

Oettinger Rockets Rockets is a German professional basketball team. It is originally based in Gotha, Germany but plays its home games in Erfurt. The Rockets is the first team of the BiG Gotha basketball club. In 2017, Rockets promoted to the Basketball Bundesliga ( ...

. On December 30, 2017, he signed with French club

Champagne Châlons-Reims Basket Champagne Basket is a French professional basketball club that is based in both the cities of Reims and Châlons-en-Champagne. The club was established in 2010 as part of the union between the old clubs of and the . Since 2022, the team plays in t ...

for the rest of the 2017–18 Pro A season.

2019–20 season

On November 29, 2019, he has signed with Élan Béarnais of the

. Ibekwe averaged 8.7 points and 6.6 rebounds per game.

2020–21 season

On August 7, 2020, Ibekwe signed with

. On February 11, 2021, he has signed with Chorale Roanne Basket of the

International career

Ibekwe has been a member of the senior men's

. He played at the

2006 FIBA World Championship The 2006 FIBA World Championship was the 15th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's national teams. The tournament was hosted by Japan and held from 19 August to 3 September 2006. It was co-organised b ...

, where he was one of the team's leaders in points (4th) and rebounds (1st). He also played at the

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

and

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

Personal

Ibekwe is the son of Nigerian parents, Agatha and Augustine Ibekwe. His brother, Onye, played college basketball for Long Beach State. He also has two sisters, Chinyere and Ify. Ify Ibekwe is also a professional basketball player, she represents the Nigerian women's national basketball team in international competitions.

References

External links