Christopher Ike Anigbogu (born October 17, 1998) is an 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 the College Park Skyhawks 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 ...

. 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 one season with the

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Big Ten Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF ...

. As a freshman, he was a key reserve for a Bruins squad that advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament. After the season, Anigbogu was selected by the

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

in the second round of the

2017 NBA draft The 2017 NBA draft was held on June 22, 2017, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players. ...

with the 47th overall pick. He played two seasons for the Pacers.

Early life

Anigbogu was born in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

, to Nigerian parents Chris and Veronica Anigbogu. He attended Temescal Canyon High in

Lake Elsinore Lake Elsinore is a natural freshwater lake in Riverside County, California, United States, located east of the Santa Ana Mountains and fed by the San Jacinto River. Originally named ''Laguna Grande'' by Spanish explorers, it was renamed for t ...

as a freshman and played on their

junior varsity team A varsity team is the highest-level team in a sport or activity representing an educational institution. Varsity teams train to compete against each other during an athletic season or in periodic matches against rival institutions. At high schools ...

. The following year, he transferred to Centennial High in

Corona Corona (from the Latin for 'crown') most commonly refers to: * Stellar corona, the outer atmosphere of the Sun or another star * Corona (beer), a Mexican beer * Corona, informal term for the coronavirus or disease responsible for the COVID-19 ...

, where he was also enrolled in the

International Baccalaureate The International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), more commonly known as the International Baccalaureate (IB), is a nonprofit foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and founded in 1968. It offers four educational programmes: the I ...

program. A skinny, sophomore, he averaged two

points A point is a small dot or the sharp tip of something. Point or points may refer to: Mathematics * Point (geometry), an entity that has a location in space or on a plane, but has no extent; more generally, an element of some abstract topologica ...

and 2.5

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 ...

per game as the Huskies advanced to the state finals. As a junior in 2015, Anigbogu led the team to the state regional finals, where the Huskies lost to

Chino Hills The Chino Hills are a mountain range on the border of Orange, Los Angeles, and San Bernardino counties, California, with a small portion in Riverside County. Chino Hills State Park preserves open space and habitat in them. Geography The Chin ...

, who were led by

Lonzo Ball Lonzo Anderson Ball (born October 27, 1997) is an American professional basketball player for the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A point guard, he played college basketball for one season with the UCLA Bruins, earni ...

. In his senior year, he was limited by injuries and a family emergency. Anigbogu took three weeks off to attend an uncle's funeral in Nigeria. During the playoffs, he was limited by an injured knee. For the season, the Huskies were 20–5 when Anigbogu played. He finished with averages of 19 points, 11 rebounds and 3 blocks.

College career

Ranked nationally as a consensus top-50 recruit, Anigbogu attended the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

(UCLA), where he was part of a Bruins freshmen class that included more heralded five-star players like Ball and

T. J. Leaf Ty Jacob Leaf (; born April 30, 1997) is an Israeli-American professional basketball player for the Nanjing Monkey Kings of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). After playing one season of college basketball for the UCLA Bruins, he was sele ...

. Anigbogu and Leaf had played on the same

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It h ...

(AAU) team, the Compton Magic, who had also been coached by UCLA assistant David Grace. The newcomers were expected to help turn around a program that a year earlier had suffered its fourth losing season in the previous 68 years. Anigbogu missed the first five games of the 2016–17 season when he underwent knee surgery after tearing his right

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 ...

in practice. The Bruins' most intimidating player, he returned to provide UCLA a physical presence they lacked. Standing at and , Anigbogu provided highlight-reel dunks and blocks. Despite never

starting Start can refer to multiple topics: * Takeoff, the phase of flight where an aircraft transitions from moving along the ground to flying through the air * Starting lineup in sports * Starts use in sport race * Standing start, and rolling start, i ...

as a backup to junior

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

Thomas Welsh, he became arguably their top defender. After spraining his left foot during practice, Anigbogu missed UCLA's opener in the NCAA tournament against

Kent State Kent State University (KSU) is a public research university in Kent, Ohio, United States. The university includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio located in Ashtabula, Burton, East Liverpool, Jackson Township, New Philadelphia, ...

, but returned in the second round to score six points and block a shot in just seven minutes in a win over

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

. The Bruins finished the season with 31 wins after being eliminated in the Sweet 16. For the year, Anigbogu averaged 4.7 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks in 13 minutes per game, and made 56 percent of his field goals His 35 blocks ranked third on the team while his minutes played were less than half as many as Welsh (43 blocks) and Leaf (39). Projected to be a late first-round pick, Anigbogu announced after the season that he would declare for the

. Even with his limited playing time and raw offensive skills, he was valued for his athleticism and potential as a standout defender.

Professional career

Indiana Pacers (2017–2019)

Working out for the

in his fourth pre-draft tryout, Anigbogu twisted his right knee, which precluded him from participating in any further workouts leading up to the draft. His draft stock fell over concerns about his knee, and the Pacers selected him in the second round with the 47th overall pick. He was joined in Indiana by UCLA teammate Leaf, who the Pacers had selected in the first round. Anigbogu had surgery to repair

cartilage Cartilage is a resilient and smooth type of connective tissue. Semi-transparent and non-porous, it is usually covered by a tough and fibrous membrane called perichondrium. In tetrapods, it covers and protects the ends of long bones at the joints ...

in his knee and missed the

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 ...

while rehabbing. He made his NBA debut on October 20, 2017, playing two minutes in a 114–96 loss to 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 ...

. At just 19 years old, he was the youngest player in the NBA in 2017–18. In his first season, he played 11 games with the Pacers, and had multiple assignments to their

affiliate, the

Fort Wayne Mad Ants The Noblesville Boom are an American professional basketball team based in Noblesville, Indiana that competes in the NBA G League. The Boom are the affiliate team of the NBA's Indiana Pacers and, since 2025, they have played their home games at ...

. During the offseason, Anigbogu missed his second straight summer league after undergoing minor surgery on his knee. He played just three games for the Pacers in 2018–19 before they waived him to complete a deal at the NBA trade deadline on February 7, 2019. He had spent most of his time in the G League and was playing well, averaging 11.1 points, 9.5 rebounds and 1.9 blocks in 21 games with Fort Wayne. However, he missed several games due to knee soreness.

Erie BayHawks (2020–2021)

On January 31, 2020, the Erie BayHawks—the G League affiliate of the

New Orleans Pelicans The New Orleans Pelicans are an American professional basketball team based in New Orleans. The Pelicans compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Confere ...

—acquired Anigbogu off waivers. He played six games and averaged 9.5 points and 4.8 rebounds. Anigbogu signed with New Orleans in December 2020, but he was waived after the preseason. He rejoined the BayHawks for the 2020–21 G League season, scheduled to be played in a bubble in

Orlando, Florida Orlando ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, Florida, United States. The city proper had a population of 307,573 at the 2020 census, making it the fourth-most populous city in Florida behind Jacksonville, Florida, Jacksonville ...

, due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. On March 1, he was waived after suffering a season-ending injury.

Birmingham Squadron (2022; 2024–present)

On January 20, 2022, Anigbogu was acquired via returning player rights by 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 ...

. However, he was waived on February 28 after suffering a season-ending injury. On January 12, 2024, Aninogbu returned to the Squadron.

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

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Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

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, 3 , , 0 , , 2.0 , , .000 , , — , , — , , 1.0 , , .3 , , .0 , , .3 , , 0.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 14 , , 0 , , 2.6 , , .333 , , — , , .833 , , .9 , , .1 , , .1 , , .3 , , 0.9

NBA G League

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2017–18 , style="text-align:left;",

Fort Wayne Fort Wayne is a city in Allen County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 at the 2020 United S ...

, 20 , , 20 , , 24.5 , , .525 , , .000 , , .703 , , 6.4 , , 1.1 , , .3 , , 1.7 , , 8.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;", Fort Wayne , 21 , , 21 , , 27.2 , , .468 , , .000 , , .647 , , 9.6 , , .7 , , .4 , , 1.9 , , 11.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20 , style="text-align:left;",

Erie Erie is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is the fifth-most populous city in Pennsylvania and the most populous in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 ...

, 6 , , 0 , , 13.7 , , .615 , , .455 , , .500 , , 4.8 , , .5 , , .3 , , .8 , , 9.5 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 47 , , 41 , , 24.3 , , .504 , , .385 , , .661 , , 7.6 , , .8 , , .4 , , 1.7 , , 9.9

College

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UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

, 29 , , 0 , , 13.0 , , .564 , , — , , .535 , , 4.0 , , .2 , , .2 , , 1.2 , , 4.7

References

External links

UCLA Bruins bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anigbogu, Ike 1998 births Living people 21st-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century American sportsmen American men's basketball players American basketball players of Nigerian descent Basketball players from Riverside County, California Basketball players from San Diego Birmingham Squadron players Centennial High School (Corona, California) alumni Centers (basketball) Fort Wayne Mad Ants players Indiana Pacers draft picks Indiana Pacers players Sportspeople from Corona, California UCLA Bruins men's basketball players