Akindele Jeleel Ayodeji (born April 2, 1983) 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.

Collegiate career

Akindele chose Chicago State over

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 ...

, St. Peters and St. Marys. During Akindele's first season in Chicago, the 7'1"

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 ...

averaged 7.1 points per game, 5.6 rebounds and 1.94 blocks per game. In his second season, Akindele improved his block total by 8 in 4 fewer games (2.50 bpg), as well as improving his scoring average to 12 ppg. His best game, statistically, was when he registered 28 points (10-for-13 field goals), 21 rebounds, and 4 blocks in 79–71 loss to Green Bay on December 1, 2004. He was also named the

Mid-Continent Conference The Summit League, or The Summit, is an NCAA Division I intercollegiate athletic conference with its membership mostly located in the Midwestern United States, from Minnesota in the east, to the Dakotas, Nebraska and Colorado to the West, and Mis ...

defensive player of the year for 2004–2005.

Professional career

Akindele left Chicago State after his sophomore year, declaring himself eligible for the

2005 NBA draft The 2005 NBA draft took place on June 28, 2005, in the Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City. In this draft, NBA teams took turns selecting amateur college basketball players and other first-time eligible players, such as players fro ...

. Going unselected in 2005, he had a short stint with the NBA team

Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. Founded in 1946 i ...

. Akindele was then selected in the fourth round of the Development League's Draft by the

Fort Worth Flyers The Fort Worth Flyers were a minor league basketball team in the NBA Development League (D-League) based in Fort Worth, Texas. They began play in the 2005–06 season and were shut down for the 2007–08 season. Franchise history In 2005, Sout ...

. In December 2010 he signed with

Montepaschi Siena Mens Sana Basketball Siena, also known as simply Mens Sana, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Siena. It is a section of the sports club Polisportiva Mens Sana, founded in 1871. Under the name Montepaschi Siena, derived from spon ...

until the end of the 2010–11 season. In August 2011 he returned to Russia to play for

Spartak Primorye BC Spartak Primorye () is a Russian professional basketball club that is based in Vladivostok, Russia. It currently plays in the Russian Super League 1. Notable players * Victor Keyru: (2006–07) * Nikolay Padius: (2008–09, 2012–13) * ...

. In February 2012, he signed in Iran with Petrochimi Bandar Imam. In August 2012, he signed with

Juvecaserta Basket Sporting Club JuveCaserta (sometimes spelled Juve Caserta), also known as Decò Caserta after its title sponsor, is an Italian professional basketball team based in Caserta, Campania. The team currently plays in the Serie B1, the third tier of Ita ...

. In April 2013, he left them and signed with Champville in Lebanon. In August 2013, he signed with

Budućnost Podgorica Budućnost means "the future" in many Slavic languages, and it may also refer to: * SD Budućnost Podgorica, a sports society from Podgorica, Montenegro ** KK Budućnost Podgorica, a professional basketball club FK Budućnost may refer to: * FK B ...

. Once the

Adriatic League The ABA League, renamed the ABA League First Division in 2017, is the top-tier regional men's professional basketball league that originally featured clubs from former Yugoslavia (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, ...

regular season finished, in April 2014 Akindele signed for

Gran Canaria Gran Canaria (, ; ), also Grand Canary Island, is the third-largest and second-most-populous island of the Canary Islands, a Spain, Spanish archipelago off the Atlantic coast of Northwest Africa. the island had a population of that constitut ...

until the end of the 2013–14 season. In September 2014, he signed with

Baloncesto Fuenlabrada Baloncesto Fuenlabrada, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D., known as Flexicar Fuenlabrada because of sponsorship reasons, or just as Fuenlabrada, is a professional basketball team based in Fuenlabrada, Spain. The team plays in the Primera FEB and ...

of Spain for the

2014–15 ACB season The 2014–15 ACB season was the 32nd season of the Spanish basketball league, also called Liga Endesa in its sponsored identity. The regular season started on 4 October 2014 and finished on 24 May 2015. The playoffs, joined by the eight first qu ...

. He won the

ACB Player of the Month Award The ACB Player of the Month Award is a basketball award that recognises the best Liga ACB The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Adminis ...

in January 2015. On June 11, 2015, he signed with

Yeşilgiresun Belediye Yeşilgiresun Belediyespor, more commonly known as Yeşilgiresun, was a Turkish professional basketball club based in Giresun that played in the Turkish Basketball Super League. The team was founded by Giresun Municipality in 2006. Their home aren ...

of the

Turkish Basketball League Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The ...

for the 2015–16 season. On June 27, 2015, he signed a short-term deal with

Vaqueros de Bayamón The ''vaquero'' (; , ) is a horse-mounted livestock herder of a tradition that has its roots in the Iberian Peninsula and extensively developed in what what is today Mexico (then New Spain) and Spanish Florida from a method brought to the Americ ...

of Puerto Rico for the rest of the 2015 BSN season. In July 2015, he joined the

Metros de Santiago Metros de Santiago is a professional basketball team based in Santiago de los Caballeros, Santiago, Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in ...

of Dominican Republic for the rest of the 2015 LNB season. In October 2016, Akindele signed with

Fuerza Regia The Fuerza Regia de Monterrey (''Monterrey Royal Force'' in English) is a Mexican professional basketball team based in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico playing in the Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional (LNBP). They currently play their home g ...

of the Mexican LNBP. On April 5, 2017, he re-joined the Vaqueros de Bayamón. In December 2017, Akindele signed with

Yalovaspor BK Yalovaspor BK, is a Turkish professional basketball club based in Yalova, which currently competes in the Basketbol Süper Ligi (BSL). The team was founded in 1998 and got promoted to the top division in 2021. Their home arena is ''90. Yıl Spor ...

of the

Turkish Basketball First League Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The w ...

. On April 10, 2018, he returned to Puerto Rico with

Capitanes de Arecibo The Capitanes de Arecibo are a Puerto Rican professional basketball team based in Arecibo that competes in the Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN) league. In 2010, the team also had the distinction to play in the Premier Basketball League (PBL) ...

. Akindele rejoined Vaqueros de Bayamón on February 26, 2020, replacing the injured Greg Smith.

National team

He was part of the

Nigeria 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 bask ...

, and represented Nigeria at the

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

and 2009 African Championships, averaging 8.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 0.6 assists per game.FIBA.com profile
. Libya2009.fiba.com. Retrieved on 2011-12-04.

References

External links