Keve Aluma (born December 31, 1998) is an American

professional basketball In professional sports, as opposed to amateur sports, participants receive payment for their performance. Professionalism in sport has come to the fore through a combination of developments. Mass media and increased leisure have brought larger a ...

player for the

Ryukyu Golden Kings The are a Japanese professional basketball team based in Okinawa (city), Okinawa, Okinawa Prefecture. They compete in the B.League, the top-tier professional basketball league of Japan. The Golden Kings have won the Japanese national title f ...

of the

B.League The B.League is a men's professional basketball league in Japan. The league is operated by the Japan Professional Basketball League and was formed as a result of a merger between the National Basketball League that was operated by the FIBA-affi ...

. He previously played for the

Virginia Tech Hokies The Virginia Tech Hokies are the athletic teams representing Virginia Tech in intercollegiate athletics. The Hokies participate in the NCAA's Division I Atlantic Coast Conference in 22 varsity sports. Virginia Tech's men's sports are football, b ...

and the

Wofford Terriers The Wofford Terriers are the athletic teams that represent the Wofford College, located in Spartanburg, South Carolina, in intercollegiate sports at the NCAA Division I, Division I level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), p ...

Early life and high school career

Aluma grew up playing

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

and did not play basketball until high school. He stood 6'7" as a freshman at Stephen Decatur High School in

Berlin, Maryland Berlin is a town in Worcester County, Maryland, United States which includes its own historical Berlin Commercial District. The population was 4,485 at the 2010 census, and has since grown in population. It is part of the Salisbury, Maryland ...

. Aluma was a three-year starter for Decatur, leading the team to two regional titles and a 3A state championship game appearance. He was named Bayside South Player of the Year in his senior season. Aluma committed to playing college basketball for Wofford over offers from Loyola (Maryland),

UTEP The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas, United States. Founded in 1913 as the State School of Mines and Metallurgy, it is the third oldest academic component of the University of Texas Syste ...

and UMBC, among others.

College career

Aluma averaged 2.5 points and 3.4 rebounds per game as a freshman at Wofford. He became a starter in his next season. On January 3, 2019, Aluma matched his season-high 14 points and nine rebounds in a 112–81 win over

The Citadel The Citadel Military College of South Carolina (simply known as The Citadel) is a public senior military college in Charleston, South Carolina, United States. Established in 1842, it is the third oldest of the six senior military colleges ...

. As a sophomore, he averaged 6.9 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. Aluma transferred to

Virginia Tech The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, commonly referred to as Virginia Tech (VT), is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States ...

, where his previous coach Mike Young was hired, and sat out for one season due to transfer rules. On November 28, 2020, he posted 23 points and eight rebounds in an 81–73

overtime Overtime is the amount of time someone works beyond normal working hours. The term is also used for the pay received for this time. Normal hours may be determined in several ways: *by custom (what is considered healthy or reasonable by society) ...

win over third-ranked Villanova. On January 30, 2021, he recorded 29 points, 10 rebounds and four assists, leading his team to a 65–61 win over eighth-ranked

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

. In his following game, Aluma posted 30 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in an 83–72 loss to

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

. As a redshirt junior, Aluma averaged 15.2 points and 7.9 rebounds per game, earning Second Team All-ACC honors. Following the season, he declared for the

2021 NBA draft The 2021 NBA draft, the 75th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual NBA draft, draft, was held on July 29, 2021, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York. The NBA draft returned to Brooklyn after 2020 NBA draft, the pre ...

, but ultimately returned for his senior season. Aluma was again named to the Second Team All-ACC as a senior.

Career statistics

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2017–18 , style="text-align:left;", Wofford , 33 , , 3 , , 13.3 , , .566 , , – , , .571 , , 3.4 , , .5 , , .2 , , .4 , , 2.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;", Wofford , 35 , , 34 , , 26.6 , , .667 , , .000 , , .574 , , 6.8 , , 1.0 , , .7 , , .9 , , 6.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20 , style="text-align:left;",

, style="text-align:center;" colspan="11",

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

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 ...

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

, 22 , , 22 , , 30.6 , , .490 , , .351 , , .722 , , 7.9 , , 2.2 , , .7 , , 1.3 , , 15.2 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 90 , , 59 , , 22.7 , , .556 , , .345 , , .639 , , 5.8 , , 1.1 , , .5 , , .8 , , 7.3

Personal life

His biological father, Peter Aluma, played in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA) for part of one season. He was raised by his mother and stepfather, Bethany and Bruce Copeland.

References

External links

Virginia Tech Hokies bioWofford Terriers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aluma, Keve 1998 births Living people American men's basketball players American basketball players of Nigerian descent Basketball players from Maryland People from Berlin, Maryland Power forwards Virginia Tech Hokies men's basketball players Wofford Terriers men's basketball players Ulsan Hyundai Mobis Phoebus players Niigata Albirex BB players American expatriate basketball people in Japan American expatriate basketball people in South Korea 21st-century American sportsmen Ryukyu Golden Kings players