Micheal Oluwaseun Eric (born June 24, 1988) 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 court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player for Unicaja Málaga of the Spanish Liga ACB. He played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

for

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called church (building), churches), Hindui ...

Early life

Born and raised in

Lagos, Nigeria Lagos ( Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national capital of Nigeria until December 1991 ...

, Eric did not play basketball as a youth as his dad was a soccer coach and he liked to focus on his education. Despite basketball being a popular sport in Nigeria, he dismissed the sport until he grew five inches in a span of two years. He traveled to Delaware in 2004 to visit his brother, Stephen, who wouldn’t let him return to Nigeria. Stephen knew with his younger brother's height – he was 6-foot-8 at the time – he could make a future for himself in basketball. Newly arrived in the United States, Eric enrolled at

Caesar Rodney High School Caesar Rodney High School is a public high school located in Camden, Delaware, just south of Dover. The school is in Caesar Rodney School District. Its enrollment is over 2,000. During 1983 to 1984, Caesar Rodney was recognized as a Blue Rib ...

Camden, Delaware Camden is a town in Kent County, Delaware, United States. It is part of the Dover, Delaware Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 3,464 at the 2010 census. History Camden was established in 1783 as a community originally known as Mif ...

where he spent his sophomore year before transferring to Church Farm School in

Exton, Pennsylvania Exton is a census-designated place (CDP) in West Whiteland Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. Its population was 5,622 at the 2020 census. The Exton Square Mall and Main Street at Exton are both located within Exton along w ...

for his junior year.

High school career

Eric played two seasons at Church Farm as he earned first-team all-league and all-area as a junior and senior. As a junior in 2005–06, he averaged 16 points, 15 rebounds and eight blocks per game. In November 2006, Eric signed a

National Letter of Intent National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ...

to play

for

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptists, Baptist minister Russell Conwell an ...

. As a senior in 2006–07, Eric averaged 19 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks per game while leading Church Farm to the KASC regular season championship.

College career

To Eric's disappointment, he was ruled ineligible to compete in 2007–08 due to NCAA initial eligibility guidelines, forcing him to redshirt the season. He went on to join the

Temple Owls The Temple Owls are the athletic teams that represent Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The current athletic director is Arthur Johnson. The owl has been the symbol and mascot for Temple University since its founding in the 188 ...

in 2008–09 where he averaged 2.7 points and 2.1 rebounds in 27 games. As a sophomore in 2009–10, Eric played in 31 games, starting 29, as he finished fifth on the team in scoring with 5.9 points per game. In addition, his 20 blocks and .516 field goal percentage ranked second on the team. He also averaged 7.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists in just 15.7 minutes per game. As a junior in 2010–11, Eric was named the team co-captain. He started the first 24 games of season before fracturing his right patella in practice which sidelined him for remainder of season. he averaged 7.1 points and 1.6 blocks, as well as ranking second on team with 5.9 rebounds per game and third with .490 field goal percentage. As a senior in 2011–12, Eric again missed significant time with another right patella fracture, sitting out all of December and most of January with the injury. He played in 19 games, starting 15 times, as he was first on the team in rebounding (8.8 rpg) and fifth on the team in scoring (9.0 ppg). He tied his career-high with 19 points and a game-high 15 rebounds against UMass on February 29, 2012.

Professional career

After going undrafted in the

2012 NBA draft The 2012 NBA draft was held on June 28, 2012, at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The draft started at 7:00 pm Eastern Daylight Time (2300 UTC), and was broadcast in the United States on ESPN. In this draft, National Basketball Ass ...

, Eric joined the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers (often referred to as the Cavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

for the 2012 NBA Summer League. On August 10, 2012, he signed with the Cavaliers but was later waived on October 27, 2012. In November 2012, he was acquired by the

Canton Charge The Cleveland Charge are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Cleveland, Ohio, and are affiliated with the Cleveland Cavaliers. The team plays its home games at the Wolstein Center in downtown Cleveland. The f ...

of the

NBA Development League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official List of developmental and minor sports leagues, minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development ...

as an affiliate player. In July 2013, Eric joined the

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, colloquially known as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Ea ...

for the Orlando Summer League and the

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 league's Western Conference Pacific Division. Founded in 194 ...

for the Las Vegas Summer League. On November 1, 2013, he was reacquired by the Canton Charge. Three days later, he was traded to the

Texas Legends The Texas Legends are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Frisco, Texas, and are affiliated with the Dallas Mavericks. The Legends play their home games at the Comerica Center. The team began as the Colorado 1 ...

. On January 15, 2014, he was waived by the Legends due to a season-ending injury. On September 27, 2014, Eric signed with the

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 1968 ...

. However, he was later waived by the Bucks on October 27, 2014. On December 4, 2014, he signed with Panelefsiniakos of the

Greek Basket League The Greek Basket League (GBL), often also referred to as the Greek A1 Basketball League, or Greek Basketball Championship (originally called Panhellenic Basketball Championship), and also known as the Stoiximan Basket League for sponsorship reaso ...

and made his debut for the team on December 13. However, the next day, he signed with Enel Brindisi of Italy for the rest of the 2014–15 season, replacing Cedric Simmons in the line-up after the forward suffered a season-ending knee injury. In July 2015, Eric joined the Milwaukee Bucks for the

2015 NBA Summer League The 2015 NBA Summer League consisted of three pro basketball leagues organized by the NBA: the Orlando Pro Summer League, Utah Jazz Summer League, and Las Vegas Summer League. Ten teams participated in the week-long Orlando Pro Summer League a ...

. On October 31, Eric returned to the Texas Legends. He was waived by the Legends on November 11, and reacquired on November 20. On January 29, 2016, he was named in the West All-Star team for the 2016 NBA D-League All-Star Game. At the season's end, he earned NBA D-League All-Defensive Team honors. On April 5, 2016, Eric signed with

AEK Athens A.E.K ( el, AEK , formally Αθλητική Ένωσις Κωνσταντινουπόλεως; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople''), known as A.E.K, is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadelf ...

of Greece for the rest of the 2015–16 Greek Basket League season. In July 2016, Eric joined the

Washington Wizards The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays ...

for the

2016 NBA Summer League The 2016 NBA Summer League consisted of three pro basketball leagues organized by the National Basketball Association (NBA): the Orlando Pro Summer League, Utah Jazz Summer League, and Las Vegas Summer League. Ten teams participated in the week ...

. On August 7, 2016, he signed with Bilbao Basket of Spain for the 2016–17 season. On July 18, 2017, Eric signed with the Turkish club Darüşşafaka for the 2017–18 season. On July 9, 2019, Eric signed a two-year deal with Spanish club Kirolbet Baskonia. He averaged 7 points and 3.6 rebounds per game. On July 7, 2020, Eric parted ways with the team. He signed with Türk Telekom of the

Turkish Super League Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and ...

on July 15. On February 10, 2021, Eric signed with

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow (russian: ЦСКА Москва) is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was a central piece ...

of the

VTB United League VTB United League (russian: Единая Лига ВТБ) is an international professional men's club basketball league that was founded in 2008. It is made up of mostly Russian clubs, along with one each from Belarus and Kazakhstan. Since 2013, i ...

and the EuroLeague for the rest of the 2020–21 season. On June 16, 2021, Eric officially parted ways with the Russian club. On August 9, 2021, he has signed with Unicaja Málaga of the Spanish Liga ACB. Eric suffered a season-ending ruptured ACL injury on January 26, 2022.

Career statistics

EuroLeague

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;", Darüşşafaka , 29 , , 20 , , 20.1 , , .540 , , .000 , , .656 , , 5.0 , , 0.9 , , 0.3 , , 0.6 , , 11.1 , , 10.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20 , style="text-align:left;",

Baskonia Club Deportivo Saski-Baskonia, S.A.D., commonly known as Saski Baskonia (), also known as Cazoo Baskonia for sponsorship reasons, is a professional basketball team that is based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain. The team plays in the Liga ACB and the ...

, 28 , , 22 , , 14.5 , , .552 , , .000 , , .457 , , 2.7 , , 0.3 , , 0.8 , , 0.4 , , 5.7 , , 4.4 , - , 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;",

, 14 , , 9 , , 12.2 , , .700 , , .000 , , .700 , , 3.3 , , 0.2 , , 0.6 , , 0.5 , , 5.4 , , 6.4

References

External links

FIBA profileTemple bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eric, Micheal 1988 births Living people AEK B.C. players Baloncesto Málaga players Bilbao Basket players Canton Charge players Centers (basketball) Darüşşafaka Basketbol players Liga ACB players New Basket Brindisi players Nigerian men's basketball players Nigerian expatriate basketball people in Spain Nigerian expatriate basketball people in Turkey Nigerian expatriate basketball people in the United States Panelefsiniakos B.C. players PBC CSKA Moscow players Saski Baskonia players Sportspeople from Lagos Temple Owls men's basketball players Texas Legends players 21st-century Nigerian people