Sunday A. Adebayo (born 12 September 1973) is a Nigerian former 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. 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

Arkansas Razorbacks The Arkansas Razorbacks, also known as the Hogs, are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletics teams representing the University of Arkansas, located in Fayetteville, Arkansas, Fayetteville. The University of Arkans ...

and

Memphis Tigers The Memphis Tigers are the athletic teams that represent the University of Memphis, located in Memphis, Tennessee. The teams compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member of the American Athletic C ...

Early life, family and education

Adebayo was born in

Benin City Benin City serves as the Capital city, capital and largest Metropolitan area, metropolitan centre of Edo State, situated in Nigeria, southern Nigeria. It ranks as the List of Nigerian cities by population, fourth-most populous city in Niger ...

, Nigeria. While a high school student, he played for the Nigerian soccer team for the Junior World Cup. He was a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

and aspired to play professional soccer in Europe until his conversion to playing basketball as he grew taller. He played for the Nigerian basketball team at the

1991 FIBA Under-19 World Championship The 1991 FIBA Under-19 World Championship (French: Championnat du monde des moins de 19 ans 1991 de la FIBA) was the 4th edition of the FIBA U19 World Championship. It was held in Edmonton, Canada from 26 July to 4 August 1991. The United States ...

. Adebayo relocated to

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...

, US, where he worked for a year at an uncle's computer company. Adebayo played basketball in a league at his church and on playgrounds in Newark.

College career

In 1993, Adebayo travelled to

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

, hoping to secure an

athletic scholarship An athletic scholarship is a form of scholarship to attend a college or university or a private school, private high school awarded to an individual based predominantly on their ability to play in a sport. Athletic scholarships are common in the U ...

to play for

University of Central Arkansas The University of Central Arkansas (Central Arkansas or UCA) is a public university in Conway, Arkansas, United States. Founded in 1907, the university is one of the oldest in the state. As the state's only normal school at the time, UCA has hist ...

's Bears basketball team, but its roster was set, and it did not want to acquire someone who they considered a long-term project. Central Arkansas head coach Don Dyer later lamented the loss and compared Adebayo to former Bears player and NBA great

Scottie Pippen Scotty Maurice Pippen Sr. (born September 25, 1965), usually spelled Scottie Pippen, is an American former professional basketball player. He played 17 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), winning six NBA championships with th ...

. Adebayo instead began his

career playing for the Raiders of Three Rivers College, a

community college A community college is a type of undergraduate higher education institution, generally leading to an associate degree, certificate, or diploma. The term can have different meanings in different countries: many community colleges have an open enr ...

Poplar Bluff, Missouri Poplar Bluff is a city in Butler County, Missouri, Butler County in southeastern Missouri, United States. It is the county seat of Butler County and is known as "The Gateway to the Ozarks" among other names. The population was 16,225 at the 2020 ...

, where he became a first-team All-American. He averaged 19 points and 10 rebounds during his junior college career. Adebayo still holds the Raiders record for career rebounds with 706. Adebayo earned attention from major

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

(NCAA) Division I teams throughout his junior college career, and Adebayo committed to play for the

on 18 April 1995. He averaged 10.7 points and a team-high 7.6 rebounds during the 1995–96 season. On 1 March 1996, Adebayo was deemed ineligible by the Razorbacks to complete the final 11 games of the season due to issues with his junior college transcript. The NCAA had commenced questioning about Adebayo's eligibility and the Razorbacks voluntarily declared Adebayo ineligible. His junior college grades had not been properly certified due to an administrative error by the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States. It is the Flagship campus, flagship campus of the University of Arkan ...

, and he had started to practice with the Razorbacks eight days earlier than permitted. Adebayo was allowed to stay at the University of Arkansas but could not play on the basketball team or receive financial aid. The NCAA declared that Adebayo would have immediate eligibility if he transferred to a school outside of the Razorbacks'

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

(SEC) and cited "extenuating circumstances." Adebayo entered his name into the

1996 NBA draft The 1996 NBA draft was the 50th NBA draft, draft in the National Basketball Association (NBA). It was held on June 26, 1996–97 NBA season, 1996, at Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey. In this draft, NBA teams took turns s ...

but stated that he would consider transferring to play for the

Oral Roberts University Oral Roberts University (ORU) is a Private university, private Evangelicalism, evangelical university in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Founded in 1963, the university is named after its founder, Charismatic Christianity, Charismatic Christian preacher Oral ...

Golden Eagles The golden eagle (''Aquila chrysaetos'') is a bird of prey living in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the most widely distributed species of eagle. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. They are one of the best-known birds of p ...

Oklahoma State University Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...

Cowboys A cowboy is a professional pastoralist or mounted livestock herder, usually from the Americas or Australia. Cowboy(s) or The Cowboy(s) may also refer to: Film and television * ''Cowboy'' (1958 film), starring Glenn Ford * ''Cowboy'' (1966 film), ...

University of Memphis The University of Memphis (Memphis) is a public university, public research university in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 20,000 students. The university maintains the Herff Col ...

Tigers The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is a large cat and a member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Asia. It has a powerful, muscular body with a large head and paws, a long tail and orange fur with black, mostly vertical stripes. It is tradition ...

if he did not like his draft prospects. He withdrew from the draft before it took place and transferred to play for Memphis. Adebayo's start with the University of Memphis Tigers during the 1996–97 season was delayed while he completed exams. When the Tigers played an away game against the Razorbacks on February 2, 1997, Adebayo received two standing ovations from Razorbacks fans at the suggestion of Razorbacks coach

Nolan Richardson Nolan Richardson Jr. (born December 27, 1941) is an American former basketball head coach best known for his tenure at the Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball, University of Arkansas, where he won the 1994 NCAA Division I men's basketball tourn ...

. Adebayo stayed in contact with his former team throughout the season in a display of loyalty that Richardson considered "unique." Adebayo's devotion to the Razorbacks bothered Tigers fans, who considered him a "traitor" and booed him throughout his first game upon his return from Arkansas. He averaged 13.3 points and a team-high 7 rebounds per game during his only season with the Tigers. An injury in February 1997, a partially torn knee ligament, seeded doubt on his playing prospects for the remainder of that season. In April 1997, the NCAA admitted that Adebayo had been wrongly suspended. Adebayo hired a lawyer and appealed to earn a rare fifth season of college eligibility that was granted by an NCAA administrative review panel in October 1997. He returned to the Arkansas Razorbacks for the 1997–98 season but was required to relinquish his scholarship to comply with NCAA sanctions placed on the team for other violations. Adebayo stated, "I knew I didn't do anything wrong. People say I've made history, but I don't get carried away with that. I'm just glad I got the year here back." His entry back into the Razorbacks lineup was hindered due to a

sprain A sprain is a soft tissue injury of the ligaments within a joint, often caused by a sudden movement abruptly forcing the joint to exceed its functional range of motion. Ligaments are tough, inelastic fibers made of collagen that connect two or ...

ed ankle. Adebayo averaged 6.2 points and 3.0 rebounds per game during the 1997–98 season.

Professional athletic career

Adebayo was selected by the

Grand Rapids Hoops The Grand Rapids Hoops were a basketball team that played in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Their first season was in 1989 and their final season was in 2003. Professional basketball later returned to ...

with the 55th overall pick in the 1998

Continental Basketball Association The Continental Basketball Association (CBA), originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, and later as the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association, was a men's professional basketball m ...

(CBA) draft. Adebayo played four games in the German

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 ...

(BBL) during the 2000–01 season. He averaged 15.7 points and 8.0 rebounds per game. Adebayo played for the

Perth Wildcats The Perth Wildcats are an Australian professional basketball team based in Perth, Western Australia. The Wildcats compete in the National Basketball League (Australia), National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at Perth Arena, ...

of the Australian National Basketball League (NBL) during the

2002–03 NBL season The 2002–03 NBL season was the 25th season of competition since its establishment in 1979. A total of 11 teams contested the league. Regular season The 2002–03 regular season took place over 22 rounds between 2 October 2002 and 1 March 2003 ...

. He averaged 5.0 points and 4.4 rebounds per game.

Career statistics

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 1995–96 , style="text-align:left;",

, 22 , , 14 , , 26.1 , , .572 , , – , , .609 , , 7.6 , , 1.4 , , 1.4 , , .4 , , 10.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1996–97 , style="text-align:left;",

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Mem ...

, 26 , , 23 , , 31.6 , , .579 , , .000 , , .619 , , 7.0 , , 1.5 , , .8 , , .4 , , 13.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1997–98 , style="text-align:left;",

, 22 , , 6 , , 15.2 , , .511 , , – , , .677 , , 3.6 , , 1.3 , , .8 , , .2 , , 6.2 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 70 , , 43 , , 24.7 , , .564 , , .000 , , .630 , , 6.1 , , 1.4 , , 1.0 , , .3 , , 10.2

References

External links

College statistics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adebayo, Sunday 1973 births Living people Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball players Bamberg Baskets players Memphis Tigers men's basketball players Nigerian expatriate basketball people in Australia Nigerian expatriate basketball people in Germany Nigerian expatriate basketball people in the United States Nigerian men's basketball players Perth Wildcats players Power forwards Sportspeople from Benin City Three Rivers College (Missouri) alumni