Trevor Mbakwe (born January 24, 1989) 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 ...

coach and former player. Before turning pro, he played for the Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball team. Mbakwe stands tall. He is from

St. Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (often abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 311,527, making it Minnesota's second-most populous city a ...

and attended St. Bernards High School.

Collegiate career

Before attending the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

, Mbakwe played at

Marquette University Marquette University () is a Private university, private Jesuit research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. It was established as Marquette College on August 28, 1881, by John Henni, the first Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Ar ...

for the 2007–08 season where he suffered from chronic knee injuries. For his 2008–09 season, he transferred to

Miami Dade College Miami Dade College (MDC) is a public university, public college located in Miami, Miami, Florida, United States. Established in 1959, MDC operates eight campuses and numerous outreach centers throughout Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade Count ...

and led his team to the Southern Conference Championship. After redshirting in 2009–10, Mbakwe transferred to the University of Minnesota to play under head coach Tubby Smith. In his first year playing for Smith, he led the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

in rebounding at 10.5 rebounds per game. He was the first player for the Gophers since Kris Humphries to lead the Big Ten in rebounding, and also became number three on the all time rebounding list at the University of Minnesota when he collected 327 rebounds that season.

Professional career

In July 2013, Mbakwe signed his first professional contract with the Italian team

Virtus Roma Virtus Roma 1960, commonly known as Virtus Roma, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Rome, Lazio. The club, named Pallacanestro Virtus Roma competed in the first division of Italian basketball, the LBA, for decades until 2020, whe ...

. On August 22, 2013, it was officially confirmed that he signed contract for the 2013–14 season. On July 6, 2014, he signed with the German club

Brose Baskets Bamberg Baskets is a German professional basketball team from Bamberg, Franconia/North Bavaria. The club has won the German Championship title nine times and the German Cup six times. The club currently plays in the German top tier Basketball ...

for the 2014–15 season. On July 1, 2015, he signed a three-year contract with the Israeli club

Maccabi Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv () is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such as football, basketball, j ...

. After one season, he parted ways with Maccabi. On July 6, 2016, Mbakwe signed a one-year deal with Spanish club Unicaja. Two months later, the club rescinded his contract after he did not pass his medical test. On November 3, 2016, he signed with Russian club Zenit Saint Petersburg. On June 6, 2017, Zenit announced the end of their cooperation with Mbakwe. Mbakwe signed with Fiat Torino of the

Lega Basket Serie A The Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) is a professional men's club (sport), club basketball list of basketball leagues, league that has been organised in Italy since 1920. Serie A is organised by Lega Basket, which is regulated by the Italian Basketball ...

and EuroCup on July 27, 2017. On February 18, 2018, Mbakwe went to win the

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

edition of the

Italian Basketball Cup The Italian Basketball Cup (Italian: Coppa Italiana di Pallacanestro), or Coppa Italia, is an annual professional basketball competition between pro clubs from the Italian Basketball League (LBA). It is Italy's first-tier cup competition, and is ...

with Fiat Torino by beating

Germani Basket Brescia The Pallacanestro Brescia, better known for sponsorship reasons as Germani Brescia, is an Italian professional basketball team, based in Brescia, Lombardy. Founded in 2009, the team plays in the Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) since the 2016–17 seaso ...

69–67 in the Finals. On September 26, 2018, Mbakwe signed with MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg of the

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 ...

. On April 25, 2019, Mbakwe signed with

AEK Athens A.E.K. (; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople'') is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadelfeia, Attica. The club is more commonly known in European competitions as A.E.K. Athens. Establishe ...

for the

Greek Basket League The Greek Basketball League (GBL), and also known as the Stoiximan Greek Basketball League (GBL) for sponsorship reasons, is the Greek basketball league system, first tier level professional basketball league in Greece. It is run by the ...

playoffs, after a brief stint in Japan with Osaka Evessa.

Coaching career

On June 12, 2020, Mbakwe was named as assistant coach at Benilde-St. Margaret's High School.

Career statistics

Domestic leagues

References

External links

Euroleague.net ProfileRealGM.com Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mbakwe, Trevor 1989 births Living people AEK B.C. players American expatriate basketball people in Germany American expatriate basketball people in Greece American expatriate basketball people in Israel American expatriate basketball people in Italy American expatriate basketball people in Russia American men's basketball players American sportspeople of Nigerian descent Auxilium Pallacanestro Torino players Basketball players from Saint Paul, Minnesota BC Zenit Saint Petersburg players Bamberg Baskets players Lega Basket Serie A players Maccabi Tel Aviv B.C. players Marquette Golden Eagles men's basketball players Miami Dade Sharks men's basketball players Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball players Osaka Evessa players Virtus Roma players Power forwards Riesen Ludwigsburg players