Udoka Timothy Azubuike ( ; born September 17, 1999) is a Nigerian-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 ...

player for Budućnost of the Prva A Liga and the

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. He played college basketball for the Kansas Jayhawks and was selected in the first round of the 2020 NBA draft by the Utah Jazz.

Early life

Born in Lagos, Nigeria, Azubuike was the youngest of 5, with two older brothers and two older sisters. His father, Fabian, was a police officer, and his mother, Florence, was a middle school teacher. Azubuike lost his father to an undiagnosed disease at the age of 10. In 2012, he caught the attention of recruiters with Basketball Without Borders and was offered a scholarship to play basketball in the United States.

High school career

Azubuike attended Potter's House Christian Academy in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

. His then assistant coach Harry Coxsome and his wife Donna took care of him and soon became his legal guardians. In his first high school game he was matched up against fellow future Kansas Jayhawk Joel Embiid. Azubuike was a four-year starter averaging 16.9 points and 9.7 rebounds per game his senior year. Azubuike played

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(AAU) basketball for the Georgia Stars in the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League (EYBL). He was selected to play in the

2016 McDonald's All-American Boys Game The 2016 McDonald's All-American Boys Game was an All-star game, All-star basketball game played on Wednesday, March 30, 2016 at the United Center in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, home of the Chicago Bulls. The game's rosters features the best and ...

, Jordan Brand Classic, and Nike Hoop Summit. He was also a member of the National Honor Society. Azubuike was rated as a five-star recruit and considered a top-20 prospect in the 2016 high school class. Rivals.com ranked him as the 27th-best overall player while

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ranked him 22nd overall in the class of 2016. Azubuike received offers from many universities including

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

, and shortened his final list of colleges to Florida State, Kansas, and

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

. On January 28, 2016, he announced his choice to play college basketball at the University of Kansas.

College career

Freshman year

In his freshman season he started in six of the 11 games he played in before tearing ligaments in his left wrist, which ended his season. Before the injury, he averaged 5.0 points, 4.4 rebounds, 1.6 blocks, and 62.9% field goal accuracy.

Sophomore year

For the 2017–18 season, Kansas' coach Bill Self recruited Kansas football player James Sosinski to defend Azubuike during practice. Udoka started every game of the regular season but missed the Big 12 Conference tournament after spraining his left MCL. He returned for the NCAA tournament until KU's loss to eventual champion Villanova in the Final Four. He averaged 13.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, 1.7 blocks, and led the nation with a 77% field goal percentage for the season. His field goal percentage broke the single-season record for Kansas and the Big 12 Conference. This high percentage was in part due to the majority of his field goals being slam dunks, which typically have a higher completion percentage than jump shots or layups. He had more dunks than any other college player going back to the 2009–2010 season. He was awarded All-Big 12 third team by the conference's coaches and second team by the AP. On April 20, 2018, Azubuike announced his intention to enter the 2018 NBA draft. He did not initially hire an agent, which would allow him to return before the combine. Azubuike was one of a record-high 69 prospects invited to the NBA Draft Combine that year. On May 17, he measured out to be a near-7-foot-tall center (with shoes on) weighing in at and holding the second-longest wingspan at , behind only Mohamed Bamba. On May 30, 2018, he announced his intent to withdraw from the draft and return to Kansas for his junior season.

Junior year

Azubuike was selected as an honorable mention to the 2018–19 All-Big 12 preseason team. On December 4, 2018, he severely sprained his right ankle against Wofford and missed the following four games. On January 5, 2019, Azubuike injured his wrist during practice. An MRI revealed he tore a ligament in his right hand, and he underwent season-ending surgery on January 9, 2019. Kansas won all nine games Azubuike played including against top-ten teams

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

and Michigan State. He finished the season averaging 13.4 points and 6.8 rebounds. On April 22, 2019, Azubuike announced he would return to Kansas for his senior season. According to KU coach Bill Self, “We’re all very excited about Udoka making the decision not to enter the BAdraft. Unfortunately for him, injury is the reason as he still cannot participate (at) what would be the NBA combine or workouts for the NBA teams."

Senior year

Azubuike scored a career-high 29 points in a 90–84 overtime win over

Dayton Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...

on November 27, 2019. On February 22, 2020, he scored 23 points and had a career-high 19 rebounds in a 64–61 win over top-ranked Baylor. At the conclusion of the regular season, Azubuike was named the Big 12 Player of the Year and NABC Defensive Player of the Year. He averaged 13.7 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 2.6 blocks per game as a senior. Azubuike's career field goal percentage of 74.9% is an NCAA record.

Professional career

Utah Jazz (2020–2023)

Azubuike was selected with the 27th pick in the first round of the 2020 NBA draft by the Utah Jazz. On November 24, 2020, the Jazz announced that they had signed Azubuike. Azubuike was assigned to the Jazz's NBA G League affiliate, the Salt Lake City Stars, for the start of the 2021 G League season, making his G League debut on February 10, 2021. He made his NBA playoff debut on June 14 in game 4 of the 2021 Western Conference Semifinals, recording a rebound in a minute and nine seconds of action in a 118–104 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. On March 25, 2022, Azubuike underwent right foot surgery and was ruled out for the rest of the 2021–22 season.

Phoenix Suns (2023–2024)

On August 8, 2023, Azubuike signed a

two-way contract A two-way contract is a professional sports contract that stipulates that an athlete's salary is dependent upon the league in which the athlete is assigned to play. This is opposed to a one-way contract that would pay the same salary regardless o ...

with the Phoenix Suns. He made his team debut on October 28 by putting up 2 points and 3 rebounds during 6 minutes of action in a 126–104 win over his former team, the Utah Jazz. On December 20, Azubuike recorded his first double-double with the Suns with 11 points and a season-high 11 rebounds in a 120–105 loss to the Sacramento Kings.

Budućnost VOLI (2024–present)

On August 19, 2024, Azubuike signed with Budućnost VOLI of the Prva A Liga.

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

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, 17 , , 6 , , 11.5 , , .755 , , , , .545 , , 4.2 , , .0 , , .1 , , .6 , , 4.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 36 , , 4 , , 10.0 , , .819 , , , , .350 , , 3.3 , , .3 , , .2 , , .4 , , 3.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Phoenix , 16 , , 0 , , 7.1 , , .696 , , , , .231 , , 2.0 , , .2 , , .1 , , .4 , , 2.2 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 84 , , 10 , , 8.6 , , .758 , , — , , .444 , , 2.8 , , .2 , , .1 , , .4 , , 3.0

Playoffs

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College

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Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

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, , 36 , , 34 , , 23.6 , , style="background:#cfecec;", .770* , , – , , .413, , 7.0 , , .7 , , .6 , , 1.7 , , 13.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;",

, , 9 , , 9 , , 20.4 , , .705 , , – , , .344 , , 6.8 , , .6 , , .4 , , 1.6 , , 13.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20 , style="text-align:left;",

, , 31 , , 30 , , 27.7 , , style="background:#cfecec;", .748* , , – , , .441 , , 10.5 , , .9 , , .5 , , 2.6 , , 13.7 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , , 87 , , 79 , , 23.4 , , .746 , , – , , .416 , , 7.9 , , .7 , , .5 , , 2.0 , , 12.3

References

External links

Kansas Jayhawks bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Azubuike, Udoka 1999 births Living people All-American college men's basketball players Basketball players from Jacksonville, Florida Basketball players from Lagos Centers (basketball) Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball players McDonald's High School All-Americans Nigerian expatriate basketball people in the United States Nigerian men's basketball players Phoenix Suns players Salt Lake City Stars players Utah Jazz draft picks Utah Jazz players 21st-century Nigerian sportsmen