Ike Nwankwo

Infobox Euroleague Player
name = Ike Nwankwo
nickname =


caption =
position = Center/Power forward
height_ft = 6
height_in = 11
weight_lbs = 250
league = Portuguese Basketball League
team = CA Queluz
nationality = American
nationality_2 = Nigerian
birth_date = birth date and age|1973|12|27
birth_place = Houston, Texas
highschool =
college = UCLA, Long Beach State
draft = Not drafted
draft_year = 1998
career_start =
career_end =
former_teams =

Ikenna Nwankwo (born 27 December 1973 in Houston, Texas) [ [http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/nba/players/3579/ Sports Illustrated profile] ] is a Nigerian-American professional basketball player with CA Queluz of the Portuguese Basketball League.

Collegiate career

A former UCLA Bruin, Nwankwo won a national championship on the 1994-1995 UCLA squad. Nwankwo has also played on 4 continents since graduation. He graduated from UCLA in 1997 with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication

Professional career

Nwankwo began his professional career in Venezuela with The Cocodrilos De Caracas. After a very successful stint where he was the league MVP he then moved to Puerto Rico where he was an MVP candidate in Puerto Rico, with Quebradillas Pirates of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN) from 1998-1999. In 1998 Nwankwo also played began his first season in Turkey where he would play for the next two seasons. He played with Tuborg where he led the league in rebounds at 10. 1 per game. He returned to Tuborg the following year until a knee injury cut his season short. He then signed in Poland with Prokom Trefl Sopot. Nwankwo signed with the Miami Heat of the NBA in 2000, the following year he signed with the Houston Rockets. From 2001-2003, Nwankwo played in the for several European clubs including Dynamo Moscow of the Russian Superleague. In 2003 Nwankwo joined the Huntsville Flight (now Albuquerque Thunderbirds) of the NBA Development League. 2004 saw the Nigerian move to Turkey, where he played with Darüşşafaka S.K. of the Turkish Basketball League (TBL). Since 2005, Nwankwo has played in the Portuguese Basketball League (LCB) (2005 with CAB Madeira and since 2006 with CA Queluz. [http://www.basketpedya.com/Acc002InfJug.php?idjug=5837&idioma=3 Profile] Basketpedya.com]

NBA Trials

Nwankwo signed to play with a NBA squad every year from 2000-2004 except 2003, with the Miami Heat (2000), Houston Rockets (2001), Cleveland Cavaliers (2002) [ [http://www.realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/18071/20021021/nwankwo_barnes_and_cummings_waived/ Nwankwo, Barnes, and Cummings waived] ] and the Los Angeles Lakers (2004) [ [http://www.nba.com/playerfile/ike_nwankwo/index.html Ike Nwankwo] NBA.com profile] seasons.

International career

Although born in the United States, Nwankwo has represented the land of his ancestry, Nigeria, in international competition. He played for Nigeria at the FIBA Africa Championship 2003 and 2006 FIBA World Championship.

References

External links

* [http://www.tblstat.net/pd.asp?p=373 Ikenna Nwankwo Turkish Basketball League statistics]