Amanze Egekeze
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 Egekeze with Yokohama in 2018 | |
| No. 12 – Kataja | |
|---|---|
| Position | Power forward |
| League | Korisliiga |
| Personal information | |
| Born | December 3, 1995 |
| Nationality | Nigerian / American |
| Listed height | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) |
| Listed weight | 220 lb (100 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Huntley (Huntley, Illinois) |
| College | Belmont (2014–2018) |
| NBA draft | 2018: undrafted |
| Playing career | 2018–present |
| Career history | |
| 2018 | Yokohama B-Corsairs |
| 2019 | Ryukyu Golden Kings |
| 2019 | Niigata Albirex BB |
| 2019–2020 | PAOK |
| 2020–2021 | BC Gries-Oberhoffen |
| 2021–2022 | Donar |
| 2022–present | Kataja |
| Career highlights | |
| |
Amanze Ikenna Egekeze ⓘ (born December 3, 1995) is a Nigerian-American professional basketball player who plays for Kataja of the Korisliiga. He also played for the Nigerian national team.[1] He is the son of Gilbert and Lize Egekeze, who are natives of Nigeria. His brothers are Uchenna and, Kemdi and has one sister Ogechi. Uchenna plays basketball at Calvin University.[2]
Egekeze played for Huntley High School, where he was the 2014 Northwest Herald Boys Basketball Player of the Year. Egekeze played on three Class 4A regional champions.[3]
Egekeze competed in college basketball for Belmont, where he scored 1,348 career points. As a senior, he was the second-leading scorer (16.8 per game) and rebounder (5.0 per game) for the Bruins. He was named to the First-team All-Ohio Valley Conference.[4][5]
Professional career
On July 13, 2018, Egekeze signed with the Yokohama B-Corsairs of the Japanese B.League.[6] During the 2018–19 season, he also played for the Ryukyu Golden Kings and the Niigata Albirex BB from the same league.[7]
On September 1, 2019, Egekeze signed with the Greek club PAOK.[8] The 2019–20 season was complicated for PAOK. .[9] Egekeze and PAOK also participated in the Champions League where they ended at the second to last position of the D group, composed of 8 teams, with 5 wins and 9 losses, thus, not qualifying for the next round.[10]
In June 2020, Egekeze signed with the French club BC Gries-Oberhoffen.[11] Egekeze and the BCGO participated in the Leaders Cup where they ended at the bottom of the D group, composed of 3 teams, with 1 win and 3 losses, thus, not qualifying for the next round.[12]
On June 30, 2021, Egekeze signed with Dutch club Donar of the BNXT League.[13] He helped Donar win the Dutch Cup.
On August 3, 2022, Egekeze signed a one-year contract with Kataja of the Korisliiga.[14] In his first season with Kataja, He averaged 13.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1 steal. He also won the Finnish Cup and beat Salon Vilpas to win a bronze medal in Korisliiga
National team career
In December 2020, Egekeze became a member of the Nigerian national basketball team, and played with the team in the qualifiers for AfroBasket 2021.[15]
