Udoka Azubuike

Udoka Timothy Azubuike (born September 17, 1999) is a Nigerian-American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA), on a two-way contract.

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.

In 2012, he caught the attention of recruiters with Basketball Without Borders and was offered a scholarship to play basketball in the United States.

Azubuike attended Potter's House Christian Academy in Jacksonville, Florida.

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 Amateur Athletic Union (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, 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 ESPN ranked him 22nd overall in the class of 2016.

Azubuike received offers from many universities including Duke, Texas, Kentucky, and shortened his final list of colleges to Florida State, Kansas, and North Carolina.

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

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.

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.

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 274 lb and holding the second-longest wingspan at 7 ft, 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.

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 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 [NBA] draft.

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

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.