NOW THE βOLD MANβ
7/23/2021 2:07:00β―PM | Men's Basketball
Proud of His Roots, Udoh Playing for Nigeria at Olympics
(This is the fifth in a series of features profiling former Baylor student-athletes "Going for the Gold" at the Olympics that began Friday with opening ceremonies in Tokyo.)Β
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By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
Even though 11 years have passed since Ekpe Udoh's one season at Baylor, he still wears his green and gold gear proudly, "and I always let everybody know that we just won a national championship."
"So now, we need that respect," said the 6-foot-10 Udoh, the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year and honorable mention All-American in 2010, when he averaged 13.9 points and 9.8 rebounds and set school and Big 12 single-season records with 133 blocks.
Still basking in the glory of the Baylor basketball program's first national championship, the 34-year-old Udoh is walking a little taller these days as part of a Nigerian team that pulled off a historic 90-87 upset of Team USA two weeks ago in a pre-Olympic exhibition in Las Vegas.
It was the first-ever loss to an African national team by USA, which blew out Nigeria, 156-73, at the 2012 Olympics in London.
"It was a big step forward for the culture and what (coach) Mike Brown is trying to bring to the Nigerian National Team," said Udoh, who was named to the final 12-man roster last Sunday. "Being able to play at a high level and beat (USA) was a great win, especially for the country and for the youth that may want to play basketball and may want to play for the National Team."
Nigeria has, obviously, closed the gap since its first Olympics nine years ago. The former Cleveland Cavaliers and Los Angeles Lakers' head coach, Brown has eight NBA players on his roster, including Jhalil Okafor of the Detroit Pistons, Precious Achiuwa of the Miami Heat and Jordan Nwora of the NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks.
"The first day of training camp, I was just looking around, the roles have switched for me. Now, I'm the oldest guy, and guys are looking up to me, asking me all types of crazy questions," said Udoh, one of five returning players from the 2019 World Cup team that went 3-2.
"Building this team right, we'll be around and able to medal for years. The core group of this team will be able to go to four Olympics. That will be special for the continuity."
Ranked 23rd in the world just a few weeks ago, Nigeria moved up to No. 4 with wins over USA and Argentina and is in Group B with Germany, Italy and an Australia team that handed them a 108-69 beatdown in Las Vegas.
"The expectation for us is definitely to medal," Udoh said. "Rankings don't really mean much at the end of the day . . . because we haven't really won anything. Those were exhibition games, we can't medal off of that. But, it would be big for us to be the first team to medal and then continue to build a program like the Australia's, the USA's, the Spain's, the Argentina's."
The son of Alice and Sam Udoh, who are both from the Akwa Ibom state in Nigeria, Ekpe said Nigeria is "running through our blood veins, through our DNA, since we were kids." He was born and raised in Edmond, Okla., and spent two years at Michigan before transferring to Baylor and sitting out the 2008-09 season, when the Bears made the 2009 NIT final.
"For me, I was gone a lot due to basketball, but I always knew about the family," Udoh said. "That's what my parents did, they kept that going, the storytelling and things of that nature. So, it's always heavy on me, and I'm just happy to be able to represent the country and especially the Akwa Ibom state."
After leading Baylor to the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight, Udoh was the No. 6 overall pick in the 2010 NBA Draft and played five seasons with the Golden State Warriors, Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Clippers.
Going overseas, Udoh won a EuroLeague championship and Final Four MVP honors with the Turkish club, Fenerbahce. Returning to the NBA, he played two seasons with the Utah Jazz and the previous two years in Beijing, China, before signing with the Italian League team, Virtus Bologna, last week.
"I want to play two to three more years and then probably move overseas for a year or two and just reflect and celebrate the career that I've had," he said.
Udoh initially had conversations about trying out for the Nigerian team for the 2016 Olympics in Brazil, "but we just had some miscommunication and it didn't work out."
Prior to the 2019 FIBA World Cup in China, Udoh met with a Nigerian official on a Jazz road trip to Houston and eventually made the team that would earn a berth in the Olympics with their performance.
"It was a good experience, just to play with your guys, play with your brothers," Udoh said of the 2019 World Cup. "We just didn't play up to our standards, which was unfortunate. But, we're grateful for qualifying, because if you look at the qualifiers that just happened recently, it was a gauntlet just to get into the Olympics. To see how we played over the past three games in four days, it shows that we've made a leap and now we're ready to really contend at the highest level."
Before joining the Nigerian team, Udoh worked a basketball camp with former Baylor teammate Tweety Carter β "that's my brother" β and dropped by the Ferrell Center.
"There's just a different aura, they're stepping a little bit different now. And I love seeing it," Udoh said. "Anybody who's had anything to do with the program, Coach Drew really reached out and has done a great job including everyone as one big family. That's just that culture of JOY (Jesus, Others, Yourself). That was their motto this year, and they really stuck to it."
Β Β
"GOING FOR THE GOLD"
Β
John Peers, Men's Tennis, Australia
Wil London, Track & Field, USA
Brittney Griner, Women's Basketball, USA
KC Lightfoot, Track & Field, USA
Β
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
Even though 11 years have passed since Ekpe Udoh's one season at Baylor, he still wears his green and gold gear proudly, "and I always let everybody know that we just won a national championship."
"So now, we need that respect," said the 6-foot-10 Udoh, the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year and honorable mention All-American in 2010, when he averaged 13.9 points and 9.8 rebounds and set school and Big 12 single-season records with 133 blocks.
Still basking in the glory of the Baylor basketball program's first national championship, the 34-year-old Udoh is walking a little taller these days as part of a Nigerian team that pulled off a historic 90-87 upset of Team USA two weeks ago in a pre-Olympic exhibition in Las Vegas.
It was the first-ever loss to an African national team by USA, which blew out Nigeria, 156-73, at the 2012 Olympics in London.
"It was a big step forward for the culture and what (coach) Mike Brown is trying to bring to the Nigerian National Team," said Udoh, who was named to the final 12-man roster last Sunday. "Being able to play at a high level and beat (USA) was a great win, especially for the country and for the youth that may want to play basketball and may want to play for the National Team."
Nigeria has, obviously, closed the gap since its first Olympics nine years ago. The former Cleveland Cavaliers and Los Angeles Lakers' head coach, Brown has eight NBA players on his roster, including Jhalil Okafor of the Detroit Pistons, Precious Achiuwa of the Miami Heat and Jordan Nwora of the NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks.
"The first day of training camp, I was just looking around, the roles have switched for me. Now, I'm the oldest guy, and guys are looking up to me, asking me all types of crazy questions," said Udoh, one of five returning players from the 2019 World Cup team that went 3-2.
"Building this team right, we'll be around and able to medal for years. The core group of this team will be able to go to four Olympics. That will be special for the continuity."
Ranked 23rd in the world just a few weeks ago, Nigeria moved up to No. 4 with wins over USA and Argentina and is in Group B with Germany, Italy and an Australia team that handed them a 108-69 beatdown in Las Vegas.
"The expectation for us is definitely to medal," Udoh said. "Rankings don't really mean much at the end of the day . . . because we haven't really won anything. Those were exhibition games, we can't medal off of that. But, it would be big for us to be the first team to medal and then continue to build a program like the Australia's, the USA's, the Spain's, the Argentina's."
The son of Alice and Sam Udoh, who are both from the Akwa Ibom state in Nigeria, Ekpe said Nigeria is "running through our blood veins, through our DNA, since we were kids." He was born and raised in Edmond, Okla., and spent two years at Michigan before transferring to Baylor and sitting out the 2008-09 season, when the Bears made the 2009 NIT final.
"For me, I was gone a lot due to basketball, but I always knew about the family," Udoh said. "That's what my parents did, they kept that going, the storytelling and things of that nature. So, it's always heavy on me, and I'm just happy to be able to represent the country and especially the Akwa Ibom state."
After leading Baylor to the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight, Udoh was the No. 6 overall pick in the 2010 NBA Draft and played five seasons with the Golden State Warriors, Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Clippers.
Going overseas, Udoh won a EuroLeague championship and Final Four MVP honors with the Turkish club, Fenerbahce. Returning to the NBA, he played two seasons with the Utah Jazz and the previous two years in Beijing, China, before signing with the Italian League team, Virtus Bologna, last week.
"I want to play two to three more years and then probably move overseas for a year or two and just reflect and celebrate the career that I've had," he said.
Udoh initially had conversations about trying out for the Nigerian team for the 2016 Olympics in Brazil, "but we just had some miscommunication and it didn't work out."
Prior to the 2019 FIBA World Cup in China, Udoh met with a Nigerian official on a Jazz road trip to Houston and eventually made the team that would earn a berth in the Olympics with their performance.
"It was a good experience, just to play with your guys, play with your brothers," Udoh said of the 2019 World Cup. "We just didn't play up to our standards, which was unfortunate. But, we're grateful for qualifying, because if you look at the qualifiers that just happened recently, it was a gauntlet just to get into the Olympics. To see how we played over the past three games in four days, it shows that we've made a leap and now we're ready to really contend at the highest level."
Before joining the Nigerian team, Udoh worked a basketball camp with former Baylor teammate Tweety Carter β "that's my brother" β and dropped by the Ferrell Center.
"There's just a different aura, they're stepping a little bit different now. And I love seeing it," Udoh said. "Anybody who's had anything to do with the program, Coach Drew really reached out and has done a great job including everyone as one big family. That's just that culture of JOY (Jesus, Others, Yourself). That was their motto this year, and they really stuck to it."
Β Β
"GOING FOR THE GOLD"
Β
John Peers, Men's Tennis, Australia
Wil London, Track & Field, USA
Brittney Griner, Women's Basketball, USA
KC Lightfoot, Track & Field, USA
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