Nnanna Egwu

Nnanna Egwu
No. 21 – Cairns Taipans
Position Center
League NBL
Personal information
Born (1992-10-22) October 22, 1992
Nigeria
Nationality American
Listed height 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)
Listed weight 250 lb (113 kg)
Career information
High school St. Ignatius (Chicago, Illinois)
College Illinois (2011–2015)
NBA draft 2015 / Undrafted
Playing career 2015–present
Career history
2015–2016 Erie BayHawks
2016–present Cairns Taipans
Career highlights and awards

Nnanna Egwu (born October 22, 1992) is an American professional basketball player for the Cairns Taipans of the National Basketball League (NBL). He played college basketball for the Illinois Fighting Illini.[1][2]

Early life and high school

Born in Nigeria and raised from the age of six in Chicago, Illinois, Egwu found his niche on the basketball court. As an eighth grader, his mother signed him up for a park district team and by his freshman year of high school, he really had an outlet.[3][4][5] As a junior at St. Ignatius College Prep in 2009–10, he averaged 13 points, six rebounds and four blocks per game as he earned fourth-team All-State by the IBCA and special mention All-State by the News-Gazette.[6]

On November 10, 2010, Egwu signed a National Letter of Intent to play college basketball for the University of Illinois.[7] Regarded as a four-star recruit by Rivals.com, he was ranked as the No. 97 athlete in the nation. He chose Illinois over scholarship offers from Northwestern, Oregon State, Purdue and Wisconsin.[8]

As a senior in 2010–11, Egwu averaged 16 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks per game as he earned first-team All-State selection by the Associated Press, Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette and Illinois Basketball Coaches Association (IBCA). He was also named the Chicago Catholic League-North Division Co-Athlete of the Year.[6]

Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Nnanna Egwu
C		 Chicago, IL St. Ignatius 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Oct 9, 2009 
Scout:4/5 stars   Rivals:4/5 stars   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 94
Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: 9 (C)   Rivals: 14 (C)  ESPN: 10 (C)
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

College career

As a freshman at Illinois in 2011–12, Egwu played in all 32 games and started three times as he averaged 1.9 points and 1.5 rebounds per game. He scored a season-high 11 points on November 27, 2011 against Loyola Chicago.[6]

As a sophomore in 2012–13, Egwu started 35 of 36 games while averaging 6.5 points and leading the team in rebounding with average of 4.9 per game. He was also fourth in the Big Ten Conference in blocked shots, averaging 1.4 per game, and was subsequently one of three recipients of team's Most Improved Player award. He scored a career-high 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting against Ohio State on January 5, 2013.[6]

As a junior in 2013–14, Egwu started all 35 games, ranking fifth on the team in scoring with average of 6.9 points and led the Illini in rebounding on the season with average of 6.0 per game. He also led the llini and ranked second in the Big Ten in blocked shots, averaging 2.1 per game as his 73 total blocks ranked second on UI all-time single-season list.[6]

As a senior in 2014–15, Egwu earned Big Ten All-Defensive Team honors, and averaged 6.5 points and 5.9 rebounds in 33 games.[9]

College statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2011–12 Illinois 32 3 9.8 .474 .000 .462 1.5 .2 .2 .6 1.9
2012–13 Illinois 36 35 25.4 .460 .167 .636 4.9 .5 .6 1.4 6.5
2013–14 Illinois 35 35 29.7 .414 .217 .778 6.0 .4 .3 2.1 6.9
2014–15 Illinois 33 33 29.8 .431 .303 .786 5.9 1.0 .8 1.8 6.5

Professional career

After going undrafted in the 2015 NBA draft, Egwu joined the Orlando Magic for the 2015 NBA Summer League.[10] He signed with the Magic on September 24, 2015,[11] but was later waived on October 23 after appearing in five preseason games.[12] On October 31, 2015, he was acquired by the Erie BayHawks of the NBA Development League as an affiliate player of the Magic.[13]

In July 2016, Egwu re-joined the Orlando Magic for the Orlando Summer League, and then played for the NBA D-League Select Team in the Las Vegas Summer League. On August 26, 2016, he signed with the Cairns Taipans for the 2016–17 NBL season.[14]

Personal

Egwu is the son of Emmanuel and Immaculata Egwu and is one of four children, including his twin sister, Nnenna, who attended Purdue University, and Nnachi, who attends Marian Catholic High School.[6]

References

  1. ↑ Moscoso, Alex (December 9, 2014). "Nnanna Egwu is the Defensive Linchpin for Illinois". RushTheCourt.net. Retrieved January 2, 2015.
  2. ↑ Ryan, Shannon (October 16, 2014). "Illinois center Nnanna Egwu aims to go all out in senior season". ChicagoTribune.com. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  3. ↑ Supinie, John (July 26, 2011). "Illinois notebook: Work ethic will serve Nnanna Egwu well". rrstar.com. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
  4. ↑ Helfgot, Mike (January 28, 2010). "Boys basketball spotlight: Illinois recruit Nnanna Egwu of St. Ignatius has come a long way". ChicagoTribune.com. Retrieved January 2, 2015.
  5. ↑ Ryan, Shannon (March 24, 2013). "Egwu growing by leaps and bounds — as a player". ChicagoTribune.com. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Nnanna Egwu Bio". FightingIllini.com. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
  7. ↑ "Illinois Lands Third-Straight Top-15 Class". FightingIllini.com. November 10, 2010. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
  8. ↑ Kane, Colleen (October 9, 2009). "St. Ignatius junior Nnanna Egwu orally commits to Illinois". ChicagoTribune.com. Retrieved January 2, 2015.
  9. ↑ "#32 Nnanna Egwu". WashingtonPost.com. Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
  10. ↑ "Former Illinois Center Nnanna Egwu to Play for Orlando Magic in Summer League". BTPowerhouse.com. June 27, 2015. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
  11. ↑ "Magic Sign Four Free Agents To Round Out Training Camp Roster". NBA.com. September 24, 2015. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
  12. ↑ "Magic Waive Nnanna Egwu". NBA.com. October 23, 2015. Retrieved October 24, 2015.
  13. ↑ "Erie BayHawks Announce Affiliate, Returning Players". OurSportsCentral.com. October 31, 2015. Retrieved October 31, 2015.
  14. ↑ "NNANNA EGWU JOINS CAIRNS TAIPANS AS THIRD IMPORT". Taipans.com. August 26, 2016. Retrieved August 26, 2016.
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