Surrey, UK – 09 Feb, 2024 – Surrey Scorchers announce the signing of Northeastern State men’s basketball and University of Arkansas alumnus Emeka Obukwelu.
Having secured his first professional contract out of college with Croatian top tier side Skrljevo, the athletic 25-year-old, 6’8” Forward, joins Surrey following a period at North-Macedonian Prva Liga side KK Strumica with a record of 13 games averaging 20.5 points, 9.9 rebounds and an impressive 74.5% from the foul line.
Signed out of Plano West High School in Texas Obukwelu attended Junior College at UT Tyler where he earned All-Conference honours in his sophomore year, averaging 19.6 points per game and 7.8 rebounds while setting an American Southwest Conference (ASC) single-season record for shooting percentage (.678).
Playing the following three seasons with NCAA Division 1 side Arkansas Razorbacks in a reserve role, playing in 11 games and being named to the 2021 SEC Winter Honour Roll in his Senior year, Obukwelu then transferred to Northeastern State as a graduate student and started all 30 games of their 2021/22 season, averaging 15 points per game and led the team with seven double-doubles. He was also an All-MIAA selection following the regular season and was top-30 nationally in defensive rebounds per game (6.93). Ultimately Obukwelu was named to the 2021-22 National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Honours Court.
Scorchers Head Coach, Lloyd Gardner said “We are delighted to add Emeka to our team. We’ve been short-handed up front since the injury to Jordan Hunt and have been searching for the right player that fits our needs.
“Emeka is a versatile, skilful forward who we see being able to contribute in a variety of ways around the court, and will complement our current roster very well.”
Surrey are excited to welcome Ekema to the Scorchers set up and look forward to seeing him in action on the court at Surrey Sports Park very soon.
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