Chinanu Michael Onuaku (born November 1, 1996) is an American professional basketball player for Dinamo Sassari of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA). He played college basketball for the Louisville Cardinals.
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No. 32 – Dinamo Sassari | ||||||||||||||
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Position | Power forward / Center | |||||||||||||
League | LBA | |||||||||||||
Personal information | ||||||||||||||
Born | (1996-11-01) November 1, 1996 (age 25) Lanham, Maryland | |||||||||||||
Nationality | American | |||||||||||||
Listed height | 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) | |||||||||||||
Listed weight | 245 lb (111 kg) | |||||||||||||
Career information | ||||||||||||||
High school | Riverdale Baptist (Upper Marlboro, Maryland) | |||||||||||||
College | Louisville (2014–2016) | |||||||||||||
NBA draft | 2016 / Round: 2 / Pick: 37th overall | |||||||||||||
Selected by the Houston Rockets | ||||||||||||||
Playing career | 2016–present | |||||||||||||
Career history | ||||||||||||||
2016–2018 | Houston Rockets | |||||||||||||
2016–2018 | →Rio Grande Valley Vipers | |||||||||||||
2018–2019 | Greensboro Swarm | |||||||||||||
2019–2020 | Wonju DB Promy | |||||||||||||
2020–2021 | Zadar | |||||||||||||
2021–2022 | Bnei Herzliya | |||||||||||||
2022–present | Dinamo Sassari | |||||||||||||
Career highlights and awards | ||||||||||||||
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Medals
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Onuaku attended Riverdale Baptist School where he averaged 12.4 points, 12.7 rebounds, and 5.5 blocks as a senior, leading Riverdale to a 30–9 record and the Capital Beltway conference title.[1]
When Onuaku graduated, he was considered the 74th best prospect by Rivals.com,[2] 75th by ESPN[3] and was rated as the seventh-best center in the nation by Scout.com.[4]
Onuaku played two seasons of college basketball for the University of Louisville between 2014 and 2016. In his sophomore season, he averaged 9.9 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.0 blocks,[5] earning All-ACC Defensive Team and All-ACC honorable mention honors and posting 11 double-doubles.[6]
In May 2016, Onuaku announced he would enter the NBA draft.[6]
On June 23, 2016, Onuaku was selected by the Houston Rockets with the 37th overall pick in the 2016 NBA draft[7] and later joined them for the 2016 NBA Summer League.[8] On July 20, 2016, he signed with the Rockets.[5] He made his NBA debut on December 26, 2016, coming on in the fourth quarter and recording six points and three rebounds in a 131–115 win over the Phoenix Suns. He hit a pair of free throws in the game with his underhanded free-throw action.[9] During his rookie season, Onuaku had multiple assignments with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, the Rockets' D-League affiliate.[10] On May 1, 2017, he was suspended two games without pay for pushing a game official. The incident occurred during an altercation in the final seconds of the Vipers' 122–96 loss to Raptors 905 in Game 3 of the 2017 NBA D-League Finals on April 27.[11]
On August 2, 2018, Onuaku was traded from the Rockets to the Dallas Mavericks for the rights to forward Maarty Leunen.[12] He was waived four days later.[13]
On September 4, 2018, Onuaku signed with the Portland Trail Blazers.[14] On October 13, 2018, he was waived by the Trail Blazers.[15]
On October 20, 2018, Onuaku was selected with the second overall pick in the 2018 NBA G League draft by the Greensboro Swarm.[16]
Onuaku spent the 2019-20 season in South Korea with Wonju DB Promy. He averaged 14.4 points, 10.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.5 blocks per game.[17]
On October 14, 2020, Onuaku signed with Zadar in the Croatian League.[17]
On July 21, 2021, he has signed with Bnei Herzliya of the Israeli Basketball Premier League.[18]
On February 17, 2022, Onuaku won the Israeli Basketball State Cup after Bnei Herzliya Basket edged out Hapoel Tel Aviv 87-82. Onuaku was crowned as the game's MVP with 30 points, 17 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 blocks and 50 PIR
On July 20, 2022, he has signed with Dinamo Sassari of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA).[19]
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 |
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2016–17 | Houston | 5 | 1 | 10.4 | .714 | - | 1.000 | 2.0 | .6 | .6 | .2 | 2.8 |
2017–18 | Houston | 1 | 0 | 22.0 | .400 | - | - | 4.0 | 1.0 | .0 | .0 | 4.0 |
Career | 6 | 1 | 12.3 | .583 | - | 1.000 | 2.3 | .7 | .5 | .2 | 3.0 |
Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
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2018 | Houston | 1 | 0 | 3.0 | - | - | - | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | .0 | .0 |
Career | 1 | 0 | 3.0 | - | - | - | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | .0 | .0 |
Onuaku is the son of Nwaneka and Christopher Onuaku, and has three older siblings: Ify, Arinze and Chuk. Onuaku's brother, Arinze, is also a professional basketball player.[1] In 2020, Onuaku began dating Mone Hicks. Their daughter Chloe Onuaku was born in March 2022.
Banco di Sardegna Sassari current roster | |
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