Ben Uzoh
Benjamin Uzoh | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 18, 1988 |
| Occupation(s) | Basketball player, scout |
| Years active | 2010–2022 (player), 2023–present (scout) |
| Known for | NBA player, Nigerian national team member |
Benjamin Chukwukelo Uzoh (born March 18, 1988) is a former Nigerian-American basketball athlete who represented Nigeria on the international stage. Measuring 6 feet 3 inches and specializing as a point guard, Uzoh competed in the NBA with the New Jersey Nets and Toronto Raptors, while also pursuing a professional career spanning North America, Europe, South America, and Africa.
College career
During his four-year tenure at Tulsa with the Golden Hurricane, Uzoh posted the following averages:
| Freshman | Sophomore | Junior | Senior |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9.9 PPG | 15.6 PPG | 14.0 PPG | 15.3 PPG |
| 5.0 RPG | 5.4 RPG | 4.9 RPG | 4.7 RPG |
| 1.5 APG | 2.3 APG | 4.7 APG | 4.7 APG |
He stands as the sole Tulsa player to rank within the top ten across points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks categories, earning three All-Conference USA distinctions including a first-team nod in his senior year. Demonstrating remarkable consistency and resilience, Uzoh started in 140 out of 141 games throughout his college career.
Professional career
In the summer of 2010, Uzoh was recognized on the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament All Third Team.
Despite not being selected in the 2010 NBA draft, Uzoh secured a partially guaranteed deal with the New Jersey Nets in the National Basketball Association. His contract was fully guaranteed for the remainder of that season as of January 5, 2011. In March 2011, he had a brief assignment with the Springfield Armor of the NBA D-League.
October 2011 saw Uzoh ink a one-year agreement with Lokomotiv Kuban competing in the Russian League, but he was released after just two appearances.
On March 27, 2012, Uzoh signed a short-term ten-day contract with the Toronto Raptors. The Raptors extended his contract through the rest of that season on April 16, 2012. Notably, on April 26 against his former team, the Nets, he achieved a triple-double, marking the first such accomplishment by a Raptor player in eleven years.
Uzoh participated in training camp with the Denver Nuggets in October 2012 but did not make their final roster. Subsequently, he joined the D-League’s Rio Grande Valley Vipers before being traded to Springfield Armor on November 5, 2012.
On October 31, 2013, he was traded to the Tulsa 66ers. Later, on January 22, 2014, he transferred to the Canton Charge but was released on March 21 due to an injury that ended his season.
In 2015, Uzoh signed with Nigeria’s Lagos Islanders.
He committed to Belgian team Okapi Aalstar on March 12, 2017, for the remainder of that campaign.
On February 10, 2018, Uzoh joined Caballeros de Culiacan in Mexico’s CIBACOPA league where he earned All-Star recognition.
Uzoh signed with French club Paris Basketball competing in LNB Pro B on November 24, 2019; however, they parted ways by January 2020.
In April of 2021, he returned to Nigeria to play for Rivers Hoopers during the inaugural season of the Basketball Africa League (BAL). He scored BAL’s first-ever points and became its initial player with prior NBA experience. The Hoopers concluded with a record of one win and two losses; Uzoh led the team averaging 14.7 points per contest.
In September 2021, Uzoh suited up for South Africa’s Cape Town Tigers, guiding them to their first national title with an impressive showing in the championship game.
On July 4, 2022, he signed with Venezuelan outfit Marinos competing in the Venezuelan SuperLiga.
Post-playing career
In October 2023, Uzoh rejoined the Toronto Raptors organization, this time taking on the role of a scout within the National Basketball Association (NBA), marking a return to the franchise where he once competed as a player.
National team career
Uzoh has been a key figure for the Nigerian national basketball team, participating in the FIBA Men's African Championships during 2013, 2015, and 2017. Additionally, he represented Nigeria at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, underscoring his contribution to elevating Nigerian basketball on an international platform.
| Afrobasket 2013 | AfroBasket 2015 | Rio Olympics 2016 | Fiba World Cup 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10.6 PPG | 5.6 RPG | 5.0 APG | 6.8 PPG |
| 8.1 PPG | 3.1 RPG | 3.0 APG | 2.2 APG |
| 7.4 PPG | 1.4 RPG | 2.6 APG | 1.6 RPG |
Regular season
|- | align="left" | | align="left" | New Jersey | 42 || 0 || 10.4 || .424 || .375 || .589 || 1.5 || 1.6 || 0.3 || 0.2 || 3.8 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Cleveland | 2 || 0 || 6.5 || .400 || .000 || .000 || 2.0 || 1.0 || 0.5 || 0.0 || 2.0 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Toronto | 16 || 8 || 22.3 || .351 || .000 || .579 || 3.9 || 3.7 || 1.0 || 0.2 || 4.8 |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career | 60 || 8 || 13.5 || .395 || .333 || .587 || 2.1 || 2.2 || 0.5 || 0.2 || 4.0
BAL
|- | style="text-align:left;"|2021 | style="text-align:left;"|Rivers Hoopers | 3 || 3 || 29.1 || .559 || .000 || .667 || 4.7 || 5.3 || 1.0 || .7 || 14.7 |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career | 3 || 3 || 29.1 || .559 || .000 || .667 || 4.7 || 5.3 || 1.0 || .7 || 14.7