Semi Ojeleye

Jesusemilore Talodabijesu Ojeleye was born in Overland Park, Kansas. His family is from Nigeria. Ojeleye's father, Ernest, came to the United States for a residency at the University of Kansas medical center. His mother, Joy, is a registered nurse. Ojeleye's older brother, Victory, played basketball at Kansas State. Semi maintained a 4.0 GPA throughout high school and was a National Honor Society member. He was a two-time first team all-state player and won the 2013 Parade Magazine National Player of the Year award. In college, Ojeleye majored in psychology. While at SMU, Ojeleye was nominated for the Allstate NABC Good Works Team for his efforts off the court. In 2019, the Boston Celtics Shamrock Foundation honored Ojeleye with the 2019 Community Champion Award for his work with local charities. You can follow Ojeleye on both Twitter and Instagram via @semi. Ojeleye played for two seasons at Duke, then transferred for one season at Southern Methodist University. As a freshman on a loaded 2013-14 Duke team, Ojeleye played 5.0 minutes per game, averaging 1.6 points and 0.2 made threes per contest. Seven Blue Devils from that roster would go on to NBA careers. After playing in only six games during his sophomore year, Ojeleye would transfer to SMU seeking a larger role. Despite losing the 2015-16 season due to transfer ineligibility, the move proved beneficial. During the 2016-17 season, the burly wing started 35 games for the Mustangs, averaging 19.0 points, 6.9 boards and 2.1 made threes per game. Ojeleye was named the American Athletic Conference Player of the Year, as well as All-Conference First Team and postseason tournament MVP. Ojeleye's Mustangs lost to USC in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.