Udoka Azubuike

Udoka Timothy Azubuike (pronounced you-DOE-kuh az-uh-BOO-kee) was born September 17, 1999 in Lagos, Nigeria. Lagos is the most populous city in Africa and a major seaport. He is the son of Fabian and Florence Azubuike. HIs father, a policeman, died tragically of an undiagnosed disease when Udoka was 10 years old. When he was 13, Udoka moved to the United States, escaping a Nigerian government in turmoil. Azubuike lived with a host family in Jacksonville, Florida while his mother, a middle school teacher, had to stay behind in Lagos. After a few months in Florida, Azubuike's host parents, Harry and Donna Coxsome, became his legal guardians. As a freshman in his first high school game for Potter's House Christian Academy, Azubuike faced future NBA star Joel Embiid, who was a senior. Embiid later helped recruit Azubuike to the University of Kansas, where the scholarly Azubuike spent four years. At Kansas, Azubuike was a three-time Academic All-Big-12 honoree and was named Big 12 Player of the Year after his senior season. Azubuike has also been a volunteer coach at the Special Olympics. He graduated with a degree in liberal arts and sciences. Fans can follow the big 7-footer on Twitter @TimUdoka. Azubuike attended the University of Kansas for four years, from 2016 to 2020. His four year career field goal percentage of 74.9 percent was, at the time, the highest in NCAA history. As a freshman, the 7-footer appeared in 11 games with six starts and averaged 12.9 minutes per game before a wrist injury shortened his season. As a sophomore, Azubuike started every regular season game for the Jayhawks, before hurting his left knee in the Big 12 Tournament. He returned to action in the NCAA Tournament and helped Kansas reach the Final Four. Through 36 games as a sophomore, the burly Nigerian posted 13.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game while shooting 77 percent from the field, which led the nation. An ankle and then wrist injury forced Azubuike to miss all but nine games if his 2018-19 junior season. The wrist injury and subsequent surgery prevented the big center from participating at the NBA Combine and he decided to return to Kansas for his senior season. In 2019-20, Azubuike averaged a double-double of 13.7 points, 10.5 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per game while again leading the nation in field goal percentage (74.8 percent). Azubuike and Devon Dotson led the Jayhawks to a 28-3 record before the 2019-20 NCAA season was cut short by COVID-19.