Benjamin Chukwukelo Uzoh (born March 18, 1988) is a Nigerian-American former basketball player. He played in international competitions for Nigeria.[1] Standing at 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) and playing at the point guard, Uzoh played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the New Jersey Nets and Toronto Raptors. He also played for several teams across North America, Europe, South America and Africa.
Uzoh is the only player in school history to be ranked top 10 among points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks. He's a three time All-Conference USA recipient including his selection to the first team his senior year. He started in 140 games out 141 game in his college career.
Professional career
In the summer of 2010, Uzoh earned Portsmouth Invitational Tournament All Third Team.
In October 2011, he signed a one-year contract with Lokomotiv Kuban of the Russian League,[3] but was released after playing just two games.[4]
On March 27, 2012, he signed a 10-day contract with the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association.[5] On April 16, 2012, the Raptors announced they had signed Ben Uzoh for the remainder of the 2011–2012 season. He recorded a triple-double on April 26, against the Nets, the first by a Raptor in eleven years.[6]
Uzoh joined the Denver Nuggets for their training camp in October 2012,[7] but did not make the team's final roster.[8] He was then acquired by the D-League team the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.[9] However, on November 5, 2012, Uzoh was traded to the Armor for Tim Ohlbrecht.[10]
On October 31, 2013, Uzoh was acquired by the Tulsa 66ers in a trade involving the Iowa Energy and the Springfield Armor.[11] On January 22, 2014, he was traded to the Canton Charge.[12] On March 21, 2014, he was waived by the Charge due to a season-ending injury.[13]
Ben Uzoh went to Nigeria in 2015 where he signed on to play for the Lagos Islanders.[14]
On March 12, 2017, Uzoh signed with Belgian club Okapi Aalstar for the rest of the 2016–17 season.[15]
In April 2021, Uzoh signed with the Nigerian team Rivers Hoopers to play in the inaugural season of the Basketball Africa League (BAL).[20] He scored the first-ever points in the BAL in the season opener against Patriots BBC.[21] He also became the first ex-NBA player to play in the newly established competition.[22] The Hoopers were eliminated in the regular season after two losses and one win, with Uzoh averaging a team-leading 14.7 points per game.
In September 2021, Uzoh was on the roster of South African team Cape Town Tigers and helped the team win its first-ever national championship. He recorded 22 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists in the championship game against Jozi Nuggets.[23]
