Al-Farouq Ajiede Aminu is a Nigerian-American professional basketballer for the Portland Trailblazers in Portland, Oregon.
Aminu joined the Trailblazers in 2015/2016, the 70th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA), following his season run with Western Conference Southwest Division side, Dallas Mavericks.
The Nigerian was born into a royal family, which makes the pro-basketballer a prince.
Aminu began his career at the Norcross High School in Norcross, Georgia, and was rated amongst the top 10 college recruits in the country from the class of 2008, for his remarkable skill on the ball.
However, life hit the Nigerian with a deadly blow when he was deemed ineligible to play for the college’s senior team. He was relegated to Norcross’ junior team throughout his sophomore year.
Despite the troubles he would face, the brave Aminu was prepared to put in his best for the JV team, and he did.
The Nigerian and his counterpart, Gani Lawal, led Norcross to a 30–3 record and a #12 national seed. Aminu averaged 13.7 points and 9.5 rebounds per game throughout his junior year, leading Norcross to two consecutive Georgia 5A state titles in 2007 and 2008.
As a senior, he averaged 23.1 points and 11.2 rebounds per game for Norcross.
In November 2007, Aminu opted to play for Wake Forest over Georgia Tech. In his freshman year, he was picked for the ACC All-Freshman Team. He completed 10 double-doubles in his first year.
Aminu finished second amongst league rookies with 13.0 points per game.
In 2009, the Nigerian won a number of awards including the Sporting News All-Freshman Team, Runner-up for ACC Freshman of the Year, ACC Freshman of the Week (five separate selections), and of course, the ACC All-Freshman Team (unanimous selection).
In the 2010 NBA draft, Aminu was selected as the 8th overall pick by the Los Angeles Clippers.
In 2011, Aminu completed a move to New Orleans Pelicans, where he spent three season before joining Dallas Mavericks for a year.
In 2015, Aminu led D’Tigers to their first ever continental basketball title, at the Afrobasket 2015.
Featured image source: Oregon Sports News
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