Nigerian-born basketballer, Festus Ifeanyi Ezeli-Ndulue became an NBA Champion earlier this year after helping Golden State Warriors to triumph over much-fancied Cleveland Cavaliers led by Lebron James to lift the coveted NBA title.
Ezeli was a bit-part player en route to the NBA finals but cemented his place in the team thanks to an injury to centre Andrew Bogut and never looked back.
Growing up, he was just like the average Nigerian kid; focused on his academics and played football at his leisure time with little or no love for basketball. He was a top primary school scholar and was promoted past primary 5 & 6 at the private Igbinedion Education Center in Benin City.
He went further to earn his Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (SSCE) a few months from his 15th birthday. He emigrated to the United States, aged just 14 and stood at 6-foot-6, with dreams of becoming a doctor.
The Ezelis had first visited the U.S. in 1996 and returned many times before deciding, on a trip to Northern California in 2014, to send Festus to there to further his education – and reach his dream of becoming a doctor – whilst living with his Uncle, Dr Chuks Ndulue, in Yuba City, California. Ezeli, who had never lived away from his family, was torn at the time.
After arriving in Sacramento, his uncle advised him to take advantage of his height and join the Basketball team. According to Yahoo Sports, Ezeli said “[Ndulue] saw my height and said, ‘We could do something with this. I told him that I came to America to be a doctor. He told me, ‘You can play basketball and use basketball to pay for your education.’ We all thought it was a good idea, but we didn’t realize how hard it would be.”
Despite having the right frame, he lacked the skills and technical know-how required to play the game and this was a major cause of concern for him. “I didn’t like it at all at first,” Ezeli said. “I didn’t understand anything about the game.”
He took a brief hiatus from the game after his frustrations heightened due to a nightmarish experience. He scored his first basket in his AAU debut in the wrong basket and was cut from Sacramento’s Jesuit High School basketball team in 2005.
He proceeded to Yuba Community College initially to focus on his studies until he met Yuba basketball coach Doug Cornelius. Cornelius was the first coach to take a chance on him and took his time to teach him how to play basketball. Ezeli continued practicing with Yuba and filmed their games. After adding 5 inches to his height at 17, college scouts clamoured for his signature despite his raw talent in AAU games. He received not less than 38 scholarship offers before narrowing the field to Boston College, Connecticut, Harvard and Vanderbilt.
Coming from Nigeria, his parents thought it would be a great privilege for their son to get a Harvard education. However, Ezeli strong-armed his parents and chose Vanderbilt in hopes of combining education and sports. His parents were disappointed and believed he had made a career error.
“I didn’t think it was the best decision because I thought Harvard would give him the greatest opportunity in life,” his mum Patricia Ada Ezeli said. “Most parents would think that for their children. But when he kept insisting about basketball, school and being able to play at the highest level of the sport, we said to ourselves, ‘School is always there. He can try it and if it doesn’t work out he can go back to school.’ She continued. After graduating with an Economics degree and suiting up for Vanderbilt from 2008 – 2012, the Golden State Warriors selected Ezeli with the 30th overall pick in the 2012 NBA draft. He started 41 games as a rookie but missed the entire 2013-14 season following knee surgery. He returned to action in February and was in the Warriors’ playing rotation as they progressed to the NBA Finals.
With center Andrew Bogut burdened with injuries, Ezeli helped propel his team to the NBA title. “I’ve been beyond lucky, blessed or whatever it is,” Ezeli said. “I’ve had people come into my life that I never expected. I’ve had people come and support me that I never expected. They all are a part of my journey… “Nothing is impossible. You just have to be able to dream big and work hard for it.” More than a decade later with no medical degree, he returned to Africa for the first time since his emigration, on Wednesday as an NBA Champion to feature in the first-ever NBA Africa Game, an exhibition on Saturday in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The 26-year-old will be playing for the Africa Team coached by the San Antonio Spurs’ Gregg Popovich with teammates such as Luol Deng and Giannis Antetokounmpo against the World Team that consists of the likes of All-Stars Chris Paul, Marc Gasol and Pau Gasol.
He is excited about this trip and believes the exhibition will have such a strong impact on the growth of basketball in Africa. “To bring NBA basketball out there just shows how much basketball has grown in that continent,” Ezeli said. “Pretty soon, Africa is going to be a contender in basketball. Eventually, it’s going to rival the United States. We just haven’t tapped that resource yet. This is the beginning.”
He was honored to get the invitation to play in the first NBA exhibition in Africa but had to calm the mum’s nerves over security and safety concerns.
Ezeli says it was a must that he attend because it’s “bigger than just myself” and he’s “paving the way for someone else.” With a strong NBA security contingent in tow, the players are billed to attend the NBA Africa Basketball Without Borders camp, take a visit to the Apartheid Museum, take part in charities and play in the exhibition game in Johannesburg.
He is scheduled to return to the United States on August 6 but admitted his trip to Africa won’t be complete until he finally returns to Nigeria.
“Even if I can’t go right now, the fact that I can go back to Africa is exciting to me,” Ezeli said. “There are a lot of things I want to do in the world.
“With the trouble in Nigeria and things like that, I want to be able to help my country in some way. I don’t know how it’s going to be, but I want to help my country. But to be able to give back to the continent, this is an exciting first step.”
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This article was first published on 31st July 2015
arinzeude
Arinze Ude is a PhD Student at the University of the West of England Bristol, UK, where he's exploring on the mechanisms of donor cell leukaemia. He shares his deep thoughts on his blog and the Naked Convos. He is keen to promote personal development of the Nigerian youth via thought-provoking articles.
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