Chinanu Onuaku

LOUISVILLE V NORTH CAROLINA | Chinanu Onuaku

LOUISVILLE BASKETBALL V PITT | Chinanu Onuaku

LOUISVILLE V WAKE FOREST | CHINANU ONUAKU

Position:
Forward/Center
Height:
6-10
Weight:
245
Class:
Sophomore
Hometown:
Lanham, Md.
High School:
Riverdale Baptist

Freshman Year

Name is pronounced chih-NAH-noo on-ooh-AHH-koo.
Named to the 2015 All-ACC Academic Men’s Basketball team, one of a league-high seven Cardinals selected for the honor.
Produced eight points and a career-high matching 11 rebounds at Syracuse, his best effort in ACC play.
Ranked ninth in the ACC in blocked shots (1.2 blocks per game). He blocked a shot in 20 games as a freshman.
Made 45-of-73 field goals last season (.616) and had nine games in which he was perfect from the field.
Tied his career-high with 11 rebounds against Syracuse, also pulling down 11 rebounds against Marshall.
Grabbed nine or more rebounds in five games last season and had three double-figure scoring games.
Blocked a career-best seven shots vs. Cleveland State.
Won a gold medal as a member of the 2015 USA Basketball Men’s U19 World Championship Team. In seven games during the event played June 27-July 5 in Heraklion, Crete, Greece, Onuaku started six games and averaged 4.6 points, 5.0 rebounds, hit 13-of-20 field goals (.650) and added 10 steals and a team-high 12 blocked shots while averaging 16 minutes a game for the deep USA squad. His 1.7 blocked shots were the sixth-most in the 16-team event.
Totaled six points, eight rebounds and a team-high four blocked shots in 28 minutes in the USA’s 79-71 overtime victory over Croatia, claiming its second straight U19 World Championship, the first USA back-to-back titles in the event since 1983.
His brother Arinze Onuaku played for Syracuse from 2005-10 and finished last season on the Minnesota Timberwolves roster. Arinze set the Syracuse single-season field goal percentage mark of 66.7 percent as a senior when he averaged 10.3 points and 7.3 rebounds as the Orange’s starting center.
His sister Ify played basketball at Florida A&M (2004-08).

High School

Averaged 12.4 points, 12.7 rebounds, and 5.5 blocks as a senior in leading Riverside Baptist High School to a 30-9 record and the Capital Beltway conference title. Riverside Baptist won the first private school state championship his senior year.
Totaled 13 points and 11 rebounds to help lead Riverdale Baptist to the Maryland Private School championship with a 71-66 victory over No. 5 Clinton Christian.
First team All-Metro by The Washington Post, Onuaku was a first team all-state selection and was ranked No. 66 nationally by 247Sports.com, 74th by Rivals.com, No. 75 in the ESPN 100 and was rated the seventh-best center in the nation by Scout.com.
Twice named the top defensive player in his conference.
Top scoring effort as a senior was 25 points against Clinton Christian and he grabbed a season-best 19 rebounds against Orangeville.
Averaged 8.2 points, 10.6 rebounds and 3.4 blocked shots as a junior in helping Riverdale Baptist achieve a 26-10 record and the Capital Beltway League title.
Led his DC Assault AAU team to the 2013 Under Armour Summer Jam title as the event’s second-leading rebounder. Also on the AAU circuit, he played on the Adidas Nations championship team and was named to the Reebok Breakout Classic All-Star game.
Had narrowed his collegiate choices to Georgetown and Miami (Fla.) before signing with the Cardinals.
Totaled seven points, 10 rebounds, two blocks and a game-high four steals for the winning White team in the 2014 Kentucky Derby Festival Basketball Classic all-star game. He led the Capital All-Stars with 21 points, 14 rebounds and five assists in the 2014 Capital Classic all-star game.

Personal

Born Nov. 1, 1996 ... Son of Nwaneka and Christopher Onuaku ... Has three older siblings (Ify, Arinze, Chuk) ... Major is communication.
Personal goal this season at UofL is to win the ACC Defensive Player of the Year award.
Enjoys going out (movies, parties) and playing video games in his spare time.
Chose to attend UofL because “I wanted to be challenged and learn from a great coach.”
Best basketball advice given to him was “don’t give up on your dream. Treat this like your job.”
Feels Will Smith would be the best actor to play him in a movie.
Few people know that he can cook.
His brother Arinze has had the greatest influence on his athletic career.
Best thing about being a Cardinal is the fan support.
Best moment of his athletic career to date was winning a gold medal with the 2015 USA U19 team.
When he played basketball as a kid, he pretended he was himself in the NBA.
Among reality shows, he feels he would fare best on Love & Hip Hop in Atlanta or Real Husbands of Hollywood.
Wanted to wear No.32 because it was Magic Johnson’s number.
Would most like to meet Carmelo Anthony.
Nickname is Bam Bam.

Favorites

Basketball Player: Carmelo Anthony
Athlete, Other than a Basketball Player: Peyton Manning
NBA Team: New York Knicks
Movies: Lucy, Notorious, Next Friday, Straight Outta Compton
TV Shows: Boondocks, Ballers
Actor: Will Smith
TV Sports Personality: Shaquille O’Neal
Comedian: Kevin Hart
Musical Groups: Drake, Lil Wayne, Migos, Wale, Future, J Cole, ASAP Rocky, Chief Keef, Fetty Wap
Website: Flightclub.com
Best Player Ever Faced: Andrew Wiggins
Vacation Spot: Puerto Rico