Festus Ezeli
Festus Ezeli was born on October 21, 1989 in Benin City in Nigeria. The 23-year old Ezeli’s full name is Ifeanyi Festus Ezeli-Ndulue; his first name Ifeanyi means “nothing is impossible with God.” Ezeli moved from Nigeria at the age of 14 when he was sent to live with his uncle in California after graduating high school at a young age to pursue a career in medicine.
Early Struggles with Basketball
Ezeli had never played basketball until he was a 6’8 14-year old after being encouraged by his uncle. He had troubles learning the sport at such an advanced age and claims he didn’t enjoy the sport until he dunked for the first time during a 2006 summer league game in Vegas with his AAU team. By 2007 Ezeli was a heavily sought after recruit and eventually chose Vanderbilt over Boston College, UConn, and Harvard.
Collegiate Career
After redshirting his freshman year and playing only limited minutes the next two seasons (12.4 in 08-09 and 12.7 in 09-10), he finally got the chance to showcase his size and talent during the 2010-2011 season. In 2010-2011 Ezeli averaged 13 ppg, 6.3 rpg, and 2.6 bpg in 23.5 minutes while being named to the All-SEC 2nd Team and setting Vanderbilt’s single season record for blocks with 87. During Ezeli’s senior season the Vanderbilt Commodores won the SEC defeating the eventual NCAA Champion, Kentucky Wildcats.
Professional Career
On June 28, 2012, the 6’11 255-pound Ezeli was selected by the Golden State Warriors with the last pick of the 1st round. Due to several nagging and recurring injuries to starting Center Andrew Bogut, Ezeli started 41 of the 78 games he appeared in as well as 3 of 12 playoff games during his campaign. Ezeli scored a career high 13 rebounds on January 19th against the then New Orleans Hornets and grabbed a career high 13 rebounds on April 15th against the San Antonio Spurs. He finished the season with averages of 2.4 ppg., 4 rpg., and 1 bpg. in 14.4 minutes.
On June 13th the Warriors announced that Ezeli would be out for 6-9 months due to a required surgery on his right knee that he suffered on April 17th, the final game of the regular season against the Portland Trailblazers.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
