Ibekwe was injured trying to make a game-saving block against then Phoenix Suns point guard Goran Dragic who drove the lane in the final seconds. Ibekwe blocked the shot and crashed to the floor over Dragic, nailing his chin on the hardwood.

The Raptors got the 74-73 win that day.

The former Maryland Terrapins’ power forward survived the fall and suffered two sprained wrists and six stitches to his chin.

Three years later, Ekene Ibekwe remains strong at heart in full survival mode overseas playing everywhere from Israel, France, Turkey, Iran and today in Germany where he roams the low blocks for BBC Bayreuth in Germany’s premiere Beko BBL.

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Source: Wendell Maxey, Ridiculous Upside

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Source: Miles Schmidt-Scheuber, EUROBASKET

“I think the sky is the limit for this year,” said Gillenwater, who left Las Cruces after three years to pursue a professional career. “Wendell (McKines) had a great summer and Hamidu (Rahman) got better and there a lot of young guys. We lose me and Gordo (Castillo) but we still have the core of the team with Wendell, Hamidu and Hernst (Laroche) who have all been to the NCAA Tournament. Those guys know what it takes to get back.”

Gillenwater will have to keep up with the Aggies from overseas this year.

Gillenwater signed earlier this week with a Top 5 Cyprus League club Apollon Limassol. He said he leaves for Cyprus on Sept. 10 and league play starts later this month.

“I’m excited about getting out there and getting back playing,” said Gillenwater, who left college averaging 15.2 points per game. “It’s going to be a little different than playing at New Mexico State. It’s going to be a culture change but I’m just adapting and hoping to play the best I can.”

NMSU announced that Gillenwater was forgoing his senior season in May. In June, Gillenwater took his name out of the NBA Draft prior to the NBA’s withdrawal deadline but after the NCAA’s early deadline in May – a decision that kept Gillenwater eligible for next year’s draft.

“This is just a big year,” Gillenwater said. “I can go over there and better myself as a player and come back into the 2012 draft and hopefully get drafted, which has been the goal since Day 1. I have just been working out and trying to prepare myself. I’m playing against grown men. There are a lot of older guys and I know it will be more physical.”

After leaving NMSU, Gillenwater said he had workouts for seven NBA teams.

Among the evaluations were working on quickness and being able to guard multiple positions as a small forward in the NBA.
“It was a great experience,” Gillenwater said. “I got a lot of good feedback and different looks for stuff I need to work on and get better at. I kind of got a head start on what it’s going to be like again.”

Gillenwater’s agent, Scott Nichols, said Gillenwater had offers from bigger clubs who wanted to lock him in for multiple-year deals with restrictions that would make it more difficult to come back.

The Cyprus league is only six months, leaving the option open for Gillenwater to leave Europe and prepare for the NBA Draft or can join another league for postseason play and more money.

Nichols said college players can make between $8-10 thousand per month in the Cyprus league.

“There was another team from Germany, but Israel and Cyrpus were the two teams that were the most aggressive,” Gillenwater said.

Gillenwater played through significant ankle injuries all season, but was still a first-team All-Western Athletic Conference player and NABC All-District selection after scoring 18.9 points per game and 6.3 rebounds as a junior, as the Aggies finished with a 16-17 record.

“You start to miss college, I’m not going to lie,” Gillenwater said. “The four years of my life, August has meant getting ready for school so it’s been different. It’s time to be a man and be a professional.”

Jason Groves can be reached at (575) 541-5459

Source: Jason Groves, Las-Cruces Sun News

Troy Gillenwater has signed with Apollon of Cyprus, his agent Scott Nichols has confirmed.

Gillenwater will be a candidate for the 2012 NBA Draft.

Gillnwater declared for the 2011 NBA Draft, but eventually withdrew. He led New Mexico State in scoring at 18.9 points per game.

Source: RealGM Wiretap

Andre Owens heads to Lukoil from Donetsk, where he finished 2010/11. He had 9.2 ppg, 3.3 rpg and 1.9 apg for them in 23 Ukrainian league games. He helped them reach Playoff Finals. Owens started last season with Manresa and later moved to Granada. He received Bulgarian citizenship in 2009.

Akida McLain also arrives to Lukoil from Ukraine. He had 13 ppg and 5.8 rpg for Khimik in 13 league games. McLain shined with Cypriot Hasapis Omonia Nicosia before his move to Khimik. He had 16 ppg and 6.9 rpg in 14 league games. It was his first season as a pro.

Source: EUROBASKET

Strawberry was scouted in Israel both by Maccabi T.A. and Hapoel Jerusalem. After the Euroleague finalist decided to go with Greek point guard Thodoros Papaloukas (Agent: FCM), Strawberry made it his primary goal to prove Maccabi’s move was wrong, and closed a deal with J-M.

An ACC All-Defensive team, dynamic and versatile playmaker is what stands out when thinking of Strawberry. Last summer, the 26-year-old Maryland graduate played for the Los Angeles Lakers in Vegas, averaging 13 points in 26 minutes, resulting in Hapoel Jerusalem giving him a serious look before eventually deciding to go with Will Solomon. Strawberry first met his international challenge in 2008 and answered with a respective 14.7ppg, 2.7rpg, 1.5apg and 1.2spg in the Eurocup games while playing for Italy’s Bologna. Before being bought out by Rytas this past season, Strawberry excelled with D-Leagues Reno Bighorns and improved every aspect of his game, posting numbers of 14.1 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game.

In 2010, Strawberry was signed by the New Orleans Hornets to a non-guaranteed one-year deal but finished the season in Lithuania playing for Lietuvos Rytas.

Source: David Pick, EUROBASKET

‘Eurobasket’ recently learned that one of the athletes who played overseas last season and is receiving lots of looks this summer is D.J. Strawberry, who is wanted in Israel by almost every top rated organization. Strawberry was the Hornets’ final cut last year and has current interest from both the Spurs and Lakers; however, he is determined on playing this coming season and is getting heat from major Israeli clubs who shall remain anonymous for the moment but are in search of a talented and proven guard.

An ACC All-Defensive team, dynamic and versatile playmaker is what stands out while thinking of Strawberry. Last summer, the 26-year-old Maryland graduate played for the Los Angeles Lakers in Vegas, averaging 13 points in just over 26 minutes, resulting in Hapoel Jerusalem giving him a serious look before eventually deciding to go with Will Solomon. Strawberry first met his international challenge in 2008 and answered with a respective 14.7ppg, 2.7rpg, 1.5apg and 1.2spg in the Eurocup games while playing for Italy’s Bologna. Before being bought out by Rytas this past season, Strawberry excelled with D-League’s Reno Bighorns and improved every aspect of his game, posting numbers of 14.1 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game.

Strawberry’s next move is to be determined shortly, as he exercises his Israelis options hoping reside in Israel.

Strawberry was drafted in 2007 by the Phoenix Suns with the 59th pick only to be traded a year later to the Houston Rockets where from there, he joined Italian club Fortitudo Bologna. In 2010, Strawberry was signed by the New Orleans Hornets to a non-guaranteed one-year deal and eventually finished last season in Lithuania playing for Lietuvos Rytas.

Source: David Pick, EUROBASKET

Source: BBC Bayreuth

Sometimes dreams cause blindness. Dreams, if they are full of fantasy, rarely cut through the clouds. The dreamer is locked into a trance in which he cannot see, does not want to see. Josh Akognon could be but is not one of those dreamers. And how tempting it would be for Akognon to ignore reality, for he is as close as he’s ever been to his NBA dream.

Both the Los Angeles Lakers and the New Orleans Hornets worked out Akognon in the past couple weeks, both telling him they really liked his game, both giving the former Casa Grande star the distinct impression they would invite him to their training camp. If they had one. The NBA lockout prevents that. So, Akognon could wait around for a season that may or may not come.

Or Akognon could continue being a rock star in China.

In April, Akognon finished a 39-game schedule with the DongGuan Leopards of the Chinese Basketball Association. He averaged 29.2 points a game, made 55.6 percent of his field goals and had four games over 40 points, one of them 54 points. All those numbers created the following Mick Jagger experience.

“We were at the Chinese New Year parade,” said Akognon of himself, his wife Ariana, and his son, Josiah, now 10 months, “and someone recognized me and wanted to take my picture.”

Within 10 minutes, 50-100 people surrounded the Akognons, he estimated. Within 20-30 minutes, upwards of 400 people were using their camcorders. Very few Chinese, Akognon has found, ask for autographs. Eventually the Akognons were walking away, wanting to leave, but the crowd began following them. They wanted to see where Akognon was living. The Akognons needed a police escort to their apartment area.

The police restrained the fans from getting too close, so Akognon was able to enter the apartment complex without being tailed.

“The Chinese love basketball so much, earmuffs are sold at games to protect people’s ears from the screaming,” Akognon said. “I had to buy one for Josiah.”

All that attention and all that scoring was topped off nicely and neatly by his salary.

For the five months in China, Akognon estimated he made around $250,000, including performance incentives. That money is tax-free. The cost of Akognon’s rental car and leased apartment were paid by the team. In other words, there are worse jobs.

According to his Los Angeles-based agent Scott Nichols, the monthly salary range in the CBA is between $50,000-$100,000. So if Akognon were to return to the CBA after the season he had, quite likely his salary would nudge the high end. And if Akognon were to return to China, he would not return as another nameless, faceless American.

That changed forever the day Akognon faced ex-NBA star Stephon Marbury in a practice game. Marbury is the former two-time NBA All-Star guard who always has played with attitude, you might say.

“Before the game we were warming up,” Akognon said, “Marbury kept looking at me and mumbling. It was really weird. When the game started, he was pushing, shoving and throwing elbows. So I did the same thing. At one point we actually squared up to fight each other. At halftime we faced each other between the locker rooms and he shook my hand. He said I was nasty. It was his way of testing me. After that we became the best of friends.”

In the first regular-season match-up, Akognon scored 26 on Marbury. Marbury answered with nine points. The second time, Akognon had 17, Marbury 33. Akognon had established a toe-hold. Returning to the United States, he felt a measure of satisfaction.

Averaging 29.2 in the CBA is not a rec-league accomplishment. Akognon, at 5-foot-11, showed the league and NBA scouts he was a defender and a point guard, someone who could move an offense while shooting the eyes out of it. So when Minnesota and Oklahoma City offered Akognon workouts, he declined. Both teams were loaded with point guards.

“If there wasn’t a lockout,” Akognon said, “I wouldn’t think about going overseas. But Scott pointed out to me that if the lockout ended in December, for example, and I signed with an NBA team, I would be making $100,000 less than I would have made at China.”

Akognon may be a basketball player but he is even more of a family man. His parents, Emmanuel and Alfreda, have instilled strong family values in him. He will not place his family in jeopardy. Unless the lock-out is settled within a few weeks, and that’s highly unlikely, Akognon is not going to put his family through a financial struggle.

“I know guys who wouldn’t play overseas because it was the NBA or nothing,” said Akognon, 25. “Well, if I took that attitude, I probably would be living at home now, driving my mom’s car and looking for a job.”

Instead, after he left Cal State Fullerton as the Big West Player of the Year in 2009, Akognon played in the Estonian and Baltic leagues and in China. He has earned enough that he has leased an apartment in Petaluma and bought a Range Rover. Yes, he admits, his game has improved. Yes, he is doing a lot to dispel the notion that he can’t play in the NBA at 5-foot-11.

“J.J. Barea has helped, too,” said Akognon of the 5-foot-11 point guard who had a solid playoff run for the world-champion Dallas Mavericks.

So Josh Akognon will go to China, his NBA dream still intact, but his vision of it expanded. It occurred at the same time his role as a player changed. No longer a shooting guard, Akognon is a point guard who is supposed to see the court and everyone on it. You might say he has learned how to see the big picture. The same, he will agree, also holds true of his life.

For more North Bay sports, go to padecky.blogs.pressdemocrat.com. You can reach Staff Columnist Bob Padecky at 521-5223 or bob.padecky@pressdemocrat.com.

Source: Bob Padecky, pressdemocrat.com

After declaring for the draft in April following a his junior season at NMSU, Gillenwater opted not to withdraw from the Draft before the NCAA’s deadline of May 8, signing with Los Angeles-based agent Scott Nichols and waiting until the NBA’s deadline, less than two weeks before the June 23 draft.

“The NCAA deadline doesn’t give kids a real chance to test the waters,” said Nichols , who has represented Gillenwater for the past month. “Troy knew that for whatever reason, he was not going back to school so the May 8 deadline didn’t mean much to him. He will be draft-eligible next year so he can go to the D-League or more likely, overseas.”

In his first full season as a go-to player on the Aggies, Gillenwater was a first-team All-Western Athletic Conference player and NABC All-District selection. Gillenwater’s minutes per game climbed from 22.8 as a sophomore to 30.3 last season and he led the team in scoring (18.9 points per game) and rebounding (6.3 rpg), as the Aggies finished with a 16-17 record.

Gillenwater was one of 27 players from U.S. colleges who were on the initial early entry list but have since withdrawn.

Aggies coach Marvin Menzies said Gillenwater was in good academic standing when he made his initial decision to pursue a professional career.

“He was eligible when he made his decision to leave,” Menzies said. “After that, he made a conscious choice to start training and pursuing a professional career. If he had decided to come back, he would have had some things he would have had to get taken care of.”

At 6-foot-8, Gillenwater has the body and shooting touch to create matchup problems on the offensive end of the court, regardless of what league he plays in.

Since leaving school, Nichols said the focus has been on recovering from injuries and working on his conditioning so he can defend professional small forwards.

“Everyone knows that he is a great scorer and people like his versatility to play the three or the four,” Nichols said. “Everyone thinks the big question is not his skills, but because he was injured, how good of shape is he in? Defensively he needs to get better and a lot of that has to do with conditioning.”

Nichols said he has received interest in Gillenwater from leagues in Israel, Belgium, Germany, Italy and France.

For a rookie in Europe, salaries range between $80,000 to $110,000 per year while Asian clubs pay more.

The NBA’s Developmental League is also an option, although the pay doesn’t compare to European clubs.

“The D-League is a great option to be seen by NBA teams, but there will be a lockout and part of the reason guys play in the D-League is to get moved up and I don’t know how much moving up will happen,” Nichols said. “It’s also a
struggle to live and Troy is not a guy who comes from a lot of money.

“In Europe, teams will be following him. He will be able to go make good money and it’s my job to place him in a good league where he will still be on people’s minds.”

Jason Groves can be reached at (575) 541-5459

Source: Jason Groves, Las Cruces Sun-News