Ovie Soko (born 7 February 1991)[1] is a British professional basketball player for the London Lions of the British Basketball League (BBL). Soko played college basketball for the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Duquesne University. He entered the 2014 NBA draft but he was not selected in the draft's two rounds.
 Soko taking a free throw for UAB | |
| Free agent | |
|---|---|
| Position | Small forward |
| Personal information | |
| Born | 7 February 1991 Worcester Park, England |
| Listed height | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) |
| Listed weight | 220 lb (100 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | |
| College | |
| NBA draft | 2014: undrafted |
| Playing career | 2014–present |
| Career history | |
| 2014–2015 | Boulazac Dordogne |
| 2015–2016 | Trikala Aries |
| 2016 | Enel Brindisi |
| 2016–2019 | Murcia |
| 2019–2020 | London Lions |
| 2020–2021 | Le Mans Sarthe |
| 2021–2022 | Shiga Lakestars |
| 2022–2023 | London Lions |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
In 2019, he joined the fifth series of British reality show Love Island.[2] He placed third in the show.
Early life
editSoko attended at the Bethel High School in Hampton, Virginia where he averaged 14.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.0 blocks per game during his lone season. He led the team field goal percentage (60%) and lead the Bruins to a 23-4 overall mark and district championship (16-2) as a wit. As a junior, Soko played at Hampton Roads Academy where he averaged 17.1 points, 8.6 rebounds, 2.3 steals and 1.5 blocks per game.
College career
editAlabama-Birmingham
editIn his freshman season at UAB, Soko played in 28 games with six starts as a true freshman. He averaged 1.5 points and 1.9 rebounds.
In his sophomore season, Soko played in 30 games with 29 starts being one of UAB's most improved players, averaging 9.1 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. He ranked second on the team in rebounding, field goal percentage (.505) and blocked shots (26) and closed the year by averaging 10.9 points and 6.1 rebounds while shooting 59.0 percent from the floor (33-of-56) over the Blazers final eight games.
In his junior season, he played in 30 games with 24 starts, averaging 8.3 points and 6.8 rebounds per game and led the team with 28 steals tied for second with 51 assists. He also changed from jersey number 32 to number 0 prior to the season.
Duquesne
editIn his senior season, Soko transferred to Duquesne where he started in all 30 games averaging a team-high 18.4 and 8.0 rebounds per game. He became the first Duquesne player since Bryant McAllister (19.7 ppg. in 2006) and seventh player in Duquesne history to lead the Atlantic 10 in scoring (18.4 ppg.). He was the only Atlantic 10 player ranked in the Top 10 in scoring and rebounding as well as the only forward ranked among the Atlantic 10's top 12 scorers.[3]
Professional career
editBoulazac
editSoko went undrafted in the 2014 NBA draft. On 2 August 2014 he signed a one-year deal with Boulazac Dordogneof the LNB Pro B.[4]
Aries Trikala
editOn 24 August 2015 he signed with Aries Trikala of Greece for the 2015–16 season.[5] He appeared in 19 games for Aries Trikala, averaging 16.5 points, 7.9 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.9 steals per game. On 10 April he signed a one-month deal with Enel Brindisi of the Serie A.[6]
Murcia
editOn 5 August 2016 Soko joined UCAM Murcia of the Liga ACB.[7] During the season, he averaged 6.3 points and 3.2 rebounds per game. On 1 July 2017 he renewed his contract for another season with Murcia.[8] With Murcia, Soko played at the Champions League where he averaged 13 points and 7.4 rebounds per game, and he was named to the Basketball Champions League Star Lineup.[9] On 11 July 2018 Soko re-signed with UCAM Murcia of the Liga ACB.[10]
London Lions
editOn 20 November 2019 Soko signed with London Lions.[11] He averaged 20.2 points and 8.2 rebounds per game.[12]
Le Mans Sarthe
editOn 9 July 2020 Soko signed with Le Mans Sarthe of the LNB Pro A.[12]
London Lions
editOn 8 July 2022, Soko signed with London Lions of the British BBL and the EuroCup Basketball.[13]
Career statistics
editBBL statistics
edit| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-2020]] | London Lions | 12 | 8 | 25.8 | 47.3 | 12.5 | 78 | 8.6 | 2.0 | 1.1 | 0.0 | 19.9 |
National team career
editSoko made his debut for the Great Britain Men's national team in a closed international test match against New Zealand on 24 July 2015. He led Great Britain to an 81–73 victory over No. 18 Germany in FIBA EuroBasket 2021 Qualifying on 24 February 2020. Soko scored 18 points and 10 rebounds.[14]
Love Island
editSoko entered the fifth series of British reality show Love Island.[2] Soko went on to finish in third place with India Reynolds.
Modelling
editOvie announced on 26 August 2019 that he is partnering with ASOS.com along with his father, Raymond Soko, for an upcoming collection.[15]
Personal life
editSoko was born in England to Nigerian parents.[16]
References
edit- ^ "Ovie Soko Basketball Player Profile, Universidad Catolica de Murcia CB, Duquesne, News, Liga Endesa stats, Career, Games Logs, Best, Awards - eurobasket". Eurobasket LLC.
- ^ a b "Who is Ovie Soko?". 5 July 2019. Retrieved 6 July 2019.
- ^ "Ovie Soko College Stats". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com.
- ^ "Ovie Soko signs with Boulazac".
- ^ "Ovie Soko signs with Trikala".
- ^ "Enel Brindisi lands Ovie Soko".
- ^ "UCAM Murcia signs up British prospect Ovie Soko". 5 August 2016. Retrieved 2 July 2018.
- ^ "Ovie Soko Re-Signs with Murcia for 2017-18". 2 July 2018. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
- ^ "Ovie Soko Earns Place on Basketball Champions League All-First Team". 2 July 2018. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
- ^ "ACB.COM - Ovie Soko seguirá dando músculo a los Tercios del UCAM Murcia CB". www.acb.com (in European Spanish). 11 July 2018. Archived from the original on 11 July 2018. Retrieved 11 July 2018.
- ^ "Love Island's Ovie Soko signs for London Lions". BBC Sport. 20 November 2019.
- ^ a b Lupo, Nicola (9 July 2020). "Ovie Soko signs with Le Mans Sarthe". Sportando. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
- ^ "London Lions sign Ovie Soko and Mo Soluade who return to thriving UK basketball scene". www.thelondonlions.com. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
- ^ "Great Britain v Germany boxscore - FIBA EuroBasket 2021 Qualifiers - 24 February". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
- ^ Veljanovski, Lydia (3 September 2019). "Ovie Soko collaborates with his dad for ASOS and the pics are everything". OK! Magazine. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
- ^ Aderemi, Adewojumi (23 September 2019). "The Bar Is Now 6'7 & You Have Ovie Soko To Thank For That". The NATIVE.