Ekene Ibekwe’s biography, fact, career, awards, net worth and life story

Intro Nigerian-American professional basketball player
Is Athlete
Basketball player
From United States of America
Nigeria
Type Sports
Gender male
Birth

19 July 1985, Los Angeles

Age 35 years

Ekenechukwu Brian “Ekene” Ibekwe (born July 19, 1985) is an American-Nigerian professional basketball player for Uşak Sportif of the Turkish Basketball Super League (BSL). He played college basketball for the University of Maryland at College Park and represents the Nigerian national basketball team in international competition.

High school career

Ibekwe attended Carson High School in Carson, California. As a senior in 2002–03, he was a second-team Parade All-American after averaging 19.9 points, 10.2 rebounds and 4.4 blocks per game in leading his squad to a 23-4 record and a semi-final finish in the Los Angeles city championship. He also earned all-state honors and a first team “All-Dream Team” nod by the Long Beach Press-Telegram as a senior, while he was named to the All-L.A. city first team, the All-South Bay first team and his team’s MVP as a junior and senior.

College career

In his freshman season at Maryland, Ibekwe was the only freshman to play in all 32 games, drawing seven starts during his rookie season. He led the Terps in blocked shots with 44, an average of 1.4 per game, becoming the first freshman to lead the Terps in blocked shots since Joe Smith (1993–94). In those 32 games, he averaged 4.9 points and 3.9 rebounds per game.

In his sophomore season, he played in 30 of 32 games on the season, starting 18 while finishing fifth on the team in scoring with 8.4 points per game and second in rebounding with 6.3 boards. He also led the team in blocks with 55, finishing fourth among ACC leaders with 1.83 blocks per game. On November 30, 2004, he recorded his first career double-double with a career-high 21 points on 10-of-13 shooting at Wisconsin.

In his junior season, he appeared in 32 games and made 30 starts while averaging 11.1 points and 6.6 rebounds per game; also finished the year seventh in the ACC with 1.34 blocks per game.

In his senior season, he earned ACC All-Defensive Team and All-ACC Honorable Mention honors. In 32 games, he averaged 10.4 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game. For his career, he accrued 1,107 points, 781 rebounds and 230 blocks, becoming the fourth player in school history (and the first since Lonny Baxter) to record 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 200 blocks.

Professional career

2007–08 season

Ibekwe went undrafted in the 2007 NBA draft. In August 2007, he signed with Hapoel Galil Elyon of Israel for the 2007–08 season. In October 2007, he was released by Galil Elyon and later signed with Hapoel Gilboa/Afula. In February 2008, he parted ways with Gilboa/Afula. The next month, he joined Besançon BCD of France for the rest of the season.

2008–09 season

In July 2008, Ibekwe joined the Phoenix Suns for the 2008 NBA Summer League. He later signed with Selçuk Üniversitesi of Turkey for the 2008–09 season.

In May 2009, he joined Gigantes de Carolina for the rest of the 2009 BSN season.

2009–10 season

In July 2009, Ibekwe joined the Toronto Raptors for the 2009 NBA Summer League. He later signed with Antalya Kepez Belediyesi of Turkey but was waived before the start of the season. In December 2009, he signed with Iman Harbour of the Iranian Basketball Super League. In January 2010, he left Iman and signed with Genç Banvitliler of Turkey for the rest of the season.

2010–11 season

In July 2010, Ibekwe joined the Portland Trail Blazers for the 2010 NBA Summer League. In August 2010, he signed with the Artland Dragons of Germany for the 2010–11 season. On December 16, 2010, he parted ways with Artland. Three days later, he signed with Ironi Ashkelon of Israel for the rest of the season.

In February 2011, he parted ways with Ironi and signed with Bayreuth of Germany for the rest of the season.

2011–12 season

On July 8, 2011, Ibekwe re-signed with Bayreuth for the 2011–12 season.

2012–13 season

In July 2012, Ibekwe re-joined the Portland Trail Blazers for the 2012 NBA Summer League. On August 16, 2012, he signed with Lagun Aro GBC of Spain for the 2012–13 season.

2014–15 season

On August 18, 2014, Ibekwe signed with the New Zealand Breakers for the 2014–15 NBL season. In what was a great season for Ibekwe, he earned All-NBL second team honors and helped lead the Breakers to the NBL Grand Final. After winning Game 1 against the Cairns Taipans in Cairns, Game 2 shifted to Auckland where in the dying seconds of the game, it was tied up 81-81. Coming out of the timeout, Ibekwe hit a game-winning fade-away shot to lift the Breakers over the Taipans 83-81 and thus clinched the team’s fourth title in five seasons.

On March 18, 2015, he signed with Atenienses de Manatí of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional to replace center Jerome James. His stint with Manatí lasted just 11 games as he parted ways with the club in mid-April. In those 11 games, he averaged 9.1 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game.

2015–16 season

On August 10, 2015, Ibekwe signed with Melbourne United for the 2015–16 NBL season. However, on September 18, Ibekwe was released by United on compassionate terms after he requested permission to return to Europe to be with his heavily pregnant wife. Eight days later, he signed with the Gießen 46ers of Germany’s Basketball Bundesliga. On November 22, he parted ways with Gießen.

On January 2, 2016, he signed with the Russian club Krasny Oktyabr of the VTB United League.

On May 2, 2016, Ibekwe signed with Hekmeh BC to replace the injured Todd O’Brien in the Final Four of the Lebanese Basketball League.

2016–17 season

On July 20, 2016, Ibekwe signed with ČEZ Nymburk of Czech Republic for the 2016–17 season. On October 20, 2016, he left Nymburk and signed a two-month contract with German club Skyliners Frankfurt. Following the expiration of contract, he left Frankfurt. On December 30, 2016, he signed with Turkish club Uşak Sportif.

International career

Ibekwe has been a member of the senior men’s Nigerian national basketball team. He played at the 2006 FIBA World Championship, where he was one of the team’s leaders in points (4th) and rebounds (1st). He also played at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games.

Personal

Ibekwe is the son of Nigerian parents, Agatha and Augustine Ibekwe. His brother, Onye, played college basketball for Long Beach State. He also has two sisters, Chinyere and Ify.

You May Also Like

Hugh Hefner’s net worth, biography, fact, career, awards and life story

Hugh Hefner net worth: Hugh Hefner was an American entrepreneur and founder of Playboy magazine who had a net worth of $50 million at the time of his death in September 2017. Early Life: Hugh Hefner was born in Chicago, Illinois on April 9, 1926. He was the first child of Glenn Lucius Hefner and Grace Caroline Hefner. They were from Nebraska and worked as an accountant and a teacher, respectively. He has one younger sibling, Keith. Hefner attended Sayre Elementary School and Steinmetz High School. After high school, Hugh served from 1944-1946 as a U.S. Army writer for a military newspaper. Hefner graduated from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana in 1949. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a double minor in Creative Writing and Art in just two and a half years. He did one semester of graduate classes in Sociology at Northwestern but dropped out. Playboy Magazine: In 1952, Hefner was working as a copywriter for Esquire magazine. He inquired about a $5 raise and when he was denied, he quit his job. The following year, he took out a mortgage loan of $600 and raised $8,000–including $1,000 from his mother–from investors to launch gentleman’s magazine with the infamous centerfold, Playboy (initially, he was going to call the magazine Stag Party.) The first issue was published in December 1953, almost a year to the date after he quit Esquire. The first cover and centerfold was Marilyn Monroe, taken from her 1949 nude calendar shoot. The issue sold over 50,000 copies and sold for 50 cents apiece. Charles Beaumont’s science fiction story, The Crooked Man, (having been rejected from Esquire) was published in the first issue. Hefner had produced the magazine in his Hyde Park Kitchen. Hefner served as the chief creative officer of Playboy Enterprises, which is the publishing group that operates the magazine. Hugh promoted a lifestyle of luxury in his magazine and in the television shows he hosted, Playboy’s Penthouse from 1959-1960 and Playboy After Dark from 1969-1970. In June 1963, Hefner was arrested for promoting obscene materials after publishing an issue of Playboy featuring nudes photos of Jane Mansfield in bed with a man. The case went to trial and the result was a hung jury. Hugh created “private key” clubs that were racially diverse during the civil rights movement. In 1966, Hefner sent Alex Haley (an African American man) to interview George Lincoln Rockwell, who had founded the American Nazi Party. Rockwell had agreed to be interviewed by Haley, only after gaining assurance he was not Jewish, and Rockwell reportedly kept a handgun on the desk during the entire interview. The historic interview was reenacted in the television series Roots: The Next Generations in 1979, with James Earl Jones playing Haley and Marlon Brando as Rockwell. Brando ended up winning an Emmy Award for his portrayal of Rockwell. Haley also interviewed Malcolm X in 1963 and Martin Luther King Junior in 1966. Strangely, all three interviewees had been assassinated by 1968. The magazine has continued to publish short stories by famous novelists such as Arthur C. Clarke, Ian Fleming, Chuck Palahniuk, Roald Dahl, Margaret Atwood, Shel Silverstein, and countless others. In 1953, the novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury was published and serialized in 1954 issues of Playboy. Although the magazine reached its peak in the ’70s and moved from a monthly magazine to a quarterly one in 2019, it still continues to enjoy popularity and circulation. Playboy Mansion: The 21 thousand square foot Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles, California is where Hugh lived from 1974 until his death in 2017. The mansion became famous in the 70s for the lavish parties Hugh would throw, attended by celebrities and socialites. The mansion boasts an astonishing 29 rooms, a wine cellar, a movie theater, three zoos, tennis and basketball courts, a waterfall and multiple pools. Interestingly, most people assume Hugh himself actually owned the famous Playboy mansion, but in fact he did not. Playboy Enterprises owned the house and Hefner paid an annual fee to cover rent and other expenses like food and parties. In typical years, that rent came to around $1 million. And yes, that also includes the room and board for Hefner’s live-in girlfriends. In January 2016, Playboy Enterprises announced that it had put the mansion up for sale for $200 million. A comparable house in the same neighborhood would likely be worth $60 – $80 million, so it’s a hefty premium… but there’s only one Playboy Mansion in the world! The mansion was bought in June 2016 for $110 million by Daren Metropoulos. Daren, who was 32 at the time of Hefner’s death, is the son of billionaire businessman C. Dean Metropoulos. His father is well known for reviving sagging brands like Hostess, Bumble Bee Tuna, Pabst, and Chef Boyardee. As of April 2020, the Playboy Mansion is undergoing extensive renovations. Personal Life: Hefner married high school sweetheart Mildred Williams in 1949. Before their wedding, Mildred confessed to Hefner that she’d had an affair while he was in the Army. He has said publicly that the admission was devastating. Reportedly, Mildred allowed him to sleep with other women out of guilt for her own infidelity. The two split in 1959. They had two kids together, Christie and David. After the divorce, Hef remade himself as a “man about town”, in line with the lifestyle he promoted in Playboy. He admitted to being involved with eleven out of twelve months’ worth of Playmates. After a minor stroke at age 58 in 1985, Hefner toned down his lifestyle and married Kimberley Conrad who was 36 years his junior. They had two sons, Marston and Cooper. They officially divorced in 2010, but had been separated for over a decade. He married a third wife, Crystal Harris (now Hefner) and they were together from 2012 until his death. Appearances: Hugh Hefner voiced himself in a 1993 episode of The Simpsons, Krusty Gets Kancelled. Hefner also guest starred as himself in a 2000 episode of Sex and the City. In 2005, he guest-starred on Entourage and Curb Your Enthusiasm. Other television guest appearances include Robot Chicken, Family Guy, and Miss March. He has made several guest appearances in films as well. From 2005 to 2010, Hugh created and appeared often in a reality show about his life and his many girlfriends who lived with him at the Playboy Mansion: The Girls Next Door. Net Worth: According to paperwork filed in 2009 as part of a divorce, Hugh Hefner estimated his own net worth to be $43 million. At the peak of Playboy, Hefner’s net worth was over $200 million. Unfortunately, the company did not perform well over the last 10-15 years as magazine sales have diminished rapidly. In the period between 2000 and 2010, Playboy’s stock price fell 80%. The company was taken private in 2011 by Hefner and private equity firm Icon Acquisition Holdings. Another private equity firm called Rizvi Traverse eventually bought out Icon. At the time of his death, Hefner owned 35% of the Playboy brand and 100% of the actual magazine. Here is how Hefner broke down his own finances in a court filing back in 2009: Monthly income: Salary from Playboy: $116,667 Social Security: $1,896 Dividends and interest: $121,099 Rental property: $17,058 Income from HMH Productions: $15,808 Pensions and retirement: $413 Other miscellaneous income: $17,639 Total monthly income: $290,580 Other Assets: $306,548 in cash $36,802,558 in stocks and bonds $6,122,990 in a joint account with an unnamed person Total assets (including Playboy stock and property): $43,232,096 And here’s how Hugh spends his millions per month: Rent (including groceries, household supplies, utilities, cell phone and email): $53,593 Food (approximate): $18,000 Entertainment: $25,000 College expenses for kids: $10,130 Health care: $3,215 Related Post: How much do Playboy Playmates make? Death: On September 27, 2017, Hugh died at his home in Holmby Hills, Los Angeles. He was 91. The cause of death was sepsis that was brought on by an E. coli infection. He never met Marilyn Monroe, but in 1992 he purchased the crypt next to hers at the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery to the tune of $75,000. Hefner is buried there. He had told the Los Angeles Times in 2009: “Spending eternity next to Marilyn is an opportunity too sweet to pass up.”
Read More