Ime Udoka Final Invitee to Camp
posted: 10/1/2006 at 10:03 PM
Former Portland State star, and Portland native, Ime Udoka has been invited to Trail Blazers' training camp, setting the roster at 15. If all goes well at a Monday-morning physical, Udoka will sign a non-guaranteed contract with the Blazers in the afternoon. Training camp begins Tuesday morning in Tualatin.
Udoka, who played for Nigeria in this summer's FIBA World Championships, was a member of the New York Knicks last season, and also played for the NBDL's Fort Worth Flyers, where he was named to the All-NBDL First Team by the league's coaches. He also won the league's Jason Collier Sportsmanship Award.
At the World Championships, Udoka was the team captain for the Nigerian national team, led them in scoring, and nearly got his suprising team into the final eight. Udoka had a potential game-winning shot tipped away by Dirk Nowitski, as Nigeria fell to Germany 78-77. Udoka averaged 14 points and 5 rebounds per game for the Nigerian team.
Udoka has seen time with the Knicks, and the L.A. Lakers in the NBA, and spent the summer league with the Cleveland Cavaliers. He was invited to training camp with the Philadelphia 76ers last season, but failed to make the team's opening-night roster. He has also played professionally in France and Spain.
Udoka has been a frequent visitor to the Trail Blazers' practice facility in the past month. He's been involved in daily pick-up games, and has worked out with Blazer players. Several Blazers commented to me that Udoka more than held his own in the pick-up games, and a couple wondered, out loud, how he hasn't stuck with an NBA team.
One other interesting note about Udoka- when he was signed to a 10-day contract by the Lakers in 2004, he and his sister, Mfon Udoka, became the first-ever brother-sister NBA-WNBA act. Mfon, at the time, played for the Houston Comets.
The Trail Blazers will hold their annual Media Day on Monday at the Rose Garden, before opening camp on Tuesday morning. Check back with trailblazers.com throughout the week, as we'll have up-to-date news, notes, photos, and video of the sessions. You won't find coverage like this anywhere else.
Log on to trailblazers.com from 2pm to 3pm on Monday, for a live webcast from media day. I'll be live, with my TV partner Mike Rice, for an hour, and we'll have interviews with Blazer players and coaches. An hour, with no commericals, and no breaks- nothing but a steady stream of interviews and information.
Monday night, as usual, we'll have our radio show,
Courtside Monday Night, presented by L.A. Weight Loss, from 6pm to 8, on KXL-AM 750 in the Portland area. We'll recap the day's events, have more exclusive interviews, and will get you set for the start of training camp.
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That's great. I was wishing we would invite this guy to camp as soon as we invited Aaron Miles. It would be great to have Aaron and Ime together.
Alright Mike... good to know that Ime is coming. I've only heard his name, but like a thousand times. what are his stats and personal information (ht, wt, etc.)? And, will there be some link to the webcast and where?
From what little I heard it seemed like you had a good show on your webcast today. Unfortunately, even with a good high speed line I was only able to get about 8-10 minutes of the webcast. Hopefully, we'll get filled in on Courtside Monday Night. I appreciate the effort.
Somehow I was under the impression that Cheryl Miller played in the WNBA while Reggie was with Indiana earlier than 2004?
Glad we have Ime. He has earned much respect for his perseverence and his recent play in the World's. I thought he was going to stick way back when the Lakers signed him.
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