Micheal Eric
No. 50 – Suwon KT Sonicboom
PositionCenter
Personal information
Born (1988-06-24) June 24, 1988
Lagos, Nigeria
NationalityNigerian
Listed height6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)
Listed weight264 lb (120 kg)
Career information
High school
CollegeTemple (2008–2012)
NBA draft2012: undrafted
Playing career2012–present
Career history
2012–2013Canton Charge
2013–2014Texas Legends
2014Panelefsiniakos
2014–2015Enel Brindisi
2015–2016Texas Legends
2016AEK Athens
2016–2017Bilbao Basket
2017–2019Darüşşafaka
2019–2020Baskonia
2020–2021Türk Telekom
2021CSKA Moscow
2021–2022Unicaja Málaga
2023Türk Telekom
2023-presentSuwon KT Sonicboom
Career highlights and awards

Micheal Oluwaseun Eric (born June 24, 1988) is a Nigerian professional basketball player who last played for Türk Telekom of the Turkish Basketbol Süper Ligi (BSL). He played college basketball for Temple.

Early life

Born and raised in Lagos, Nigeria, Eric did not play basketball as a youth as his dad was a soccer coach and he liked to focus on his education. Despite basketball being a popular sport in Nigeria, he dismissed the sport until he grew five inches in a span of two years. He traveled to Delaware in 2004 to visit his brother, Stephen, who wouldn’t let him return to Nigeria. Stephen knew with his younger brother's height – he was 6-foot-8 at the time – he could make a future for himself in basketball.[1] Newly arrived in the United States, Eric enrolled at Caesar Rodney High School in Camden, Delaware where he spent his sophomore year before transferring to Church Farm School in Exton, Pennsylvania for his junior year.[2]

High school career

Eric played two seasons at Church Farm as he earned first-team all-league and all-area as a junior and senior. As a junior in 2005–06, he averaged 16 points, 15 rebounds and eight blocks per game.[2]

In November 2006, Eric signed a National Letter of Intent to play college basketball for Temple University.[3]

As a senior in 2006–07, Eric averaged 19 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks per game while leading Church Farm to the KASC regular season championship.[2]

College career

To Eric's disappointment, he was ruled ineligible to compete in 2007–08 due to NCAA initial eligibility guidelines, forcing him to redshirt the season. He went on to join the Temple Owls in 2008–09 where he averaged 2.7 points and 2.1 rebounds in 27 games.[2]

As a sophomore in 2009–10, Eric played in 31 games, starting 29, as he finished fifth on the team in scoring with 5.9 points per game. In addition, his 20 blocks and .516 field goal percentage ranked second on the team. He also averaged 7.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists in just 15.7 minutes per game.[2]

As a junior in 2010–11, Eric was named the team co-captain. He started the first 24 games of season before fracturing his right patella in practice which sidelined him for remainder of season. he averaged 7.1 points and 1.6 blocks, as well as ranking second on team with 5.9 rebounds per game and third with .490 field goal percentage.[2]

As a senior in 2011–12, Eric again missed significant time with another right patella fracture, sitting out all of December and most of January with the injury. He played in 19 games, starting 15 times, as he was first on the team in rebounding (8.8 rpg) and fifth on the team in scoring (9.0 ppg). He tied his career-high with 19 points and a game-high 15 rebounds against UMass on February 29, 2012.[2][4]

Professional career

After going undrafted in the 2012 NBA draft, Eric joined the Cleveland Cavaliers for the 2012 NBA Summer League. On August 10, 2012, he signed with the Cavaliers[5] but was later waived on October 27, 2012.[6] In November 2012, he was acquired by the Canton Charge of the NBA Development League as an affiliate player.[7]

In July 2013, Eric joined the Philadelphia 76ers for the Orlando Summer League and the Golden State Warriors for the Las Vegas Summer League. On November 1, 2013, he was reacquired by the Canton Charge. Three days later, he was traded to the Texas Legends.[8] On January 15, 2014, he was waived by the Legends due to a season-ending injury.

On September 27, 2014, Eric signed with the Milwaukee Bucks.[9] However, he was later waived by the Bucks on October 27, 2014.[10] On December 4, 2014, he signed with Panelefsiniakos of the Greek Basket League[11] and made his debut for the team on December 13.[12] However, the next day, he signed with Enel Brindisi of Italy for the rest of the 2014–15 season, replacing Cedric Simmons in the line-up after the forward suffered a season-ending knee injury.[13][14]

In July 2015, Eric joined the Milwaukee Bucks for the 2015 NBA Summer League.[15] On October 31, Eric returned to the Texas Legends.[16] He was waived by the Legends on November 11,[17] and reacquired on November 20.[18] On January 29, 2016, he was named in the West All-Star team for the 2016 NBA D-League All-Star Game.[19] At the season's end, he earned NBA D-League All-Defensive Team honors.[20] On April 5, 2016, Eric signed with AEK Athens of Greece for the rest of the 2015–16 Greek Basket League season.[21]

In July 2016, Eric joined the Washington Wizards for the 2016 NBA Summer League.[22] On August 7, 2016, he signed with Bilbao Basket of Spain for the 2016–17 season.[23]

On July 18, 2017, Eric signed with the Turkish club Darüşşafaka for the 2017–18 season.[24]

On July 9, 2019, Eric signed a two-year deal with Spanish club Kirolbet Baskonia.[25][26] He averaged 7 points and 3.6 rebounds per game. On July 7, 2020, Eric parted ways with the team.[27] He signed with Türk Telekom of the Turkish Super League on July 15.[28]

On February 10, 2021, Eric signed with CSKA Moscow of the VTB United League and the EuroLeague for the rest of the 2020–21 season. On June 16, 2021, Eric officially parted ways with the Russian club.[29]

On August 9, 2021, he has signed with Unicaja Málaga of the Spanish Liga ACB.[30] Eric suffered a season-ending ruptured ACL injury on January 26, 2022.[31]

On January 13, 2023, Eric returned to Türk Telekom.[32] On June 21, 2023, he mutually parted ways with the Turkish club once again.

On July 28, 2023, Eric has agreed to play in South Korea for Suwon KT Sonicboom of Korean Basketball League.

Career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  PIR  Performance Index Rating
 Bold  Career high

EuroLeague

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG PIR
2018–19 Darüşşafaka 292020.1.540.000.6565.00.90.30.611.110.4
2019–20 Baskonia 282214.5.552.000.4572.70.30.80.45.74.4
2020–21 CSKA Moscow 14912.2.700.000.7003.30.20.60.55.46.4

References

  1. ↑ Lloyd, Jason (July 20, 2012). "Cavaliers intrigued with size, potential of undrafted Michael Eric". Ohio.com. Retrieved July 20, 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Micheal Eric - 2011-12 Men's Basketball". OwlSports.com. Retrieved July 20, 2012.
  3. ↑ "Three sign Letters of Intent to play here". Temple-News.com. November 21, 2006. Retrieved August 10, 2012.
  4. ↑ "Micheal Eric – Temple Owls – Game Log". Yahoo.com. Retrieved August 10, 2012.
  5. ↑ "Cavaliers Sign Micheal Eric". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. August 10, 2012. Retrieved August 10, 2012.
  6. ↑ "Cavaliers Waive Eric, Jones and Brown". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. October 27, 2012. Retrieved October 27, 2012.
  7. ↑ "Charge Announce 2012-13 Training Camp Roster". NBA.com. November 6, 2012. Archived from the original on November 6, 2013. Retrieved November 6, 2012.
  8. ↑ "Legends Complete Three Trades, Finalize Training Camp Roster". NBA.com. November 4, 2013. Archived from the original on November 9, 2013. Retrieved November 4, 2013.
  9. ↑ "BUCKS ANNOUNCE 2014 TRAINING CAMP ROSTER". NBA.com. September 27, 2014. Retrieved September 27, 2014.
  10. ↑ "BUCKS REQUEST WAIVERS ON ERIC". NBA.com. October 27, 2014. Retrieved October 27, 2014.
  11. ↑ "Panelefsiniakos signed Eric Michael". A1Basket.gr. December 4, 2014. Retrieved December 4, 2014.
  12. ↑ Ciaccia, Andrea (December 13, 2014). "Brindisi, sembra conclusa la trattativa con il pivot, sarà Michael Eric il sostituto di Cedric Simmons". BasketInside.com (in Italian). Retrieved December 13, 2014.
  13. ↑ "Enel Brindisi pursuing Micheal Eric". Sportando.com. December 12, 2014. Retrieved December 12, 2014.
  14. ↑ "Micheal Eric signs with Enel Brindisi". Sportando.com. December 14, 2014. Retrieved December 14, 2014.
  15. ↑ "BUCKS ANNOUNCE 2015 SUMMER LEAGUE ROSTER". NBA.com. July 1, 2015. Retrieved July 1, 2015.
  16. ↑ "Legends Complete Two Trades, Announce 2015-16 Training Camp Roster". OurSportsCentral.com. October 31, 2015. Retrieved October 31, 2015.
  17. ↑ "2015-2016 Texas Legends Transactions History". RealGM.com. Retrieved November 14, 2015.
  18. ↑ "NBA D-League Transactions". NBA.com. Archived from the original on November 21, 2015. Retrieved November 20, 2015.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  19. ↑ "Sixteen NBA Veterans Headline Rosters for NBA Development League All-Star Game Presented By Kumho Tire". NBA.com. January 29, 2016. Retrieved January 29, 2016.
  20. ↑ "NBA Development League Announces 2015-16 All-NBA D-League Teams". NBA.com. April 29, 2016. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
  21. ↑ "AEK Athens lands Michael Eric". Sportando.com. April 5, 2016. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
  22. ↑ Wizards announce full 2016 Summer League roster, featuring Kelly Oubre, Aaron White, Jarell Eddie among others
  23. ↑ Bilbao Basket adds size with Michael Eric
  24. ↑ "Michael Eric signs with Darussafaka". sportando. July 18, 2017. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
  25. ↑ "Michael Eric, primera incorporación azulgrana". Saski Baskonia (in European Spanish). 9 July 2019. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  26. ↑ "Micheal Eric signs 2-year deal with Baskonia". Sportando. 9 July 2019. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  27. ↑ "Micheal Eric, Baskonia part ways". Sportando. July 7, 2020. Retrieved July 7, 2020.
  28. ↑ "Michael Eric joins Turk Telekom Ankara". Sportando. July 15, 2020. Retrieved July 15, 2020.
  29. ↑ "CSKA Moscov, Micheal Eric part ways". Sportando. June 16, 2021. Retrieved June 19, 2021.
  30. ↑ "Malaga announces 1+1 deal with Michael Eric". Sportando. August 9, 2021. Retrieved August 9, 2021.
  31. ↑ "Unicaja's Micheal Eric has season ending injury". Sportando. January 26, 2022. Retrieved January 26, 2022.
  32. ↑ "Telekom, Eric'i beğendi" (in Turkish). basketfaul. January 13, 2023. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
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