Efe Abogidi
Efemena Tennyson Abogidi is a Nigerian professional basketball player for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the Washington State Cougars of the Pac-12 Conference.
Early life and career
Abogidi grew up in Ughelli, a town in Delta State, Nigeria. He competed in track and field, including sprinting, long jump and high jump. Abogidi watched highlight videos of Tim Duncan, who he tried to emulate in local pick-up basketball games. In 2015 and 2016, he was named most valuable player of a camp run by Olumide Oyedeji in Lagos. Abogidi joined Hoops & Read, a program created by Oyedeji's foundation, and helped his team earn a promotion into the Nigerian Premier League in 2016. In the next year, he moved to Senegal to attend the NBA Academy Africa in its first year. In June 2017, at the NBA Academy Games in Canberra, Australia, he suffered a torn ACL, MCL and meniscus while attempting a slam dunk. He underwent surgery and began attending the NBA Global Academy in Canberra. He committed to playing college basketball for Washington State over offers from Creighton and UT Arlington.College career
Abogidi played two seasons of college basketball for the Washington State Cougars between 2020 and 2022. In December 2020, Abogidi recorded three consecutive double-doubles and was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Week. He averaged 8.9 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game as a freshman, earning Pac-12 All-Freshman Team honors for the 2020–21 season. In 2021–22, he played all 37 games and made 29 starts while finishing fourth on the team in scoring at 8.1 points on 51.0% shooting and averaging a team-best 5.8 rebounds per game.Professional career
On June 24, 2022, Abogidi signed with the NBA G League Ignite of the NBA G League. On January 3, 2023, he suffered a knee injury during the first quarter of the team's game against the Birmingham Squadron. He was subsequently ruled out for the rest of the season after undergoing surgery. In 22 games during the 2022–23 season, he averaged 8.3 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 1.0 blocks in 18.6 minutes per game.Abogidi returned to the Ignite 2023–24 season but did not appear in a game.
In October 2024, Abogidi signed with the Central Districts Lions of the NBL1 Central in Australia for the 2025 season. He was named to the NBL1 Central All-Star Five.