| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | 2 September 1998 Ebonyi, Nigeria |
| Listed height | 196 cm (6 ft 5 in) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Eastside (Paterson, New Jersey) |
| College |
|
| Playing career | 2022–present |
| Position | Center |
| Career history | |
| 2022 | CD Talent |
| 2022–2023 | COB Calais |
| 2023–2024 | Cavigal Nice Basket |
Blessing Ejiofor (born September 2, 1998) is a Nigerian professional basketball player and a member of the Nigeria national team. Originating from Ebonyi, Nigeria, she played college basketball for Vanderbilt University, Chipola and West Virginia University. [1] [2] [3] Following her college career, she has played professionally in Spain and France.
Ejiofor began playing basketball at the age of 13. [1] At an early age, she chose Vanderbilt University as her dream school. [2]
In 2014, Ejiofor, a sophomore in high school, [4] traveled to the United States after being recruited by Evelyn Mack Academy in Charlotte, North Carolina, as a basketball player. However, she ended up attending Eastside High School in Paterson, New Jersey, where she attracted attention for her basketball playing and was offered a scholarship to Vanderbilt. Following her enrollment at Vanderbilt in 2016, Ejiofor realized that her student visa had been expired for a year, as Eastside had not filed the proper paperwork to renew it. Ejiofor returned to Nigeria for a year, and returned to Vanderbilt after her student visa was renewed for the 2017–2018 academic year. [2] [5]
 | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (May 2024) |
As a freshman at Vanderbilt, Ejiofor scored 28 points for the Commodores, playing an average of 5.6 minutes across 22 games. After her first year, Ejiofor transferred to Chipola College in Florida, where she played for one season. She then transferred again to West Virginia University. [5] [6]
Ejiofor started her professional career with CD Talent in the Spanish Liga Femenina 2 de Baloncesto in 2022. [7] For the 2022–2023 season, she signed with COB Calais. [8] She stayed in France the following season, signing with Cavigal Nice Basket.
West Virginia University (WVU) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia, United States. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Beckley, Potomac State College of West Virginia University in Keyser, and clinical campuses for the university's medical school at the Charleston Area Medical Center and Eastern Campus in Martinsburg. WVU Extension Service provides outreach with offices in all 55 West Virginia counties.
West Virginia University Institute of Technology is a public college in Beckley, West Virginia. It is a divisional campus of West Virginia University.
Allison Feaster is Vice President of Team Operations & Organizational Growth for the Boston Celtics. She is a former professional basketball player, a global citizen, and a trailblazer in the sports industry who is highly regarded for her leadership and team-building skills. Feaster is one of a handful of women and women of color to serve as an executive in an NBA team Front Office.
Robert Edward Huggins, nicknamed "Huggy Bear", is an American college basketball coach. He was the head coach at Walsh, Akron, Cincinnati, Kansas State, and West Virginia. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2022.
The West Virginia Mountaineers are the athletic teams that represent West Virginia University in Morgantown, West Virginia. The school is a member of National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I. The Mountaineers have been a member of the Big 12 Conference since 2012. The men's soccer team now competes as an affiliate member in the Sun Belt Conference.
Eastside High School is a four–year public high school located in Paterson section of Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, that serves the eastern section of Paterson. EHS, which serves ninth through twelfth grade students, operates as part of the Paterson Public Schools. The school has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools since 1928. Eastside High School opened on February 1, 1926.
Georgeann Wells is an All-American basketball player, who was active at West Virginia University (WVU) from 1982 to 1986. Among her other accomplishments, Wells is notable as the first American woman to register a dunk in an official NCAA intercollegiate basketball game on December 21, 1984. She did so with a regulation-sized ball.
Stephanie Joanne White is an American former professional basketball player and the former head coach of the Connecticut Sun of the WNBA. She was previously head coach of the Vanderbilt Commodores women's basketball team from 2016 to 2021. Prior to Vanderbilt, she was the head coach of the Indiana Fever of the WNBA for the 2015 and 2016 season. As an intercollegiate athlete, she was named the winner of the Wade Trophy in 1999, which recognizes the top female basketball player in the nation.
Shea Sydney Ralph is a former collegiate basketball player and current head coach for the Vanderbilt Commodores women's basketball team. She was previously an assistant coach at UConn from 2008 to 2021. Ralph was proficient in multiple sports, set state high school records in basketball, and earned multiple national player of the year awards in high school and college. She helped win a national championship as a player at the University of Connecticut in 2000 and won numerous individual awards, including the Sports Illustrated for Women Player of the Year and the Honda Sports Award for the best collegiate female athlete in basketball. She suffered five ACL injuries in her career, two of which led to sitting out the 1997–98 season. Ralph was drafted by the WNBA Utah Starzz, but recurring knee problems prevented her from embarking on a professional career. Ralph started her coaching career as an assistant coach at the University of Pittsburgh in 2003.
Joe Alexander is a Taiwan-born American-Israeli professional basketball player for Hapoel Jerusalem of the Israeli Basketball Premier League. Alexander, who at 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) plays both forward positions, was selected for the 2007 All-Big East squad during his collegiate career with West Virginia and was an All-American Honorable Mention. He was selected eighth overall in the 2008 NBA draft by the Milwaukee Bucks. He is the first-ever Taiwanese-born NBA player.
Christina Wirth is an American basketball player who most recently played for the Indiana Fever of the WNBA. She is the daughter of Alan Wirth, a former major league baseball player with the San Francisco Giants and the Oakland Athletics.
Michael Alan Carey is the former head coach of the West Virginia University women's basketball team. He had previously served as head basketball coach for the Salem International University men's basketball team.
Tèmítọ́pẹ́ Títílọlá Olúwatóbilọ́ba "Temi" Fagbenle is an American-born Nigerian-British professional basketball player for the Indiana Fever of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and for Beşiktaş of the Turkish Super League. She was chosen for the Great Britain team at the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Zain Ejiofor Asher is a British news anchor at CNN International, based in New York City. She currently co-anchors the network's primetime, global news show One World with Zain and Bianna airing weekdays at 12pm ET with Bianna Golodryga. Her memoir Where The Children Take Us was published by HarperCollins in April 2022.
Linda Ejiofor is a Nigerian actress and model from Abia state, located in the southeastern region of Nigeria. She is known for her role as Bimpe Adekoya in M-Net's TV series Tinsel. She was nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role at the 9th Africa Movie Academy Awards for her role in the film The Meeting (2012). Tony Ogaga Erhariefe of The Sun Nigeria listed her as one of the ten fastest-rising Nollywood stars of 2013. She gave birth to her first child, a boy.
Gabrielle Lisa Williams is an American-French professional basketball player for Fenerbahçe of the Turkish Super League and EuroLeague Women. She was drafted 4th overall by the Chicago Sky in the 2018 WNBA draft. In 2022 she was a EuroLeague champion with Sopron and was named the Final Four MVP. Williams played forward in college for the UConn Huskies, and won back to back national championships in 2015 and 2016. She has played for the French national team in the Tokyo 2020 and the Paris 2024 Olympic games.
Elizabeth Balogun is a Nigerian basketball player. She played college basketball for the Duke Blue Devils and the Nigerian national team. She plays for the Spanish Liga Femenina de Baloncesto side CB Bembire.
Jordan Ray McCabe is an American assistant basketball coach for the Green Bay Phoenix. He is also a former college basketball player at West Virginia and UNLV.
Miles James "Deuce" McBride is an American professional basketball player for the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the West Virginia Mountaineers.
Knockout Blessing is a 2018 Nigerian action thriller film directed by Dare Olaitan and co-produced by Olaitan with Olufemi Ogunsanwo, Bibi Olaitan, and Niyi Olaitan. The film stars Ade Laoye with Bucci Franklin, Ademola Adedoyin, Linda Ejiofor, Meg Otanwa and Tope Tedela in supporting roles. The film revolves around a girl, Blessing whose ambition is to achieve success of her dreams by eradicating poverty. However she unexpectedly moves to criminal underworld and gradually reaches the Nigerian political system.