COLLEGES: UCONN, Missouri
VITALS: 6'9", 255 lbs.
YEAR DRAFTED: 2013 by Phoenix (Round 2, Pick 57)
RIGHTS HELD BY: Phoenix
Then Andre Drummond happened. Oriakhi's minutes dropped drastically and his production went with it. All the progress he had made from his freshman to sophomore campaigns had vanished and Oriakhi became increasingly frustrated. He made the modern day mistake of taking his gripes to Twitter though as most people in the spotlight do, he took back all the bad things he said. He and Connecticut still had a chance to make some noise in the postseason. Alas a repeat of Oriakhi and UCONN's run from a year prior was not meant to be as they were bounced in the quarterfinals of the Big East Tournament by Syracuse and were unceremoniously dumped out in the first round of the NCAAs by Iowa State.
Drummond would bolt for the NBA (where he'd be a lottery pick with Detroit) at the conclusion of 2012 leaving the job primed for Oriakhi to retrieve. It was a job he (or nobody else) really wanted though since UCONN was handed a postseason ban for 2013 due to low academic performance. Would Oriakhi waste his final season of eligibility with no promise of postseason glory or would he transfer? Oriakhi chose the latter, citing the postseason ban as his reason, and transferred to the University of Missouri for his senior season. Since the ban at Connecticut would have sapped his last year of eligibility, Oriakhi did not have to sit a year in Missouri. It is customary for most transfers to have to sit a year out when transferring schools.
Oriakhi's one season in Columbia allowed him to regain the form he showed in his title winning season up north. He averaged 11.2 PPG and 8.4 RPG as well as 1.6 blocks a contest. He along with current Celtic Phil Pressey were able to lead the Tigers to the NCAA Tournament but suffered the same fate as his previous season at UCONN, a first round exit this time by the Rams of Colorado State. As a graduating senior he became eligible for the 2013 NBA Draft. He was selected 57th overall by the Phoenix Suns.
Alex played in the 2013 Summer League for the Suns but was never offered a formal contract. Upon the completion of the Summer League, Oriakhi took his talents to France to play for Limoges CSP. Why does that team sound familiar? It was Frederic Weis's fucking team! I can't escape this asshole! ARGGGGHHH!!! Thankfully for Oriakhi his stint in France was but four games and soon was playing in Israel for Hapoel Holon. His stay in Israel was just as short, lasting four games before being waived. He returned to the US but not to the NBA. He plied his craft in the NBA's developmental league, the NBDL. On December 18th he signed with the Erie BayHawks. He played 22 games for the BayHawks before being traded to the Sioux Falls Skyforce. He played sparingly for the Skyforce and they were knocked out in the D-League playoffs.
There is still plenty of time for Oriakhi to make it to the NBA unlike the previous profiled player, Abdul Shamsid-Deen. The fact that he is in the NBDL now bodes well for him as the call-up system between the leagues has become a valuable tool over the past decade. Phoenix still owns the draft rights for Oriakhi so it will be interesting if he is part of the future plans for an emerging Suns team or if they'll renounce them and allow the other 29 teams a crack at the serviceable big man.
Thanks for reading the third edition of Draft Rights Retained right here on Bleeding Your Colors! I hope you enjoyed it and look forward to bringing you more wacky stories of players who the NBA has long since forgotten, but not their draft rights. Stay locked for a new profile each and every day until the list is exhausted. For more of me, check out my Twitter
@TREVORutley. For less of me, give your computer a Stone Cold Stunner then flip it off a million times.
Image Credits: Oriakhi @ Missouri (teamnigeriabasketball.com), Oriakhi @ Limoges (limogescsp.com)