Former Viking Ime Udoka Makes His Way In The NBA
The perseverance of Ime Udoka should not be lost on any individual who has attended Portland State University. Long an ins ution for those seeking a “second chance” at their education and career development, Portland State has turned out many who have followed a challenging path like Udoka’s, though few have reached their goal with such heart-warming and heart-breaking results as the former Viking basketball player.
In 1998, Udoka (pronounced EE-may you-DOE-kuh) came to Portland State seeking the opportunity he had always wanted – to advance his basketball game and his education. A native of Portland and graduate of Jefferson High School, he had only just begun a long and winding road that would finally end in the National Basketball Association and in his own back yard.
After a high school career at Jefferson where Udoka was an All-Conference player and competed in a state championship game, he went to the College of Eastern Utah where his team won a conference championship and he was again an all-star. Udoka then moved to the University of San Francisco – a four-year school – and what he hoped to be more successes.
But, after an unsatisfying season at USF, the 6-5 forward decided to come back home and got an opportunity to play at Portland State. He spent two years on the Park Blocks – one as a redshirt, and one as a player. And play he did, packing a career full of highlights into that season. Udoka led the Vikings in scoring, rebounding, steals and blocked shots, was named first team All-Big Sky Conference and the league Newcomer of the Year. He dropped 29 points and grabbed eight rebounds against the University of Oregon in his best game of the year. The only downer was a knee injury that forced him to miss the last five games and the Big Sky Conference Tournament. It also put a damper on Udoka’s basketball future.
“All of my people around me and myself believed I had a chance to make it (in the NBA),” Udoka said before a recent Trail Blazers’ game. “It was always my goal. Some scouts were coming to watch me play as a senior, and without scoring a lot of points. I had a good all-around game and I got some notice.”
Ime rushed back from the injury to spend a brief time in the Blazers’ fall camp in 2000, but his knee wasn’t ready yet. He recuperated and finally caught on with a minor league team in North Dakota only to reinjure the knee again. This time, it took almost two years of rehab before he could make a comeback. In the meantime, Udoka worked for an overnight shipping company.
Amazingly, Udoka’s basketball journey was still in its early stages. He came back and made it in the NBA’s newly- formed Development League in 2002. Then, he played professionally in both Spain and France. Udoka finally reached the NBA – briefly – in 2003-04, playing on a 10- day contract with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Though he played in only four games for the Lakers, Udoka had the distinction of being just the second Portland State basketball player to appear in an NBA regular season game (Freeman Williams played in the league from 1979 to 1986).
And still, Udoka’s basketball career was only beginning its upswing. While starring on the court in 2005-06, Udoka earned the Jason Collier Sportsmanship Award in the NBA D-League. The award was “for the player who best represents the ideals of character and conduct on the court.” Udoka finished last season back in the big time, playing in eight games for the New York Knicks. Then, he had the opportunity to compete for the Nigerian National Team (his father, Vitalis’, birth country) in last summer’s World Basketball Championships.
Udoka’s 2006-07 status was in question until he received an invitation to take part in training camp with his hometown Portland Trail Blazers as a free-agent (read: no contract, no guarantees).
“I had a chance at Golden State, and I worked out at Dallas. Golden State brought me down twice before the season. But the Blazers contacted me at the last minute. I knew they were only bringing in 15 (players), and I had familiarity with the coaches. It seemed like a better opportunity,” he said.
While the opportunity was exciting for Udoka, he and everyone involved knew making the team was still a long shot. Then, tragically, Ime’s father, Vitalis, died suddenly on Oct. 17 – the day Ime was to make his first preseason start for the Blazers.
What was to be one of the great moments in his life was erased by matters far more important. The challenge of making an NBA roster now seemed inconsequential.
Despite the shock of his father’s sudden passing, Udoka soldiered on. He played in a preseason game just a few days later and showed the spark Blazers’ Coach Nate McMillan was looking for. The solid play continued throughout the preseason to the point that his teammates were lobbying the coaches and front office to keep Udoka on the team as a member of the regular season roster.
Keep him?
Heck, yes! Not only that, but Coach McMillan kept Udoka in the starting lineup. As the NBA season goes into the All-Star Break this weekend, Udoka has anchored the small forward position, playing good defense, team- oriented, intelligent basketball, making few mistakes, and hitting enough shots to be respected by the opposition. Defensively, the under-sized Udoka proved there is no measure for heart, guarding players like Utah’s Andrei Kirilenko one night, the Los Angeles Lakers’ Lamar Odom the next, Miami’s Dwayne Wade and Denver’s Carmelo Anthony.
In fact, Udoka is the only Blazer to start every game in the 2006-07 season. He is averaging 8.8 points, 3.8 rebounds and leads the team in three-point shooting percentage (.391 on 61 made).
“I was confident I would make the team,” Udoka says now. “But playing such a significant role was a long shot. Some injuries opened up an opportunity for me.”
Now, playing in an arena just a few miles from where he grew up, attended high school, and completed his college career, Udoka is one of the 400-or-so best basketball players in the world. It also meant the lucrative reward of an NBA contract.
Udoka’s story became one of the top sports stories of the year in Portland, and brought a tear to more than a few eyes around the Rose City.
Proving the worth of his NBA D-League Sportsmanship Award, one of Udoka’s first acts as a member of the Trail Blazers, was to give back to the school that gave him an early opportunity – Portland State. In a gesture of quick and generous acknowledgement to the school, Udoka created a scholarship endowment at PSU in honor of his deceased father. Udoka will provide an annual scholarship to both a Portland State Business student and basketball player. He made presentations at a Trail Blazer game and a Viking game during January.
“His point of coming to America was for college,” says Udoka. “He got a degree in Business Administration at Portland State, met my mother here, got married and raised his family.”
Ime was in the crowd to cheer his Vikings to an early- season victory over the University of Portland last November and he has been back at the Stott Center when his NBA schedule has allowed since then. Down-to-earth, humble, and soft-spoken, Udoka smiled and shook hundreds of hands that night at the Stott Center, knowing that his basketball travels around the country and around the world, through trials and tribulations, had brought him right back home.
By Mike Lund
Portland State Athletics Media Relations
a portion of this story is printed in the Winter issue of PSU Magazine
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or maybe it's "The Stonecutter" but I'm sure Udoka can pound the rock. 
