Elijah Olaniyi
Olaniyi with Stony Brook in 2019
Personal information
Born (1999-01-11) January 11, 1999
Brooklyn, New York
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Listed weight205 lb (93 kg)
Career information
High schoolEast Side
(Newark, New Jersey)
College
PositionShooting guard / small forward
Number3, 4
Career highlights and awards
  • First-team All-America East (2020)
  • Third-team All-America East (2019)
  • America East Rookie of the Year (2018)
  • America East All-Rookie Team (2018)

Elijah Olaniyi (born January 11, 1999) is a American former basketball player. Olaniyi played for the Stony Brook Seawolves of the America East Conference and the Miami Hurricanes of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

He began his career at Stony Brook, winning America East Rookie of the Year in 2018 and being named first-team All-Conference in 2020 before transferring to Miami. He transferred back to Stony Brook for his fifth and final year, but left the team before the end of the season. Olaniyi medically retired in 2023 after being diagnosed with brain cancer.

Early life and high school career

Olaniyi was born in Brooklyn, New York. He attended a charter school, which did not have a basketball team, as a high school freshman before transferring to East Side in Newark, New Jersey, the following semester.[1] Olaniyi did not begin playing basketball until eighth grade when a gym teacher pointed him towards the direction of AAU basketball.[2] He played two years in AAU with the NJ Roadrunners.[3] At East Side, he played for head coach Anthony Tavares. With Olaniyi, the East Side Red Raiders won county championships in 2014 and 2017, as well as a state title in 2015. In 87 high school games, Olaniyi recorded 928 points and 588 rebounds.[1] In his junior season, he was named to the All-Group 4 First Team. He was named first-team All-State and All-Conference as a senior.[3]

Olaniyi was listed as a two-star recruit by ESPN as a small forward, with a 67 overall grade. ESPN ranked Olaniyi as the 11th-best recruit in the state of New Jersey and the 75th-best small forward.[4]

College career

Olaniyi made his college debut on November 10, 2017, against Maryland, where he played 20 minutes and scored three points. On November 19, Olaniyi came off the bench and led Stony Brook with 16 points against No. 2 Michigan State.[5] The game started a series of five double-digit games in a row off the bench for Olaniyi.[6] In his first career start, he had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds against Hartford. He won the 2018 America East Rookie of the Year award after leading all freshmen with 7.8 points and 3.8 rebounds per game. He was named America East Rookie of the Week four times and was also named to the America East All-Rookie Team.[7]

In his sophomore season, Olaniyi averaged 16.8 points in Stony Brook's first four games before suffering a concussion in the team's home opener against Molloy.[8] He missed two games and came off the bench against Quinnipiac in his return. On February 2, 2019, Olaniyi scored a new career-high 28 points against Hartford.[9] In Stony Brook's America East quarterfinal loss to Binghamton, Olaniyi led all players with 27 points.[10] He finished his sophomore season averaging 12.3 points per game and 5.9 rebounds per game with a 42.5 percent field goal rate. He was named to the Third-Team All-America East.[11]

Olaniyi broke out in his junior season. On December 7, 2019, he had a career game, scoring 30 points against Brown on 11-for-15 shooting.[12] He scored his 1,000th career point in a 70–62 victory over Albany on January 18, 2020, his fourth-straight 20-point, 10-rebound double-double.[13] On February 5, he scored a career-high 33 points against UMass Lowell.[14] On February 8, Olaniyi suffered a high ankle sprain versus New Hampshire and missed five games, prior to the injury, he was averaging 19.7 points and 6.9 rebounds per game.[15] He returned off the bench on March 3 against UMBC and re-entered the starting lineup in the 2020 America East tournament, scoring 11 points against Albany in the quarterfinals and 19 points against Hartford in the semifinals. Olaniyi was named to the First-Team All-America East, ending his junior season averaging 18.0 points and 6.5 rebounds per game while shooting 43.5 percent from the floor and 36.1 percent from three-point range.[16]

On March 28, 2020, Olaniyi officially declared for the 2020 NBA draft.[17] On May 17, he announced that he would transfer to Miami (Florida) for his senior season.[18] He averaged 10.5 points and 5.1 rebounds per game. After the season, he entered the transfer portal. On April 2, 2021, Olaniyi announced that he would be transferring back to Stony Brook for his fifth season of eligibility.[19]

On November 22, 2021, Olaniyi suffered a leg injury against Sacred Heart and missed 10 games. He returned on January 8, 2022, against Maine.[20] Olaniyi took a personal leave of absence from the team on January 19, 2022, and rejoined the team on January 26.[21][22] On February 10, Olaniyi announced that he had permanently left the team and withdrawn from the university, citing his injury and Stony Brook's inability to participate in the postseason as a result of the America East Conference's punishment for Stony Brook joining the Colonial Athletic Association in July. He played seven games, averaging 8.9 points and 3.7 rebounds per game.[23]

Olaniyi ended his college career with 1,417 points – 1,197 at Stony Brook (eighth-most in program history) and 220 at Miami.[23]

Professional career

On September 24, 2022, Olaniyi made his post-collegiate debut with the semi-pro team Sparta of the Luxembourgish Basketball League, recording 21 points, five rebounds and six assists in a 98–69 victory over Soleuvre.[24] On December 7, 2023, Olaniyi announced on his Instagram page that he was retiring from professional basketball due to unexpected health issues.[25] In an interview with The Statesman, Olaniyi revealed that he was diagnosed with brain cancer originating in 2021, and underwent three surgeries in December 2023 to remove 95% of the tumor.[26]

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  Bold  Career high

College

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2017–18 Stony Brook 32822.3.455.313.5343.80.71.00.17.8
2018–19 Stony Brook 313031.1.425.319.7055.91.70.80.412.3
2019–20 Stony Brook 282632.6.435.361.7096.52.11.60.318.0
2020–21 Miami 211832.6.421.263.7095.10.90.90.410.5
2021–22 Stony Brook 7425.1.434.125.7373.70.91.10.68.9
Career 1198629.0.434.314.6845.21.31.10.311.9

Personal life

Olaniyi was born to Festus and Ruth Olaniyi and has five siblings.[3] Olaniyi was the first member of his family to be a natural born citizen of the United States after his parents immigrated from Nigeria.[2] Olaniyi cites Kobe Bryant and Jimmy Butler as personal influences on his basketball career.[27]

References

  1. 1 2 Fermin, Kenneth (2018-11-20). "Olaniyi embraces leadership role". The Statesman. Retrieved 2020-03-30.
  2. 1 2 Nardone, Joseph (2019-10-01). "Elijah Olaniyi -- The Stony Brook Talent's Origin Story Is Unheard Of". ClutchPoints. Retrieved 2020-03-30.
  3. 1 2 3 "Elijah Olaniyi - Men's Basketball". Stony Brook University Athletics. Retrieved 2020-03-30.
  4. ↑ "Elijah Olaniyi - Basketball Recruiting - Player Profiles - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2020-03-30.
  5. ↑ Zarb, Gregory (November 20, 2017). "Three-point barrage not enough in Men's Basketball's loss to Michigan State". Retrieved September 26, 2020.
  6. ↑ "Sturdivant's layup caps off 18-point comeback win over Saint Francis". The Statesman. 2017-12-04. Retrieved 2020-03-30.
  7. ↑ "Bell-Haynes Repeats as Player of Year to Highlight 2017-18 Men's #AEHoops Awards". americaeast.com. Retrieved 2020-03-30.
  8. ↑ "Men's Basketball defeats Norfolk State, starts season at program-best 5-1". The Statesman. 2018-11-29. Retrieved 2020-03-30.
  9. ↑ "Men's Basketball survives late Hartford push, improves to 6-2 in conference play". The Statesman. 2019-02-03. Retrieved 2020-03-30.
  10. ↑ "Binghamton upsets Stony Brook 78-72 in America East tourney". AP NEWS. 2019-03-10. Retrieved 2020-03-30.
  11. ↑ "Lamb Unanimously Chosen Player of Year to Highlight 18-19 Men's #AEHoops Awards". americaeast.com. Retrieved 2020-03-30.
  12. ↑ Tam, Ethan (2019-12-08). "Olaniyi's career night helps Stony Brook rout Brown". The Statesman. Retrieved 2020-03-30.
  13. ↑ Tam, Ethan (2020-01-22). "Olaniyi breaks 1,000 as Stony Brook tops Albany to take back first place". The Statesman. Retrieved 2020-03-30.
  14. ↑ Tam, Ethan (2020-02-07). "Olaniyi goes off for career-high 33 as Stony Brook gets upper hand late in UMass Lowell rematch". The Statesman. Retrieved 2020-03-30.
  15. ↑ Tam, Ethan (2020-02-09). "Olaniyi hurt as Stony Brook stifled on road at New Hampshire". The Statesman. Retrieved 2020-03-30.
  16. ↑ "Elijah Olaniyi's First-Team Honor Highlights Three Men's Hoops All-Conference Selections". Stony Brook University Athletics. Retrieved March 30, 2020.
  17. ↑ Gomes, Jay (March 31, 2020). "Olaniyi Testing NBA Draft Waters". Rivals.com. Retrieved September 26, 2020.
  18. ↑ Wilson, David (May 17, 2020). "Miami Hurricanes add all-America East guard Elijah Olanayi as transfer from Stony Brook". Miami Herald. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
  19. ↑ Tam, Ethan (April 4, 2021). "Elijah Olaniyi announces return to Stony Brook after one season with Miami". The Statesman. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  20. ↑ "Olaniyi, Stony Brook hold off Maine rally". Newsday. Retrieved 2022-01-23.
  21. ↑ "UAlbany men's basketball 'growing up as a team' ahead of matchup with rival Stony Brook – The Daily Gazette". dailygazette.com. Retrieved 2022-01-23.
  22. ↑ Rubel, Abigail (2022-01-22). "UAlbany, Stony Brook teach Rivalry 101 ahead of Saturday's game". Times Union. Retrieved 2022-01-23.
  23. 1 2 "Elijah Olaniyi leaves Stony Brook men's basketball team". The Statesman. 2022-02-12. Retrieved 2022-02-14.
  24. ↑ "Elijah Olaniyi Eurobasket player profile". Eurobasket. Retrieved 2022-10-26.
  25. ↑ "Olaniyi announcement". Instagram. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  26. ↑ Anderson, Mike. "How Elijah Olaniyi's brain cancer derailed his life". The Statesman. Retrieved 2024-01-06.
  27. ↑ "Interview with Stony Brook' Leading Scorers Elijah Olaniyi and Makale Foreman". CBB REVIEW. 2020-03-21. Retrieved 2020-03-30.
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