Mobolaji Iyabode Akiode (born May 12, 1982) is an American-born former Nigerian women's basketball player.[1] [2]

Early life

Born in New Jersey, her family relocated to Nigeria shortly thereafter. Akiode moved back to the United States when she was nine[3] and was raised in Maplewood, New Jersey. She was bullied for her height, but excelled academically and athletically and led Columbia High School to the 1998 state championship[4] before graduating in 1999.[5] Akiode earned a scholarship to play college basketball at Fordham University. At Fordham, Akiode won all-conference honors in her senior year and was the eighth Fordham player to record 1,000 points and 500 rebounds in her career. She also earned a tryout with the WNBA's Detroit Shock following her collegiate career.[6]

Education

Akiode studied Accounting at Gabelli School of business, Fordham University, she graduated in 2004.[7] She obtained her Masters of Business Administration from the New York University Stern School of Business in 2014.[7][1]

College career

Akiode earned a scholarship to play college basketball at Fordham University. At Fordham, Akiode won all-conference honors in her senior year and was the eighth Fordham player to record 1,000 points and 500 rebounds in her career. She also earned a tryout with the WNBA's Detroit Shock following her collegiate career.[6] She was inducted into the Fordhams University basketball Hall of fame in 2014.[7]

Fordham statistics

Source[8]

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
Year Team GP Points FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1999-00 Forham 27 162 42.5% 0.0% 60.3% 5.0 0.8 1.0 0.8 6.0
2000-01 Forham 26 233 45.5% 0.0% 72.4% 5.5 1.1 0.8 0.6 9.0
2001-02 Forham 29 277 39.0% 32.4% 71.6% 4.0 1.2 1.3 0.3 9.6
2002-03 Forham 30 495 40.1% 30.6% 77.0% 5.4 1.9 1.4 0.5 16.5
Career 112 1167 41.1% 30.4% 71.9% 4.9 1.3 1.2 0.5 10.4

International career

Akiode was member of the Nigeria women's national basketball team at the 2004 Summer Olympics[9] and 2006 Commonwealth Games. She graduated from Fordham with a degree in accounting. After graduation, she landed a job to work for ESPN. She moved back to Nigeria in 2010 to start a basketball camp.[4] In 2014, she was named one of ESPNW's Impact 25.[10]

Basketball camp

Akiode organizes an annual basketball camp called the Hope for Girls basketball camp which seeks to develop and mentor girls in the knowledge of basketball. She has created opportunities for women to play basketball and study outside of Nigeria.[11][2][12]

References

  1. 1 2 https://www.linkedin.com/in/mobolaji-akiode-bb15a32a
  2. 1 2 "Mobolaji Akiode: How D'Tigress ignited my passion for Nigeria". January 12, 2019.
  3. ↑ "Seven Questions with Mobolaji Akiode, Sports Activist for Women".
  4. 1 2 Huckshorn, Kristin (April 4, 2010). "Nigerian basketball star gives back". ESPN. Retrieved March 11, 2014.
  5. ↑ Delo, Cotton. "CHS '99 Grad Starts Foundation for Nigerian Girls Mobolaji Akiode, 27, recently started Hope4GirlsAfrica, a non-profit designed to increase young African women's participation in sports.", South Orange, NJ Patch, February 1, 2010. Accessed February 10, 2020. "'There's never a wrong time to do the right thing," said Akiode, 27, a 1999 graduate of Columbia High School, where she started playing basketball under Coach Johanna Wright, who bought her her first pair of basketball sneakers and with whom she still speaks constantly. Akiode came back to Maplewood for a two-week stretch, but she's currently based in Lagos, Nigeria, the country where she spent much of her childhood, though she lived in the U.S. for good starting in the early '90s."
  6. 1 2 Fordham's Mobolaji Akiode receives tryout with the WNBA's Detroit Shock Archived 2012-07-08 at archive.today Fordhamsports.com. 1 May 2003
  7. 1 2 3 "Mobolaji Akiode (2014) - Hall of Fame". Fordham University Athletics.
  8. ↑ "NCAA Statistics". web1.ncaa.org. Retrieved 2021-06-03.
  9. ↑ "2004 Olympic women's basketball" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-03-17. Retrieved 2014-03-10.retrieved March 10, 2014
  10. ↑ "2014 espnW Impact 25". Archived from the original on 2014-12-16.
  11. ↑ "Hope4Girls Africa empowers 160 girls at basketball camp in Lag". www.dailytrust.com.ng. Archived from the original on 2018-04-09.
  12. ↑ "Smith: Hashtags not enough to help missing schoolgirls in Nigeria". ESPN.com. May 26, 2014.
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