Born in Lagos, Nigeria, Azubuike was the youngest of 5, with two older brothers and two older sisters.[2] His father, Fabian, was a police officer, and his mother, Florence, was a middle school teacher.[3] Azubuike lost his father to an undiagnosed disease at the age of 10.[3] In 2012, he caught the attention of recruiters with Basketball Without Borders and was offered a scholarship to play basketball in the United States.[3]
High school career
Azubuike attended Potter's House Christian Academy in Jacksonville, Florida. His then assistant coach Harry Coxsome and his wife Donna took care of him and soon became his legal guardians.[3] In his first high school game he was matched up against fellow future Kansas Jayhawk Joel Embiid.[3] Azubuike was a four-year starter averaging 16.9 points and 9.7 rebounds per game his senior year.[4]
Azubuike was rated as a five-star recruit and considered a top-20 prospect in the 2016 high school class.[9][10][11]Rivals.com ranked him as the 27th-best overall player[12] while ESPN ranked him 22nd overall in the class of 2016.[13][14] Azubuike received offers from many universities including Duke, Texas, Kentucky, and shortened his final list of colleges to Florida State, Kansas, and North Carolina.[4] On January 28, 2016, he announced his choice to play college basketball at the University of Kansas.[15]
College career
Freshman year
In his freshman season he started in six of the 11 games he played in before tearing ligaments in his left wrist, which ended his season.[16] Before the injury, he averaged 5.0 points, 4.4 rebounds, 1.6 blocks, and 62.9% field goal accuracy.
Sophomore year
For the 2017–18 season, Kansas' coach Bill Self recruited Kansas football player James Sosinski to defend Azubuike during practice.[17] Udoka started every game of the regular season but missed the Big 12 Conference tournament after spraining his left MCL.[18] He returned for the NCAA tournament until KU's loss to eventual champion Villanova in the Final Four.[19] He averaged 13.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, 1.7 blocks, and led the nation with a 77% field goal percentage for the season.[20] His field goal percentage broke the single-season record for Kansas and the Big 12 Conference.[21] This high percentage was in part due to the majority of his field goals being slam dunks, which typically have a higher completion percentage than jump shots or layups. He had more dunks than any other college player going back to the 2009–2010 season.[22] He was awarded All-Big 12 third team by the conference's coaches[23] and second team by the AP.[24]
On April 20, 2018, Azubuike announced his intention to enter the 2018 NBA draft. He did not initially hire an agent, which would allow him to return before the combine.[25] Azubuike was one of a record-high 69 prospects invited to the NBA Draft Combine that year. On May 17, he measured out to be a near-7-foot-tall center (with shoes on) weighing in at 274 pounds (124 kg) and holding the second-longest wingspan at 7 feet 7 inches (2.31 m), behind only Mohamed Bamba.[26] On May 30, 2018, he announced his intent to withdraw from the draft and return to Kansas for his junior season.[27]
Junior year
Azubuike was selected as an honorable mention to the 2018–19 All-Big 12 preseason team.[28] On December 4, 2018, he severely sprained his right ankle against Wofford and missed the following four games.[29] On January 5, 2019, Azubuike injured his wrist during practice.[30] An MRI revealed he tore a ligament in his right hand,[31] and he underwent season-ending surgery on January 9, 2019.[32]
Kansas won all nine games Azubuike played including against top-ten teams Tennessee and Michigan State. He finished the season averaging 13.4 points and 6.8 rebounds.[33]
On April 22, 2019, Azubuike announced he would return to Kansas for his senior season.[34] According to KU coach Bill Self, “We’re all very excited about Udoka making the decision not to enter the [NBA] draft. Unfortunately for him, injury is the reason as he still cannot participate (at) what would be the NBA combine or workouts for the NBA teams."[35]
Senior year
Azubuike scored a career-high 29 points in a 90–84 overtime win over Dayton on November 27, 2019.[36] On February 22, 2020, he scored 23 points and had a career-high 19 rebounds in a 64–61 win over top-ranked Baylor.[37]
Azubuike was selected with the 27th pick in the first round of the 2020 NBA draft by the Utah Jazz.[42] On November 24, 2020, the Jazz announced that they had signed Azubuike.[43] Azubuike was assigned to the Jazz's NBA G League affiliate, the Salt Lake City Stars, for the start of the 2021 G League season, making his G League debut on February 10, 2021. He made his NBA playoff debut on June 14 in game 4 of the 2021 Western Conference Semifinals, recording a rebound in a minute and nine seconds of action in a 118–104 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers.[44]
On March 25, 2022, Azubuike underwent right foot surgery and was ruled out for the rest of the 2021–22 season.[45]
Phoenix Suns (2023–2024)
On August 8, 2023, Azubuike signed a two-way contract with the Phoenix Suns.[46][47] He made his team debut on October 28 by putting up 2 points and 3 rebounds during 6 minutes of action in a 126–104 win over his former team, the Utah Jazz. On December 20, Azubuike recorded his first double-double with the Suns with 11 points and a season-high 11 rebounds in a 120–105 loss to the Sacramento Kings.
