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Yemi Nicholson
	Nicholson with Trefl Sopot in 2014
Personal information
Born	June 7, 1983 (age 41); Oregon, U.S.
Listed height	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)
Listed weight	260 lb (118 kg)
Career information
High school	Overland (Aurora, Colorado)
College	Fort Lewis (2001–2002); Denver (2003–2006);
NBA draft	2006: undrafted
Playing career	2006–2014
Position	Center
Career history
2006–2007	Belfius Mons-Hainaut
2007	Villa de Los Barrios
2008	Austin Toros
2008–2009	Eisbären Bremerhaven
2010–2012	Prostějov
2012–2013	Czarni Słupsk
2013–2014	Trefl Sopot
Career highlights and awards
	Sun Belt Player of the Year (2005); 2× First-team All-Sun Belt (2005, 2006); Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year (2006);

Bertengeh O. "Yemi" Gadri-Nicholson (born June 7, 1983) is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Denver Pioneers.

Early life

Nicholson was born in Oregon to parents who had immigrated from Sierra Leone.^[1] He lived in Texas before moving to Colorado in 1994 where he attended Overland High School.^[1] Nicholson almost failed to make his high school basketball team and instead possessed greater abilities as a saxophone player.^[1] He earned a scholarship to study music at Fort Lewis College.^[1]

College career

Nicholson grew from 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) to 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) during his freshman year at Fort Lewis and his father encouraged him to try playing basketball again.^[1] He walked-on the Fort Lewis basketball team midway through his freshman year and played for three minutes in one game during the 2001–02 season.^[2]

Nicholson was playing a pickup game in Denver, Colorado, in 2002 when he was noticed by Denver Pioneers player Rodney Billups.^[1] Billups recommended Nicholson to Pioneers head coach Terry Carroll who invited Nicholson to join the team.^[1] Nicholson sat out the 2002–03 season as a redshirt.^[1]

Nicholson had a paltry debut with the Pioneers during the 2003–04 season and averaged 7.5 points and 4.3 rebounds per game.^[1]^[3] He had a breakthrough season in 2004–05 as he averaged 18.1 points and 8.4 rebounds per game.^[2] Nicholson was named as the 2005 Sun Belt Player of the Year.^[3] He received frequent attention of National Basketball Association (NBA) scouts during his senior season in 2005–06.^[2] Nicholson averaged a league-best 19.8 points per game and was selected as the 2006 Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year.^[4]

Professional career

Nicholson participated at the 2006 NBA Pre-Draft Camp.^[5] He was not selected in the 2006 NBA draft and joined the Sacramento Kings for the 2006 NBA Summer League where he played sparingly.^[6]

Nicholson began his professional career with Belfius Mons-Hainaut in Belgium in the 2006–07 season.^[6] He played for the Austin Toros during the 2007–08 season where he averaged 2.3 points and 1.0 rebounds per game.^[7] Nicholson also played in Poland, Germany, Spain and the Czech Republic.^[8]

Post-playing career

Nicholson lives in Denver with his wife and two sons.^[8] He operates a recording studio named Yemi's Studio.^[9]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ McPherson, Doug (June 1, 2005). "Standing tall". University of Denver Magazine. Retrieved November 18, 2022.
^ ^a ^b ^c Anderson, Kelli (January 23, 2006). "Stealth Stars". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved November 18, 2022.
^ ^a ^b "DENVER'S NICHOLSON, WKU'S PORTER-TALBERT NAMED SUN BELT PLAYERS OF THE YEAR: All-Sun Belt teams announced". Sun Belt Conference. March 2, 2005. Retrieved November 18, 2022.
^ "Nicholson Named Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year". University of Denver Athletics. March 1, 2006. Retrieved November 18, 2022.
^ "Almond at NBA Pre-Draft Camp". Conference USA. June 6, 2006. Retrieved November 18, 2022.
^ ^a ^b Chambers, Mike (May 8, 2016). "DU star headed to Belgium". The Denver Post. Retrieved November 18, 2022.
^ "Yemi Nicholson minor league basketball statistics". Stats Crew. Retrieved November 18, 2022.
^ ^a ^b Blankenship, Niko (February 25, 2021). "Black History Month Profile: Yemi Nicholson". University of Denver Athletics. Retrieved November 18, 2022.
^ "Meet Yemi Nicholson". Canvas Rebel. August 28, 2023. Retrieved May 22, 2024.