At 6 feet, 10 inches tall and 235 pounds, Allen Udemadu has earned a reputation as someone even his own teammates at Morgan State men’s basketball don’t enjoy bodying up in the post during practices.
That sentiment trickled into the Bears’ 89-86 overtime win at archrival Coppin State on Jan. 20 when Udemadu scored a career-high 24 points, converting 10 of 12 free throws.
“There was a dude that had to foul him, and he was complaining to the refs, ‘What am I supposed to do? He’s too strong,’” redshirt junior point guard Kamron Hobbs recalled with a laugh. “When you’re in the paint with Allen, nobody wants to be in the paint with him. I haven’t played with a center as dominant as him.”
In his first season with Morgan State (6-15, 2-3 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference), Udemadu is beginning to make a lasting impression. The junior has started the past 14 games, leads the team in rebounds at 6.6 per game and total blocks with 12, and averages 7.6 points.
Udemadu has four double-doubles this season, including an 18-point, 17-rebound performance in a 69-53 loss at NJIT on Dec. 31 and a 15-point, 10-rebound effort against Norfolk State on Monday. He has begun to emerge as a catalyst, according to Bears coach Kevin Broadus.
“I think he’s turned the corner,” he said. “He’s just got to sustain it.”
The 23-year-old Udemadu’s progress is surprising considering he only began playing basketball when he was a 13-year-old in Lagos, Nigeria. A former soccer player, he said he was intrigued by the game.
“I used to go to this outdoor basketball court, and I couldn’t play because I didn’t know what I was doing,” he said. “When I heard things like travel, I asked, ‘What is a travel?’ So they told me it was when you took more than two steps. When I heard double dribble, I asked and that’s how I learned it. Then I started going to this basketball academy.”
Udemadu didn’t have to look far for inspiration. Former two-time NBA champion and Hall of Fame center Hakeem Olajuwon is still a national hero to many Nigerians.
“In Nigeria, if you meet anybody that wants to say anything about basketball, before you finish the conversation, he will say something about Hakeem Olajuwon,” quipped Udemadu, who also idolizes the late Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony.
In 2016, at the age of 15, Udemadu immigrated to the United States and began living in Nashville, Tennessee. Later that year, he moved to Houston, where he befriended Jamail Pink. Pink, now a junior point guard at Detroit Mercy, and his family took in Udemadu.
“He’s basically my son,” said Clement Pink, an attorney. “He’s a wonderful human being, mild-mannered, and he needed someone to be supportive of him.”
To accelerate Udemadu’s basketball development, the Pink family arranged for him to learn under former NBA great John Lucas and Tony Lusk, a trainer for the John Lucas Foundation.
“Absolutely raw, but talented and athletic,” Pink said of Udemadu. “Had a man’s body. Just needed to learn how to play the game, and he’s finally starting to comprehend what he’s doing.”
Udemadu made modest gains in single seasons at Des Moines Area Community College (5.8 points and 4.0 rebounds per game) and Florida Southwestern (4.5 points and 3.3 rebounds per game). But Broadus was intrigued by Udemadu’s potential.
“He was very robotic and methodical, but I saw a lot in him,” Broadus said. “He had great size, he had great energy, and for us, to be honest with you, it was a blessing that he didn’t play that much because if he had played a lot more, he probably would have gotten a lot more looks.”
Udemadu is renowned among the Bears for his work ethic. Hobbs said Udemadu is a fixture in the weight room, lifting before practices even when the players are required to lift afterward. Broadus recalled spotting Udemadu in the weight room at 7 a.m. the day after the loss at NJIT.
“I told him, ‘You’ve got to start taking some of your teammates with you,’” Broadus said.
Basketball isn’t just a pastime for Udemadu. The sport is an opportunity for him to change his life’s trajectory.
“My parents instilled in me to work hard,” he said. “Before I went to the United States, they told me that this isn’t a vacation for me. I can’t just come out here and forget my morals and the things that I want to do in life. The next time I meet my family, I want to be able to tell them how far I’ve gone in life and have a great story for them.”
Udemadu said he has not seen his parents Chukwuma Ever and Ndidi Lauretta Udemadu, his three brothers, Obuchi, Sopuru and Kenye, and his sister Omasili since he left. He wasn’t home when one uncle died in 2017, two more in 2019, another in 2020, and his paternal grandparents in 2021.
Because of the six-hour time difference, video conferencing is difficult. But he said his mother texts him prayers and words of encouragement.
“She knows I’m OK when I respond to the messages, and I know she’s OK when she sends me those messages,” he said. “We do the same thing every day.”
Broadus said Udemadu continues to hone his shooting and ability to avoid unnecessary fouls that have led to him fouling out three times thus far. But Udemadu’s more important contributions might stem from the example he sets for his teammates.
“What I see is a guy that’s driven and trying to get somewhere in life — not just in basketball, but in life,” Broadus said. “You want kids like him in your program. What I see is a person who has a plan and now he’s trying to work that into perfection.”
Udemadu, who is majoring in psychology, is scheduled to graduate in 2025 and wants to open his own office either in the United States or Nigeria. Until then, he said he will continue to improve to help the Bears.
“I believe I can do way better,” he said. “So far, so good. I’m doing what I can, but I know I can do better and I can contribute more to the team defensively and being that energy guy.”
Morgan State at South Carolina State
Saturday, 4 p.m.