Pallas Kunaiyi-Akpannah

Pallas Daemi Kunaiyi-Akpannah (born July 12, 1997) is a Nigerian Basketball player.[1] She played college basketball for the Northwestern Wildcats[2][3] She plays for the Italian Seria A side Faenza Basket Project.[4]

Pallas Kunaiyi-Akpannah
No. 22 – Faenza Basket Project
PositionCenter /power forward
LeagueSeria A
Personal information
Born (1997-07-12) July 12, 1997
Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria
NationalityNigerian
Listed height6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Career information
High schoolRabun Gap-Nacoochee School, Rabun County, Georgia
CollegeNorthwestern Wildcats
WNBA draft2019: undrafted
Playing career2019–present
Career history
2019–2019Chicago Sky
2019–2020Pallacanestro Vigarano
2020–2021BC Namur-Capitale
2021–presentFaenza Basket Project
Medals
AfroBasket
Gold medal – first place2021 Cameroon
Gold medal – first place2023 Rwanda

High school

Kunaiyi-Akpannah started her high school in a boarding school in Nigeria, she started playing basketball at the age of 14, she attended a basketball camp Hope for girls organised by Mobolaji Akiode in Abuja Nigeria where her athletic abilities where noticed.[5] Kunaiyi-Akpannah moved to Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School, Rabun County, Georgia, United States, from Nigeria when she was 15 years old, she played travel basketball in her high school holidays and she also averaged a double-double behind close to 10 points and more than 11 rebounds per game while helping the Eagles to a 21–5 record. She led her team to a second-place finish in the 2014 State Tournament[6][2] She also participated in other sports such as track and field events at high School.[7]

College career

Kunaiyi-Akpannah played college basketball for the Northwestern Wildcats where she was teammates with fifth overall pick in the 2017 draft Nia Coffey, she averaged less than 4 points per game and she also averaged 9.3 rebounds per game in four Big Ten Tournament games despite playing only 21.8 minutes per game in her freshman season at Northwestern[3] Kunaiyi-Akpannah sophomore year saw her average 1.6 points and 3.8 rebounds per game.[8][2] In her junior year, she was second in the Big Ten with 11.3 points and 11.9 rebounds per game, and her 18 double-doubles were eighth in the nation.[9][8] In her final year, she was named in the First Team All-Big Ten by the media, after finishing third in the conference in rebounds and 13th in the nation with 11 rebounds, while increasing her scoring to 11.1 points.[9] She made over 1000 rebounds during her time in college, she is the second player in Northwestern History to make over 1000 rebounds.[10][11]

Professional career

Kunaiyi-Akpannah was undrafted in the 2019 WNBA Draft, she was signed into a training camp contract by the WNBA team Chicago Sky on May 4, 2019, she was later waived by the team on May 8, 2019.[12][13]

Kunaiyi-Akpannah moved to the Italian Seria A side Pallacanestro Vigarano in 2019, she plays as a Center on the team.[14] On December 15, 2019 she had a double-double which included 11 points and a career high of 27 rebounds against Broni where the team won 83–75.[15]

On 28 May 2020, Kunaiyi-Akpannah signed for Namur-Capitale for the 2020-2021 season.[16] The team ended the season winning the Belgian Championship after fellow finalists, Castors Braine, withdrew due to many of their players testing positive for covid-19.[17]

On 29 June 2021, she signed for Italian Seria A club Faenza Basket Project for the 2021-2022 season.[18]

Nigerian National Women's Basketball team

Kunaiyi-Akpannah was called up to represent the D'Tigress and to participate in the 2019 pre Olympic Qualifying tournament in Mozambique where she made her debut in representing Nigeria, she averaged 4 rebounds during the tournament.[19][20] She was also called up to participate in the 2020 FIBA Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournaments in Belgrade.[21][22][23]

Personal life

Her father, Daemi Kunaiyi-Akpannah, is a former member of the Nigerian House of Representatives for Rivers State.[24][25]

References
  1. "Pallas KUNAIYI-AKPANAH at the FIBA Women's Afrobasket 2019". FIBA.basketball.
  2. "Pallas Kunaiyi-Akpanah - 2018-19 - Women's Basketball". Northwestern University Athletics.
  3. Wangman, Ryan (March 6, 2019). "Pallas Kunaiyi-Akpanah reflects on Northwestern women's basketball career".
  4. "Pallas Kunaiyi Basketball Player Profile, Pallacanestro Vigarano, Northwestern, News, Serie A1 stats, Career, Games Logs, Best, Awards - eurobasket". Eurobasket LLC.
  5. Minichino, Adam. "Pallas Kunaiyi-Akpanah finds her voice". Espn.com.
  6. "pallas-kunaiyi-akpanah". ESPN.com.
  7. "Pallas Kunaiyi-Akpanah - Stats". MileSplit GA.
  8. Sports, HERO. "Pallas Kunaiyi-Akpanah Stats - 20 Player Rankings & Regular Season Stats". HERO Sports.
  9. Greenspan, Robbie (March 21, 2019). "From unknown to star, Northwestern's Kunaiyi-Akpanah leaving a legacy".
  10. Lido, Jack (April 6, 2019). "How One WNIT Play Epitomizes the Career of Pallas Kunaiyi-Akpanah".
  11. Coffman, Noah (February 22, 2019). "WBB: Pallas Kunaiyi-Akpanah reaches 1,000 rebounds in disappointing loss". Inside NU.
  12. "Pallas Kunaiyi-Akpanah WNBA Stats & News". www.rotowire.com.
  13. "Chicago Sky Waive Leslie Robinson, Pallas Kunaiyi-Akpanah". Chicago Sky.
  14. "Pallacanestro Vigarano basketball, News, Roster, Rumors, Stats, Awards, Transactions, Details - eurobasket". Eurobasket LLC.
  15. "ITALY Basketball BoxScores, ITALY Basketball Scoreboard - eurobasket". Eurobasket LLC.
  16. "Welcome Pallas". BC Namur-Capitale. 28 May 2020. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
  17. "TDW1 – Le titre de Champion de Belgique est décerné pour la 18ème fois à NAMUR !". BC Namur-Capitale. 29 April 2021. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
  18. "SERIE A: BENVENUTA PALLAS". Faenza Basket Project. 29 June 2021. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
  19. "FIBA.basketball". FIBA.basketball.
  20. Ezekute, Nnamdi (November 4, 2019). "Otis Names Atosu, Akhator, Kalu In D'Tigress' Squad For Pre-Olympics".
  21. "Road to Tokyo 2020: 14 players to hit D'Tigress camp". January 12, 2020.
  22. "Hughley names 14 players as D'Tigress camp opens February". The Guardian Nigeria News - Nigeria and World News. 2019-12-16. Retrieved 2021-06-12.
  23. "Nigeria reveals shortlist for Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Belgrade". FIBA.basketball.
  24. Skip Myslenski (March 7, 2019). "Pallas: A Reflection On Her Final Chapter As A Wildcat". nusports.com. Retrieved July 19, 2021.
  25. "Hon. Daemi Kunaiyi-Akpanah - Chairman/Ceo".
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