Gabe Muoneke

Nnadubem Gabriel Enyinaya Muoneke (born 7 February 1978, in Ann Arbor, Michigan) is a Nigerian American retired professional basketball player and businessman. Despite being born in the United States, Muoneke represented Nigeria internationally.

Muoneke attended Cypress Falls High School in northwest Houston, Texas. He then played for four years for the Texas Longhorns. Undrafted out of college in the NBA, he was a first round pick of the Columbus Riverdragons (now Austin Spurs) then the Roanoke Dazzle also of the NBDL. He has played in multiple NBA Summer Leagues including that of the Vancouver Grizzlies and the New Orleans Hornets. Muoneke also signed non-guaranteed NBA contracts with the Detroit Pistons, Houston Rockets, Charlotte Bobcats and the Utah Jazz but was waived from all four teams. He has played around the world, including with the Ponce Lions in Puerto Rico, Pınar Karşıyaka in Turkey, the Beijing Olympians in China, Busan KTF Magic Wings and Seoul SK Knights in South Korea, among other places.

Early life Muoneke was born in 1978 in Michigan to Igbo Nigerian parents Nik, a math professor, and Njudeka, a medical technologist. He first studied at St. Christopher’s Private Catholic School as he grew up in Houston, learning Latin, French, and German. He also learned how to play the piano and the saxophone at a young age.

After his sophomore season, he and three other players considered transferring, as "they had lost faith in Penders and his program." Tom Penders resigned and Rick Barnes was hired.

In his junior year, Muoneke led the team in scoring averaging 16.7 points to go with his 6.3 rebounds. In a game against Wisconsin, he punched guard Hennessy Auriantal in the stomach. A month later, against Kansas, he punched Nick Bradford in the first half and T.J. Pugh twice in the second half. These incidents led to Barnes suspending him for one game. Their season ended in the first round of the Division I tournament, against 10th seeded Purdue, with Brian Cardinal stealing his inbounds pass in the final seconds to seal the win.

In his final year, Muoneke averaged 13.7 points and 6.3 rebounds. He graduated in 2002 with his degree in Petroleum Engineering. He finished his college career ranked in the top 15 in the history of University of Texas basketball in scoring (1,456 points), rebounding, and top 20 in games played and started. He was then drafted in the sixth round of the 2000 CBA draft by the Fort Wayne Fury.

Boca Juniors Muoneke then spent some time overseas, averaging 19 points and 9.5 rebounds in Turkey (Pinar Karsiyaka).

Columbus Riverdragons Muoneke then returned to the US, where he became a first round pick (fourth overall) of the Columbus Riverdragons (now Austin Spurs) in the inaugural NBDL draft in 2001. He scored 33 points against the North Charleston Lowgators on 7 February, 2002. In his time with them, he averaged 17.1 points and 5.9 rebounds. In six games with Purefoods, he averaged 28 points. On 25 October, he and Ricky Moore were waived.

On 18 January, 2003, he scored 38 points against the Fayetteville Patriots.

Rio Grande Valley Vipers In his time with the team, Muoneke averaged 26.2 points and 5.3 rebounds.

TAU Cerámica On 26 December, 2007, Muoneke signed a three-month deal with TAU Cerámica of the Liga ACB to replace the injured James Singleton. He did not stay long with the team, as he was released in September. He then signed with the Utah Jazz but was waived in October.

Yunnan Running Bulls During his time in China, Muoneke broke many scoring records and was amongst the top scorers in China in all three of his seasons in the country. While playing for the Yunnan Running Bulls, Muoneke was physically attacked during a postgame confrontation between himself and Chinese national team captain and Shanghai Sharks player Liu Wei. After Muoneke and the Sharks' Cai Liang wrestled for the ball during the game, Cai, Liu and some Sharks players confronted Muoneke, his wife, children and mother-in-law as they were leaving the stadium. Muoneke had a water bottle thrown at him, before being chased and cornered by the players. Liu and Cai were subsequently fined and suspended. The Shanghai Sharks were also fined. Muoneke was not injured.

On his blog in 2009, he alluded to a retirement from professional basketball and subsequently did retire in 2010 at the age of 30.

National team career Muoneke was first called up to the Nigeria men's national basketball team in 2003 for the 2003 FIBA Africa Championship, where they finished second. He then played in the 2005 FIBA Africa Championship and the 2006 FIBA World Championship. He was then named captain for the team competing in the 2009 FIBA Africa Championship.

Post-playing career As he was playing overseas, Muoneke lay the groundwork for his energy industry plans by building connections with financiers and influencers. When he retired in 2009, he focused on his career in African oil and gas. He first joined Afren, a U.K.-based oil exploration and production company. Their son Muo played basketball for the Abilene Christian Wildcats while Bianna and Arianna played volleyball for the Georgia Bulldogs.

Muoneke is a born-again Christian. He received counseling for his outbursts in college which led to him embracing Christianity. His name Nnadubem means "God guide me". He is capable of speaking seven languages, including Hebrew, and is also a Brazilian jiu-jitsu brown belt. The case was dismissed on 4 June of that year, as he had accidentally brought a kitchen knife, which he used to use for carving mangoes.