Cedevita Olympia gets stronger by adding Melvin Ejim

In the position of Forward and Power Forward, Cedevita Olimpija strengthened its ranks with 30-year-old Melvin Ejim before the start of the 2021/22 competition season. The latter will move to Ljubljana from Podgorica, where he was one of the key players of the Budućnost VOLI game last season, and with his performances he has helped the Podgorica team to the second place in the ABA League.

Melvin Ejim is a well-known name to the regional basketball fans, as he has proven himself in many competitions at the highest competitive level. He spent his career at the University of Iowa State College, and was one of Iowa’s best players at the time. In his last season spent in college, he averaged 17.8 points, 8.4 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.2 steals per game. In 2014, Ejim was not selected for the NBA, and he spent the summer in the San Antonio Spurs jersey in Las Vegas.

This was followed by a move to Europe, where he tested his skills at Virtus Rome in the 2014/15 season. After the season, he first signed a contract with medi Bayreuth, and was afterwards proving himself at Orlando Magic, and got a chance in the G League with the Erie BayHawks. In March 2016, he then moved to Reyer Venice, where he remained until the end of the 2016/17 season, helping the team from Venice to the title of Italian national champion, and he himself became the most valuable player in the Final series. At the same time, Ejim was selected in the top five of the Basketball Champions League.

Ejim then spent two seasons with Unics Kazan, followed in July 2019 by move to Spain, to Unicaja from Malaga. After a prematurely closed season due to the coronavirus pandemic, he then moved to Podgorica's Budućnost VOLI.

In the 2020/21 season, Melvin Ejim appeared in 31 ABA League games. He spent an average of 22.6 minutes on the court, achieving 10.1 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.2 assists. He showed his best performance in a duel with Mega Basket when he added nine rebounds in 22 points in just under 35 minutes.

As he agreed on a move to Ljubljana, Ejim told: “I'm excited to be a part of the Cedevita Olimpija family. I know that there's a lot of great history, tradition and passion, that comes with the team and the organization. I'm happy to be a part of that. I'm excited for the upcoming season, and I hope to see all of you there, and to see and feel your support.”

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Cedevita Olimpija močnejša za Melvina Ejima

Člansko moštvo Cedevite Olimpije bo v novi tekmovalni sezoni močnejše za Melvina Ejima, ki je bil v sezoni, ki je za nami, eden od nosilcev igre podgoriške Budućnosti VOLI.

Na položaju krila in krilnega centra se je Cedevita Olimpija pred začetkom tekmovalne sezone 2021/22 okrepila s 30-letnim Melvinom Ejimom. Slednji se bo v Ljubljano preselil iz Podgorice, kjer je bil v minuli sezoni eden od nosilcev igre Budućnosti VOLI, s svojimi predstavami pa je podgoriški ekipi pomagal do končnega drugega mesta v regionalni Ligi ABA.

Melvin Ejim je znano ime vsem evropskim poznavalcem košarke, saj se je dokazal v številnih tekmovanjih na najvišji tekmovalni ravni. Svojo kariero na univerzi je preživel na kolidžu Iowa State, in bil v tem času eden od najboljših igralcev Iowe. V svoji zadnji sezoni, ki jo je preživel na kolidžu, je v povprečju dosegal 17,8 točke, 8,4 skoke, 1,8 asistence in 1,2 pridobljene žoge na tekmo. Leta 2014 Ejim ni bil izbran na naboru Lige NBA, poletje pa je preživel v dresu San Antonio Spurs v Las Vegasu.

Sledila je selitev v Evropo, kjer se je v sezoni 2014/15 preizkusil pri Virtusu Romi. Po sezoni je sprva podpisal pogodbo z medi Bayreuthom, nato pa se je izkazal v dresu Orlando Magic na poletni Ligi NBA, in dobil priložnost v razvojni Ligi NBA pri ekipi Erie BayHawks. V marcu 2016 se je nato preselil v Reyer Venezio, kjer je ostal do konca sezone 2016/17, in moštvu iz Benetk pomagal do naslova italijanskega državnega prvaka, sam pa je postal najkoristnejši igralec finalnega niza. Obenem je bil Ejim izbran v najboljšo peterko košarkarske Lige prvakov.

Ejim je nato dve sezoni preživel pri ruskem Unicsu iz Kazana, julija 2019 pa je sledila selitev v Španijo, k Unicaji iz Malage. Po predčasno zaključeni sezoni zaradi pandemije koronavirusa se je nato preselil v podgoriško Budućnost VOLI. Slednji je pomagal do naslova črnogorskega državnega in pokalnega prvaka.

V tekmovalni sezoni 2020/21 je Melvin Ejim zaigral na 31 tekmah v Ligi ABA. Na parketu je v povprečju preživel 22,6 minute, ob tem pa dosegal 10,1 točko, 4,6 skoke in 1,2 asistence. Svojo najboljšo predstavo je prikazal na dvoboju z Mego Basket, ko je v malo manj kot 35 minutah 22 točkam dodal devet skokov.

Ob dogovoru o selitvi v Ljubljano je Ejim dejal: „Vesel sem, da sem postal del družine Cedevite Olimpije. Vem, da ljubljanski klub obdaja veliko bogate zgodovine, tradicije in strasti, to pa velja tudi za navijače. Nestrpno že pričakujem začetek nove sezone in upam, da se nam bodo navijači na tekmah pridružili v čim večjem številu, in da bomo lahko videli in čutili vašo podporo.“