Derek Ogbeide reinforced Cedevita Olimpija at center position

The 206 cm tall and 27 years old Derek Ogbeide is the new reinforcement of Cedevita Olimpija at the position of center. He signed a one-year contract with the Ljubljana side and by adding Ogbeide, Cedevita Olimpija has finished composing the senior team for the 2024/25 season.

“I am extremely happy and thrilled to have joined Cedevita Olimpija. In the new season I am expecting plenty of good things, progress and growth within the team and at the same time interesting and dynamic style of the game, packed with a lot of focus. We wish to create a truly strong team, that plays together, which is evident from the outside and I hope that we would be able to reach this point,” Derek Ogbeide told as he signed with the Dragons.

After Derek Ogbeide spent four seasons at the Georgia University he got familiar with European basketball for the first time in Cyprus, where he used to play for Petrolina AEK Larnaca. He spent there two seasons, before moving to PAOK of Thessaloniki and Konyaspor afterwards. He played in Rimini in the 2022/23 season and in Pistoia in the 2023/24 season.

With PAOK he has been playing also in the Basketball Champions League, where he has been averaging 3.1 points and 2.9 rebounds in seven appearances, where he spent 11.4 minutes per game on court on average. Last season he appeared in 30 games of the Italian National Championship, with an average of 11.6 points and 8.6 rebounds per contest.

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Derek Ogbeide okrepil Cedevita Olimpijo na položaju centra

Pod obema obročema je člansko ekipo Cedevite Olimpije okrepil Derek Ogbeide, ki je v zadnjih dveh sezonah igral v Italiji, zdaj pa se bo preselil v Ljubljano.

Nova okrepitev Cedevite Olimpije na igralnem položaju centra je 206 centimetrov visoki, 27-letni Derek Ogbeide. Z ljubljanskim klubom je podpisal enoletno pogodbo, z dodatkom Ogbeida pa je Cedevita Olimpija zaključila s sestavo članske ekipe za tekmovalno sezono 2024/25.

“Ob pridružitvi Cedeviti Olimpiji sem zelo vesel in navdušen. V novi sezoni pričakujem veliko dobrih stvari, napredek in rast znotraj ekipe, ter hkrati zanimiv in dinamičen način igre, prežet z veliko osredotočenosti. Želimo ustvariti resnično močno ekipo, ki igra skupaj, kar se vidi na zunaj, in upam, da bomo prišli do te točke,” je ob podpisu pogodbe z Zmaji povedal Derek Ogbeide.

Po tem, ko je Derek Ogbeide štiri leta preživel na univerzi Georgia, je evropsko košarko prvič spoznal na Cipru, kjer je nosil dres ekipe Petrolina. Tam je preživel dve sezoni, v sezoni 2020/21 osvojil naslov ciprskega državnega in pokalnega prvaka ter bil izbran za najkoristnejšega igralca lige, nato pa se je na začetku sezone 2021/22 preselil v grški PAOK, kjer je ostal do januarja 2022, sledila pa je selitev v turški Torku Konyaspor. Sezono 2022/23 je preživel v Riminiju, sezono 2023/24 pa v Pistoii.

V dresu PAOK-a je med drugim nastopal tudi v Košarkarski Ligi prvakov, kjer je zaigral na sedmih tekmah, in v povprečju dosegal 3,1 točko in 2,9 skokov na tekmo v 11,4 minutah, ki jih je preživel na parketu. V italijanskem državnem prvenstvu je v sezoni 2023/24 zaigral na 30 tekmah, v 28,0 minutah pa v povprečju dosegal 11,6 točke in 8,6 skoke na tekmo.