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Pallas Kunaiyi-Akpannah

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Pallas Kunaiyi-Akpannah
No. 22 – Faenza Basket Project
PositionCenter /power forward
LeagueSeria A
Personal information
Born (1997-07-12) July 12, 1997 (age 27)
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 place 2021 Cameroon
Gold medal – first place 2023 Rwanda

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]

High school

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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

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

References

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  1. ^ "Pallas KUNAIYI-AKPANAH at the FIBA Women's Afrobasket 2019". FIBA.basketball.
  2. ^ a b c "Pallas Kunaiyi-Akpanah - 2018-19 - Women's Basketball". Northwestern University Athletics.
  3. ^ a b 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. ^ a b Sports, HERO. "Pallas Kunaiyi-Akpanah Stats - 20 Player Rankings & Regular Season Stats". HERO Sports.
  9. ^ a b 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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