Portland State Magazine Winter 2007

Athletics ldoka Playing with the Blazers, lme Udoka held his own against Luke Walton of the Lakers this fall. He presented a ceremonial check at aVikings game in January to establish scholarships in his father's memory. 20 PORTLAND STATE MAGAZINE WINTER 2007 Playing for the Blazers FORMER VIKING BASKETBALL player, Ime Udoka, is back home living a dream-playing for the Portland Trail Blazers. Through perseverance and, at times, heartbreak, the 6-foot-5 forward has reached a hard-fought goal. Ime Udoka (pronounced EE-may you-DOE-kuh) was to play his first preseason game for the Blazers on October 17. But chat day his father, Vicalis, died suddenly. Despite che shock, Udoka played in a preseason game just a few days later and showed the spark Blazers coach Nace McMil– lan was looking for. The solid play continued throughout the preseason to the point chat his teammates lobbied the coaches and front office to keep Udoka on the team as a member of the regular season roster. Keep him? Heck, yes! Not only that, but Coach McMillan kept Udoka in the starting lineup. He has anchored the small forward position for che season, playing good defense and team-oriented, intelligent basketball, making few mistakes, and hining enough shoes to be respected by the opposition. Udoka's story is one of the top sports stories of the year in che Rose City, and Portland Seate University plays a prominent role. He came to PSU in 1998 seeking the oppor– tunity he had always wanted-to advance his basketball game and his education. A Jefferson High School grad and All-Conference player, Udoka anended college in Utah and California before spending his lase rwo years on the Park Blocks-one as a red shirt and one as a player. And play he did. Udoka led the Vikings in scoring, rebounding, steals, and blocked shots. He was named first team All-Big Sky Confer– ence and league Newcomer of the Year. The only downer was a knee injury that forced him to miss che lase five games and che Big Sky Conference Tournament. For the next several years Udoka played for a minor league team in North Dakota, but eventually he had to cake almost rwo years off for rehab-working for a shipping company to make ends meet. By 2002, he was ready to play again and bounced berween the NBA Devel– opment League, European teams, and shots ac che big time, playing for che Los Angeles Lakers and che New York Knicks. Over che summer, he com– peted for the national team of Nigeria, his father's birch country, in the World Basketball Championships. One ofUdoka's first aces as a member of the Trail Blazers, was to give back co the school chat gave him an early oppor– tunity. He has established che Vicalis S. Udoka Memorial Scholarships. "His point of coming to America was for college," says Udoka. "He got a degree in business administration (1978) at Portland Scace, met my mother here, got married, and raised his fami ly." Udoka has cheered on the Vikings throughout the season. Ac a November winning-game against University of Portland, he smiled and shook hun– dreds of hands in Stott Center. Stardom has hit, but che soft-spoken Udoka remains down-co-earth and obviously glad co be back home. ■ BY MIKE LUND