Table of Biography
Chinanu Onuaku is an American professional basketball player. Chinanu Onuaku plays for the ‘Goyang Sono Skygunners’ of the Korean Basketball League and used to play college basketball for the Louisville Cardinals. He is popular for his use of underhand free throws.
Early Life
Chinanu Onuaku was born in Lanham, Maryland, USA, on November 1, 1996. He is 27 years old and is under the astrological sign, Scorpio. He holds American nationality and his ethnicity is African-American. His full name is Chinanu Michael Onuaku.
His mother’s name is Nwaneka and his father’s name is Christopher Onuaku. He also has three older siblings and their names are Ify, Arinze, and Chuk. His brother, Arinze, is also a professional basketball player.
Chinanu Onuaku – Education
Regarding Onuaku’s educational background and qualifications, he attended Riverdale Baptist School and then went on to attend the University of Louisville.
Career and Professional Life
Chinanu Onuaku during his high school was able to average 12.4 points, 12.7 rebounds, and 5.5 blocks per game. This helped lead his team to a 30-9 record and the Capital Beltway conference title. Then, after graduating, he was considered a highly regarded prospect, ranking in the top 75 by Rivals.com and ESPN, and was recognized as the seventh-best centre in the country by Scout.com.
And, after his time in high school, he went on to play college basketball for two seasons from 2014 to 2016. During his sophomore year, he had an impressive stat line, averaging 9.9 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 2.0 blocks per game. His performance was able to earn him recognition, including being on the All-ACC Defensive Team and receiving All-ACC honourable mention honours. He also went on to achieve 11 double-doubles throughout the season. It was in May 2016, he decided to enter the NBA draft.
Likewise, on June 23, 2016, the Houston Rockets picked Onuaku as the 37th overall in the NBA draft. He then went on to join them for the NBA Summer League. On July 20, 2016, he signed with the Rockets. He then was able to make his NBA debut on December 26, 2016, and had a solid performance with six points and three rebounds in a win against the Phoenix Suns. Also, during his rookie season, he was able to play for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, the Rockets’ D-League affiliate. However, he did face a suspension for pushing a game official during the 2017 NBA D-League Finals.
Caption: Chinanu Onuaku playing the game (Source: littorina)
More About Career
The Houston Rockets traded Chinanu Onuaku to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for Maarty Leunen on August 2, 2018. However, he was waived just four days later. Then, he went on to sign with the Portland Trail Blazers on September 4, 2018. Unfortunately, his time with the Trail Blazers was short-lived as he was waived on October 13, 2018.
Then on October 20, he was chosen as the second overall pick in the 2018 NBA G League draft by the Greensboro Swarm. After that, he was able to play for Wonju DB Promy in South Korea during the 2019-2020 season. He had impressive stats, averaging 14.4 points, 10.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.4 steals, and 1.5 blocks per game. He then went on to sign with Zadar in the Croatian League on October 14, 2020.
Moreover, he joined Bnei Herzliya in the Israeli Basketball Premier League in 2021. And, in 2022, Bnei Herzliya won the Israeli Basketball State Cup with Onuaku as the game’s MVP. He even led the league in rebounds for the 2021-22 season, averaging 9.9 per game.
Furthermore, Onuaku went on to join Dinamo Sassari in the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) on July 20, 2022. But then on November 13, 2022, he switched teams and signed with Hapoel Tel Aviv in the Israeli Basketball Premier League. And most recently, on July 27, 2023, he signed with Joventut Badalona in the Spanish Liga ACB.
Caption: Chinanu Onuaku showing off his trophies (Source: Instagram)
Chinanu Onuaku – Relationship Status
Chinanu Onuaku is in a relationship but the name of his partner is unknown to us. The pair also has a daughter together. Onuaku shares a lot of pictures of his daughter on his social accounts and is very happy and loves his daughter dearly.
Caption: Chinanu Onuaku along with his daughter (Source: Instagram)
Body Measurements
Chinanu Onuaku has a height of 6 feet 10 inches and his weight is 111 Kg but his other body measurements are still under review. Moreover, Onuaku has black hair and dark brown eyes.
Social Media
Chinanu Onuaku is pretty active on all of his social accounts. He owns his Instagram account under the name “lifeofnanu_32” and has garnered 33.5K followers on it. Likewise, he is active on Twitter and Facebook as well and has mustered 5.6K and 3.1K followers respectively.
Chinanu Onuaku – Net Worth 2024
As per playersbio, Chinanu Onuaku has a net worth of $1 million and his main income source seems to be his career as a basketball player.