BIO: Egwu and his twin sister, Nnenna, were born in Nigeria on October 22, 1992.

His mother brought him and his twin sister to Chicago, Illinois from Nigeria when they were 5 years old to join their father, after they were finally granted visas in 1998—Egwu’s father had moved to the United States in 1989.

The family moved to Chicago three months before Egwu’s sixth birthday.

Growing up in Chicago, Egwu found his niche on the basketball court.

As a eighth grader, his mother signed him up for a park district team and by his freshman year of high school, he really had a outlet.

As a junior at St.Ignatius College Prep in 2009/10, he averaged 13 points, six rebounds, and four blocks per game as he earned fourth-team All-State by the IBCA and special mention All-State by the News-Gazette.

NBL EXPERIENCE

Nnanna Egwu made his NBL debut with the Cairns Taipans at 23 years of age. He scored 14 points in his first game.

In the 2016/17 season, Egwu averaged 4.9 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 0.8 assists, helping the Taipans secure second place with a 15-13 record.

2017/18
In 2017/18, Egwu improved his contributions, averaging 5.4 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 2.2 assists, playing a key role in the Taipans’ rotation. Despite his efforts, the team finished in sixth place with an 11-17 record.

BRISBANE BULLETS
2018/19
After finishing dead last in 2018, Brisbane said goodbye to Adam Gibson (to South East Melbourne), Shaun Bruce (to Sydney), and Anthony Petrie (retired) and went on a recruiting drive that brought in Boomers sharpshooter Cameron Gliddon (via Cairns), Jason Cadee (via Sydney), Matt Hodgson (via Adelaide), Tom Jervis (via Perth), and Mika Vukona (via New Zealand). The Bullets also welcomed back Rio Olympian and former Chicago Bull Cam Bairstow, who was returning after a knee reconstruction, added Makoto Hiejima under the NBL’s Asian Player rule, making him the first Japanese player to sign with an NBL team, and added NBA veteran Alonzo Gee (via Puerto Rico) as an import.

These key signings were meant to bolster Brisbane’s roster as they prepared for a tough start to the season, with 12 of their first 15 games coming against last season’s top-four playoff teams.

Nnanna Egwu was brought in as an injury replacement for three games in January, but his time with the Bullets was limited. Despite not contributing points, Egwu made an impact defensively, grabbing 5 rebounds and blocking 2 shots in his debut against New Zealand (11 Oct 2018). However, he remained scoreless in his other appearances against Cairns (13 Oct 2018) and Perth (20 Oct 2018). Egwu’s role was primarily as a short-term replacement, and he was not retained after his stint.

Despite Egwu’s brief time with the team, Brisbane was led by Lamar Patterson (17.8 points 6.2 rebounds 3.8 assists and 1.3 steals), Cameron Gliddon (13.7 points 3.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists), and Cam Bairstow (11.6 points 5.8 rebounds and 1.3 assists). Reuben Te Rangi (9.9 points 3.1 rebounds and 1.2 assists) won the league’s Most Improved Player and Sixth Man of the Year awards.

Brisbane finished the regular season tied with Adelaide (14-14) but secured the fourth spot due to a higher points percentage and advanced to the playoffs where they would lose to Perth in the semi-finals (0-2).

Nnanna Egwu played three seasons in the NBL, playing for both the Cairns Taipans and the Brisbane Bullets. He averaged 4.8 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 1.4 assists in 59 NBL games.

Dan Boyce (815 Posts)

Dan Boyce is a die-hard Sydney Kings fan who grew up in Melbourne during the roaring 90's of Australian Basketball and spent far too much time collecting Futera NBL Basketball cards.