BIO: Owen Odigie was born in Melbourne (VIC) and began playing basketball as a junior with the Dandenong basketball program. Odigie received a scholarship to attend the Australian Institute of Sport (Canberra) in 2010. He spent three years year there and played for the program’s state league team (2010, 2011, 2012).

NBL EXPERIENCE

Owen Odigie made his NBL debut with the Melbourne Tigers at 18 years of age. He went scoreless in his first NBL game.

With the NBA going through a lock-out season during the 2011/12 NBL season, the Melbourne Tigers signed NBA free agent and Australian Boomers player Patrick Mills who became the first ‘active’ NBA player to compete in the NBL.

Mills was a late signing for the club who had already filled their roster, which included signing Ayinde Ubaka, Ron Dorsey and Daniel Dillon from Cairns and gutting the Taipans Roster. In order to make room for Mills, the team was forced to release long-time guard Daryl Corletto, who later signed with New Zealand. Mills then played the first nine games of the season (averaging 19 points and 5 assists) before leaving to play in China.

This season also saw Tommy Greer named team captain, and Cam Tragardh (16.3 points) win the club’s MVP award after leading the team in scoring.

After Mills’ exit, they would replace him with Myron Allen and go on to finish sixth place during the regular season with a 11-17 record. Odigie would play in two games this season as a development player as the Tigers failed to make the playoffs for the third year in a row.

2012/13
In 2012/13 Odigie averaged 1.3 points, 0.5 rebounds, and 0.3 assists across fourt games, helping the Tigers finished with a 12-16 record in the regular season where they tied with the Sydney Kings in fourth place. With the NBL tie-breaker system based on the results of the games played between the team’s during the season to determine the order of seeding. The two team’s had won two games a piece from their four games against each other but Sydney earned the finals spot but having a points percentage of +2 over the Tigers. This saw Melbourne drop to fifth place and fail to reach the playoffs for the fourth year in a row.

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2013/14
During the 2013/14 season, Odigie averaged 1.6 points, 1.1 rebounds, and 0.2 assists and was a part of the Tigers squad which finished in third place with a record of 15-13. They would go on to lose to Adelaide in the semifinals (1–2)

2014/15 – TIGERS BECOME UNITED
On 20 May 2014, the franchise was re-branded as Melbourne United. The change was a attempt to move away from the Melbourne Tigers junior program which was a team synonymous with ‘poaching’ young talent from other junior programs in Victoria and had negative connotations with much of Victoria’s basketball community. The name, attempting to symbolise a connection to all of Victorian basketball was a decision made by owner Larry Kestelman.

The team retained head coach Chris Anstey and added Tigers legend Daryl Corletto who had spent three years with the New Zealand Breakers. Australian Boomers players David Barlow, who had spent the past five years in Europe and Daniel Kickert signed on with the club as long time captain of the club Tommy Greer retired.

The team retained their Tigers core of Mark Worthington, Lucas Walker and Nate Tomlinson who were all chosen to share the captaincy this season and their last move was to complement the squad by signing their import talent, adding Jordan McRae and Stephen Dennis.

Adam Ballinger, who had signed a two-year deal the previous season, was a part of the team up until the week before the season when United chose to release him. a unfavorable situation for Ballinger as every other NBL team had completed their rosters, leaving Ballinger nowhere to negotiate. He was eventually signed by Illawarra and played the remainder of the season with the Hawks.

United’s inaugural season began with a loss to Cairns (89–61) which saw coach Chris Anstey resign and replaced by his assistant Darryl McDonald.

Odigie would get his first chance to play as a regular rotation player in the NBL, appearing in 26 games and averaging 1.9 points, 1.4 rebounds, and 0.6 assists as United went on to finish the season in fifth place (13–15), missing out on the playoffs.

2015/16
After finishing fifth with a 13-15 record and missing the playoffs in 2014/15, Melbourne appointed former NBA assistant Dean Demopoulos as head coach. Jordan McRae (to Delaware), Stephen Dennis (to Bnei Herzliya), Mark Worthington (to Cairns), Daryl Corletto (to Plymouth), Lucas Walker (to Adelaide), Auryn MacMillan and Owen Odigie departed, while Daniel Kickert, Nate Tomlinson and Chris Patton returned. Demopoulos added Chris Goulding (via Spain), Todd Blanchfield (via Townsville), Stephen Holt (via Canton), Majok Majok (via Slovenia), Igor Hadziomerovic and Ekene Ibekwe (via New Zealand). Ibekwe was released before the season on compassionate grounds and replaced by Hakim Warrick (via Turkey), while David Barlow suffered a season-ending Achilles injury and Brad Hill (via Wollongong) joined as his injury replacement.

Odigie was listed with a hip injury in the NBL injury report during October after dropping out of Melbourne’s opening roster. His opportunity to return came on January 22 when Hadziomerovic was ruled out for the remainder of the season with osteitis pubis and the former Tigers/United swingman was brought back as his replacement. Odigie made his season debut that night in Adelaide, finishing with 1 rebound and 1 assist in 6:05 as Melbourne lost 90-81.

Odigie (2.4 points across 7 games) appeared in five regular-season games after returning and both semifinals, with no further injury reported once he rejoined the active roster. His best regular-season scoring game came against Illawarra on February 4, where Odigie (5 points and 1 rebound) made his only field-goal attempt, a three-pointer, and both free throws in 10:52 as Melbourne defeated the Hawks 80-73, with Holt (23 points and 5 rebounds) and Goulding (13 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals) leading United, while Kevin Lisch (21 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists) was Illawarra’s leading scorer.

Odigie matched his season-high against New Zealand in Auckland on February 12, finishing with 5 points and 1 rebound in 15:55 after Melbourne rested Goulding, Kickert and Warrick ahead of the finals. Adnam (16 points and 2 steals) and Patton (9 points) were United’s leading scorers, while Charles Jackson (18 points, 11 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals, and 1 block) led New Zealand to a 100-63 win.

Odigie (3 points, 2 rebounds, and 1 block) played nine minutes in Melbourne’s final regular-season game against New Zealand on February 14. Goulding (22 points and 3 assists) and Kickert (16 points and 5 rebounds) led United, while Tai Wesley (23 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals, and 2 blocks) led the Breakers to a 70-68 win. Melbourne finished first with an 18-10 record and claimed the minor premiership.

Goulding (18.6 points and 3.8 rebounds across 28 games) led Melbourne in scoring and joined Kickert (14.8 points and 3.8 rebounds across 28 games) on the All-NBL First Team. Holt (15.5 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 3.6 assists across 30 games) was selected to the All-NBL Second Team, Warrick (14.2 points and 6 rebounds across 23 games) won the NBL Best Sixth Man award, while Blanchfield (9.6 points and 6.5 rebounds across 30 games) and Majok (5.5 points and 7.1 rebounds across 30 games) provided the other major contributions. During the season, Warrick’s groin injury had also led Melbourne to sign Garrett Jackson (via North-West Tasmania) as a short-term injury replacement on October 29, with Jackson’s six-game stint ending when Warrick returned on November 22.

Melbourne opened the semifinals at Hisense Arena, where Odigie (0 points) appeared for eight seconds as Warrick (24 points, 13 rebounds, and 4 blocks) and Goulding (23 points and 5 rebounds) led United, while Cedric Jackson (20 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 steals) and Mika Vukona (11 points, 13 rebounds, 5 assists, and 4 steals) led New Zealand to a 91-82 win.

Odigie’s best game in the season-by-season file came in game two at Vector Arena, where Odigie (4 points, 4 rebounds, and 1 assist) was moved into the starting lineup and made two of three shots in 12:27. Goulding (23 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists), Warrick (17 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 blocks) and Kickert (16 points) led Melbourne, while Thomas Abercrombie (23 points and 4 rebounds), Cedric Jackson (19 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 steals) and Wesley (16 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 blocks) led New Zealand to a 91-78 win and completed the semifinal sweep.

2016/17
A year after finishing first with an 18-10 record before being swept by New Zealand in the semifinals, Melbourne entered Dean Demopoulos’ second season with significant changes to its roster. Stephen Holt (to Zaragoza), Hakim Warrick (to Olympiacos) and Daniel Kickert (to Brisbane) departed, while Cedric Jackson (via New Zealand), Ramone Moore (via Pieno žvaigždės), Devin Williams (via West Virginia), Tai Wesley (via New Zealand) and David Andersen (via ASVEL) were added. Wesley was able to play as a local under the NBL’s Asian player rule, while David Barlow returned after an Achilles injury had kept him out for the entire previous season. Owen Odigie also returned for what became his final NBL season.

After not playing in Melbourne’s opening two games, Odigie (2 points, 1 assist, and 2 steals) made his season debut in Adelaide on October 14 as United defeated the 36ers 98-87. Wesley (18 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1 steal) and Todd Blanchfield (17 points, 5 rebounds, and 1 steal) led Melbourne, while Jerome Randle (20 points) was Adelaide’s leading scorer.

Odigie (2.3 points across 20 games) moved in and out of Melbourne’s rotation, making eight starts during his 20 appearances. No injury was reported for Odigie during the season, with no injury attached to any of his eight non-appearances and his final four games spent outside the playing rotation.

One of his best early games came against Perth at Hisense Arena on October 23, where Odigie (5 points, 4 rebounds, and 1 steal) made two of three shots in 15 minutes. Majok Majok (12 points and 5 rebounds) and Wesley (10 points and 6 rebounds) led Melbourne, while Casey Prather (16 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists) was Perth’s best as the Wildcats held United to 69 points and won 72-69.

With Chris Goulding and Blanchfield unavailable, Odigie moved into the starting lineup against New Zealand on November 4 and produced 5 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, and 2 steals in more than 26 minutes. Kyle Adnam (19 points) and Wesley (17 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 blocks) led Melbourne, while Alex Pledger (20 points and 10 rebounds) carried New Zealand to a 98-92 overtime victory.

Odigie’s best game came two days later at the WIN Entertainment Centre, where Odigie (5 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals, and 2 blocks) made two of four shots and played almost 23 minutes as another starter. Andersen (23 points and 8 rebounds) and Williams (13 points and 7 rebounds) led an injury-hit Melbourne side still without Goulding and Blanchfield, while Nick Kay (15 points and 5 rebounds) led Illawarra to an 82-73 victory.

A memorable low point came against Sydney at Hisense Arena on November 26. Odigie (1 point, 5 rebounds, and 1 assist) left his feet on Kevin Lisch’s three-point fake with six seconds remaining and fouled the Kings captain, allowing Lisch (12 points, 4 assists, and 2 steals) to make all three free throws and tie the game. Casper Ware (28 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals) then answered with the game-winning three-pointer with two seconds remaining, while Goulding (15 points and 4 assists) provided support and Brad Newley (29 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 assists) led Sydney as Melbourne escaped with a 95-92 victory.

Melbourne’s import combination changed repeatedly after the 3-6 start. Jackson (8.7 points, 4.6 rebounds, 5.1 assists, and 1.3 steals across 9 games) was released on November 9 in what the club described as a strategic decision, before Ware (via ASVEL; 22.1 points, 4.5 assists, and 1.3 steals across 18 games) arrived and immediately gave United another major scoring option. Williams (to Greensboro; 3.2 points and 3.9 rebounds across 16 games) then suffered a knee injury against Brisbane in December and missed five weeks, leading Melbourne to sign Josh Boone (via Pınar Karşıyaka; 10.1 points and 9.3 rebounds across 12 games) as his injury replacement. Once Williams returned to full fitness, he was released on January 31 so Melbourne could retain Boone for the remainder of the season. Moore (10 points across 20 games) then suffered a season-ending calf injury against Adelaide on January 12, leading United to sign Lasan Kromah (via Promitheas Patras; 1 point across 3 games) as his injury replacement.

Goulding (16.4 points across 22 games) remained Melbourne’s leading local scorer despite missing six games with ankle problems, while Andersen (9.8 points and 4.4 rebounds across 19 games) missed an extended stretch with a knee injury. Wesley (8.5 points and 3.3 rebounds across 28 games), Blanchfield (7.9 points and 3.6 rebounds across 22 games), Majok (5.5 points and 5.5 rebounds across 28 games) and Barlow (5.1 points across 19 games) provided the other major contributions. Wesley and Majok were the only United players to appear in all 28 games, with injuries and import turnover leaving only five Melbourne players appearing in at least 21 games. United also finished with the second-worst true shooting percentage in the league and went 2-5 in games decided by five points or fewer, while Ware earned selection to the All-NBL First Team. By the end of the season, reports described Demopoulos’ relationship with parts of the playing group as no longer “civil”, and Melbourne and its coach parted ways following the campaign.

Odigie’s final NBL appearance came in Brisbane on January 21, where Odigie (2 points) played 3:15 as Melbourne lost 88-71. Ware (27 points, 4 assists, and 2 steals) and Goulding (17 points and 4 assists) led United, while former Melbourne forward Kickert (24 points and 8 rebounds) and Torrey Craig (24 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals) led Brisbane.

Odigie was not selected for Melbourne’s final four games, including the season finale against Perth before a near-capacity crowd of 9,545 at Hisense Arena, where Boone (27 points and 11 rebounds) and Ware (27 points, 6 assists, and 2 steals) led United, while Prather (26 points and 11 assists) helped the Wildcats win 96-94 and leave Melbourne sixth with a 13-15 record.

Owen Odigie played six seasons the Melbourne Tigers. This included the Melbourne Tigers. He averaged 1.8 points, 1.3 rebounds, and 0.3 assists in 80 NBL games.