Oluseyi Ashaolu (born April 18, 1988) is a Nigerian-Canadian basketball player. A 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) power forward, Ashaolu played college basketball at Louisiana Tech and Oregon.
College career
Ashaolu lived in Brampton until 2004, when he made the move to Atlanta for grade 9, to play high school basketball stateside.[1]
Ashaolu began his collegiate career at Louisiana Tech, where he averaged 5.3 points and 4.3 rebounds per game as a freshman. He improved those numbers to 10.7 points and 8.1 rebounds per game as a sophomore.[2] Ashaolu averaged 14.2 points and 9.4 rebounds per game as a junior.[3] He earned his bachelor's degree in business administration in 2011 and decided he did not want to be part of the rebuilding effort under rookie head coach Michael White.[4]
On May 24, 2011, Ashaolu announced his transfer to Oregon, choosing the Ducks over Texas, San Diego State and Xavier. Ashaolu took advantage of the graduate transfer rule and did not have to sit out the season as a redshirt. One of the reasons he joined Oregon was because his AAU teammate, Devoe Joseph, was on the squad.[3] Ashaolu was relegated to a bench role as a senior, but did not mind the decreased minutes.[4] He averaged 9.2 points and 5.2 rebounds per game in his only season at Oregon.[2]
Ashaolu signed with the Phoenix, now renamed San-en NeoPhoenix, in August 2016.[9] The following season, he moved to the Sendai 89ers. Ashaolu averaged 18.5 points and 7.6 rebounds per game but was hampered by a knee injury in November 2017.
On June 28, 2019, Olu Ashaolu debuts for the Road Warriors as he replaced Tony Mitchell as the team's import. Ashaolu recorded 26 points, 13 rebounds and 6 assists as he led the Road Warriors in their second win of the Commissioner's Cup as they beat the Rain O'Shine Elasto Painters.[12]