Nuni Omot

Anunwa "Nuni" Omot (born October 3, 1994) is a Kenyan professional basketball player who plays for Tofaş of the Basketbol Süper Ligi (BSL). He finished his college basketball career at Baylor after two years at Concordia University and Indian Hills Community College.

Nuni Omot
Omot warms up for the Brooklyn Nets in 2018
Tofaş
PositionSmall forward
LeagueBasketball Super League
Personal information
Born (1994-10-03) October 3, 1994
Nairobi, Kenya
NationalityKenyan
Listed height6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
Listed weight215 lb (98 kg)
Career information
High schoolMahtomedi (Mahtomedi, Minnesota)
College
NBA draft2018 / Undrafted
Playing career2018–present
Career history
2018–2019Long Island Nets
2019MZT Skopje
2019–2020ZZ Leiden
2020–presentTofaş

Early life and high school

Omot was born in a refugee camp in Nairobi, Kenya to Pillow and Kwot Omot.[1][2] His parents and brother Aba lived in the camp for three years, following a dangerous 440-mile journey from Gambela, Ethiopia to the Kenyan border in escape from an ongoing civil war.[2][3] They were arrested, spending one week in prison, before being freed with help from the United Nations and settling in the camp, which was crowded and did not provide adequate food.[3] In 1996, Omot's mother and siblings moved to Minnesota with the help of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service.[4] However, his father was barred from the United States due to medical reasons.[5]

Living in Minnesota, Omot was looked after by his brother Aba, while his mother worked two jobs at Menards and Burlington Coat Factory to support the family.[2] Omot first began playing football as a wide receiver, but he started playing basketball after a growth spurt.[5] He also played soccer but basketball soon became his primary focus.[2]

As a junior in high school, Omot joined the junior varsity basketball team at Mahtomedi High School in Mahtomedi, Minnesota.[2] He moved up to varsity in his senior season, averaging 18 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 assists. Omot earned All-Conference and honorable mention All-State accolades in his final year at Mahtomedi.[1] Still, he failed to earn any NCAA Division I scholarship offers in high school.[5]

College career

Omot began his college career at Concordia in NCAA Division II and redshirted his freshman season, growing almost three inches.[3] In 2014-15, he averaged 12.4 points and 5.5 rebounds per game, shooting 58 percent from the floor and 42 percent from behind the arc. In order to get more Division I exposure, Omot transferred to Indian Hills Community College. He averaged 12.2 points and 5.4 rebounds per game and started 33 games in one of the top junior college programs.[5] He was named to the first-team all-conference and NJCAA Honorable mention All-American.[3][6] Omot accepted a scholarship to Baylor on November 12, 2015.[3]

Omot was forced to miss the fall semester of 2016 due to of academic reasons and played limited minutes the rest of the year.[5] His best performance was scoring 14 points in a 74-64 win over Texas on January 18, 2017.[7] He averaged 4.0 points and 1.9 rebounds per game.[8] Omot put in a lot of work in the summer of 2017 to improve his game.[5] Omot began his senior season with 15 points against Central Arkansas and had 12 points the following game against Texas A&M–Corpus Christi.[2] He registered a career-high 30 points in a 105-82 win over Randall on December 9, 2017.[9] However, Omot struggled to start Big 12 play and was replaced in the starting lineup by Mark Vital.[2] In a loss to Oklahoma on January 31, 2018, Omot scored 23 points and hit all six three-point attempts.[10] On February 20, in a game against West Virginia, Omot met his father for the first time in 21 years.[11] As a senior, Omot averaged 9.9 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game. He shot 48.9 percent from the field and 43.3 percent on three-pointers, which was fifth in the Big 12 Conference.[12]

Professional career

After going undrafted in the 2018 NBA draft, Omot joined the Golden State Warriors for 2018 NBA Summer League.[13] On September 25, 2018, he signed with the Brooklyn Nets on a training camp deal.[12] Omot was waived by the Nets on October 11.[14] He was subsequently added to the roster of the Nets’ NBA G League affiliate, the Long Island Nets.[15]

On July 26, 2019, he signed with Macedonian club MZT Skopje.[16]

On November 22, 2019, Omot was announced by ZZ Leiden of the Dutch Basketball League (DBL). His contract with Leiden began December 1.[17] The 2019–20 season was cancelled prematurely in March because of the COVID-19 pandemic. On June 12, 2020, Omot signed with Tofaş of the Basketbol Süper Ligi (BSL).[18]

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References
  1. "Nuni Omot". Baylor Bears. Retrieved October 2, 2018.
  2. Werner, John (February 9, 2018). "Walk to Freedom: Omot's inspiring journey leads to success at Baylor". Waco Tribune-Herald. Retrieved October 2, 2018.
  3. Strand, Bruce (March 23, 2016). "Refugee, Mahtomedi grad aims for NBA". White Bear Press. Retrieved October 2, 2018.
  4. Murdock, Logan (June 15, 2018). "Baylor's Nuni Omot overcomes rough upbringing". The Mercury News. Retrieved October 2, 2018.
  5. Dortch, Chris (May 4, 2018). "Baylor swingman Nuni Omot has come long way into becoming an NBA prospect". NBA. Retrieved October 2, 2018.
  6. "2015-16 NJCAA Division I Men's Basketball All-America Teams". NJCAA. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
  7. "Motley's 32 points, 20 rebounds give No. 6 Baylor 74-64 win over Texas". ESPN. Associated Press. January 18, 2017. Retrieved October 2, 2018.
  8. "2017-18 Baylor Men's Basketball Media Supplement" (PDF). CSTV.com. Retrieved October 2, 2018.
  9. "Omot gets 30, No. 23 Baylor tops Randall 105-82 at Fort Hood". ESPN. Associated Press. December 9, 2017. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
  10. "Young's 44 help No. 12 Oklahoma top Baylor 98-96". ESPN. Associated Press. January 31, 2018. Retrieved October 2, 2018.
  11. Werner, John (February 20, 2018). "Omot's father reunites with son after 21 years, watches first Baylor game". Waco Tribune-Herald. Retrieved October 2, 2018.
  12. "Brooklyn Nets Announce Training Camp Roster". NBA. September 25, 2018. Retrieved October 2, 2018.
  13. "Warriors' Nuni Omot: To play in summer league". CBS Sports. June 27, 2018. Retrieved October 2, 2018.
  14. "Brooklyn Nets Waive McLaughlin And Omot". NBA.com. October 11, 2018. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
  15. "Long Island Nets Finalize Training Camp Roster". NBA.com. October 22, 2018. Retrieved October 22, 2018.
  16. "Nuni Omot agrees to deal with MZT Skopje". Sportando. July 26, 2019. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  17. "ZZ Leiden haalt Nuni Omot". www.eredivisiebasketballleiden.nl. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  18. "Numi Omot joins Tofas Bursa". Sportando. June 12, 2020. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
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