Introduction
Ndudi Hamani Ebi (born 18 June 1984) is a Nigerian–British professional basketball player who currently plays for Byblos Club of the Lebanese Basketball League.
He committed to the University of Arizona, but reneged by making himself eligible for the NBA Draft. Ebi was selected out of Westbury Christian School by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round (26th pick overall) of the 2003 NBA draft.
Ebi was raised in Nigeria before moving to Houston, Texas as a teenager to attend high school. He holds both British and Nigerian citizenship.
Professional career
Ebi was the first first-round pick in three years for the Wolves; the team had forfeited five first-round picks after the team owner illegally made a deal with forward Joe Smith (the penalty was later reduced to three picks). After Ebi appeared in 19 games over the course of two seasons, Minnesota attempted to get an exception from the NBA so they could send him to the NBA Development League. Ebi was technically ineligible as the 2005–06 NBA season was his third year, and the D-League only accepted players who had been in the NBA for less than two years. Minnesota wanted to guide Ebi in, and they tacitly argued that Ebi was hardly a two-year veteran in the figurative sense, given his limited playing time. The league rejected Minnesota's request regarding Ebi, and to make room for Ronald Dupree, Minnesota released Ebi on 1 November 2005.
Ebi signed a free agent contract over the summer of 2006 with the Dallas Mavericks. After playing five pre-season games, averaging 5.2 points per game (ppg), Ebi was waived by the Mavericks on 26 October 2006.
On 30 September 2007, he signed with Israeli club Bnei HaSharon for one season. On 3 August 2008, he signed with Italian club Carife Ferrara, newly promoted to Serie A. He later played for the Basket Rimini Crabs in Italy and averaged 15.3 points per game, 13.6 rebounds per game, and 3.2 steals per game. In March 2011, he signed with Limoges CSP. In summer 2011, he signed with Anibal Zahle in Lebanon and thus joined the Division 1 of the Lebanese Basketball League. In 2012, he signed with Sidigas Avellino of Italy. He signed with the Vaqueros de Bayamón in 2013. On February 4, 2014, he signed with Virtus Bologna of Italy.
On January 15, 2015, after playing for Egyptian team Zamalek, Ebi returned to Italy after signing with Virtus Roma.
On July 28, 2015, Ebi signed with Auxilium CUS Torino.