This is the first alien from Pistoia. The Ogbeide totem comes at the center

In the red and white house after reconfirmation, it’s time to buy and the first to arrive on the court of Nicola Brienza is the pivot born in 1997 Derek Ogbed. He was born in Nigeria but has Canadian citizenship, and in the last tournament he was an opponent of Gtg with a Rimini jersey. Ogbede, a 206cm, 113kg center, spent his four college years, 2015-2019, averaging 7 points and 6.2 rebounds overall. From there he left the United States and started his career in Europe starting with AEK Larnaca: with the Cypriot team Ogbeide stayed for two years, winning the national championship and cup. After that, he moved for a short time to Israel to Hapoel Eliat, with whom he still reached the semi-finals of the playoffs. In 2021-22 he signed in Greece at Paok Thessaloniki and stayed there until January 2022 before moving to Turkish A2 Konyaspor where he earned promotion to the first division. Last summer he was the first American signed by Rimini and in the regular season he showed impressive numbers with 16.1ppg in 26 minutes of use and then proved to be the best player on the block (along with Wheatle) with 8.9 rebounds per game.

As fate would have it, his last game in full action was against GTG, who emerged victorious 74-77 from Pala Flaminio, with OGbid totaling 21 points and 12 rebounds. In fact, it happened on April 2 in a serious shoulder injury against Latina that forced him to prematurely end his season after undergoing surgery. If all goes well, he is expected to return to the field in August. “I am very happy about the signing of Derek – says coach Nicola Prinza – because we believe he is a player who is growing a lot: he had an excellent season at Rimini and still has a lot of room for improvement. For this very reason, I believe he can be useful to the team immediately, and throughout the tournament. , along with his teammates given the growth path they’ll have to complete.He’s a very physical player and, as such, can be a point of reference within an area for everyone: Being one of the best rebounders in A2, I think he’ll be able to have his say at the higher level too After reconfirming the Italian group, we started with a great signing. We are all very happy.” “I thank the club for the opportunity they have given me – these are the first words of Derek Ogbed in red and white – I am excited and happy to be part of this family: my motivations are very high and I can’t wait to take the field to defend my Pistoia shirt and experience a season of great impact in Serie A.” Italian first.In Rimini my tournament ended early but now I’ve recovered from my shoulder injury and I’m ready to go.

Maurizio Innocente