There's a trail that leads to Christian Mekowulu

Christian Mekowulu is under contract with APU Old Wild West Udine, a team that as a newly promoted team achieved an all-too-quiet salvation. The 31-year-old center (205 centimeters for 110 kilograms) formerly of Orzinuovi, Treviso and Sassari will remain in bianconero if the Friulian club, as seems likely but not entirely certain, will meet his demands: he has asked for a salary adjustment also because he knows he has market.

Thanks in part to his past experience in top leagues such as Spain’s Liga ACB (with Zaragoza), Lithuania (BC Wolves) and Japan (Akita Northern Happinets), the Nigerian maintains a very desirable profile abroad. And it is far from being a detail: he is unlikely to stay in Italy and there are those who are ready to take advantage of it, such as Zaragoza itself, provided it doesn’t relegate.

During the season just ended, Mekowulu was a pillar of the roster built by coach Adriano Vertemati, forming a solid and physical pair of longs with Lithuanian Eimantas Bendzius. The Nigerian center has provided muscle, rebounding presence and defensive qualities in the pitturato, confirming the characteristics that have made him one of the most reliable centers in Serie A. Not coincidentally, APU emerged as the team that captures the most rebounds in the entire league, a record to which Mekowulu was a major contributor.

Born March 17, 1995 in Lagos, Nigeria, Mekowulu trained basketball in the United States, first at Covent Christian Academy in Marietta, Georgia, then at Tennessee State University, before coming to Italy. His path in Italian basketball began in A2 with Orzinuovi, where he dominated the category rankings finishing with 16.3 points and 12.4 rebounds average – first overall in the league in rebounding. Numbers that earned him a call to Serie A by Treviso, where in the 2020/21 season he signed 12.3 points and 6.4 rebounds in the regular season, rising further in the playoffs with 17.0 points and 7.3 rebounds average, including a 23-point, 7-rebound and 6-stop performance against Virtus Bologna.