This is the first in a series profiling this year's inductees for the Baylor Athletics Hall of Fame, which will be posted every week at baylorbears.com.

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
 
Hanging it up after a 13-year professional basketball career that included seven seasons in the NBA with four different franchises, Ekpe Udoh was "kind of in a weird space, missing the game a little bit" when he got a call from former Baylor teammate Tweety Carter this summer. 
 
Udoh, who has stayed in the game as an assistant coach with the Atlanta Hawks, "was actually in shock" when Carter told him that he had been selected for the 2024 Baylor Athletics Hall of Fame class. 
 
"That was such a blessing," Udoh said. "I was missing the game a little bit. And then bam, that came up! It was just an exciting time. I might have even shed a tear, but it was a great time."
 
Inducted into the Hall of Fame himself two years ago, Carter was the point guard on a 2009-10 Baylor team that won a then-school-record 28 games (28-8) and advanced to the Elite Eight for the first time in the current format. 
 
"Even when nobody else saw it, I definitely believed in the pieces that we had," said Udoh, the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year and an honorable mention All-American who averaged 13.9 points 13.9 points, 9.8 rebounds and 3.7 blocks per game. 
 
"I felt that in the summer, to be honest with you, just with the work we had done. Because we knew we didn't need Coach (Scott) Drew to get on us for us to get going. We were more team-led – myself, Tweety, Lace (Dunn), we were able to push each other to get to that level, because we knew that to be successful, you've got to have some players that are going to lead."
 
An all-state pick at Edmond (Oklahoma) Sante Fe High School, the 6-foot-10 power forward played two seasons at Michigan, averaging 5.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.7 blocks. As a sophomore, he had a conference-best 2.9 blocks per game and was named to the Big Ten All-Defensive Team. 
 
With a chance to be closer to home, Udoh transferred to Baylor after the 2007-08 season and had to sit out a year as a Division I transfer. 
 
"During my time at Michigan, I kept up with hoops and had a couple friends at (Oklahoma)," he said. "And, of course, I knew Quincy Acy during our time playing AAU ball. I knew he was going there. But Coach Drew had turned it around. They went to the NCAA Tournament the year before I got there. They had all the pieces there to really make a run. And I really enjoyed the staff when I went on my recruiting visit. I just said, 'Man, this is the best thing for me.'''
 
During the 2008-09 season, when Baylor was the runner-up in the NIT Tournament, Udoh said he was "able to focus on my game and myself for that year I sat out."
 
"And I was able to continue to build, help the team that was playing on the court," he said, "and then get ready for when my opportunity came."
 
Udoh was the perfect complement to a veteran team that had Josh Lomers at center, Carter and Dunn in the backcourt and Anthony Jones on the wing, along with Acy and A.J. Walton coming off the bench. 
 
Seeded third in the South Regional, the Bears survived a pair of tight games against Sam Houston (68-59) and Old Dominion (76-68) before blowing out "media darling" Omar Samhan and the St. Mary's Gaels, 74-49, in advancing to the Elite Eight. 
 
"He was (talking), and rightfully so," Udoh said of the 6-11 Samhan. "He was having a great run in the tournament, really putting it on for St. Mary's. And when we played him, he got to see us up close and personal. They had a great team, a great run, but we were ready and we were in Houston, which everybody felt the energy in that (Reliant) Stadium."
 
It was even more electric in the region final, when Udoh had 18 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and five blocks in the Bears' 78-71 loss to eventual national champion Duke before a Baylor-dominated crowd of 47,492. 
 
"I think that was the national championship game," said Udoh, who set the Baylor and Big 12 single-season records with 133 blocks. "The teams that made (the Final Four), they made it. But some plays here and there, you never know, it could have gone our way. . . . That's one of those games I'll never forget. I don't even know if I've been able to watch the actual game since then."
 
Drafted by the Golden State Warriors with the sixth pick overall – highest ever by a Baylor player – Udoh had career-bests of 5.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.7 blocks in a seven-year NBA career that included stops with the Milwaukee Bucks, Los Angeles Clippers and Utah Jazz. 
 
But for Ekpe, this was the dream "from the beginning, playing on the concrete, outside, 100-degree weather."
 
"You're thinking you're MJ (Michael Jordan) or doing the (Hakeem Olajuwon) 'Dream Shake,''' he said. 
 
"As a kid, once I found out (Olajuwon) was Nigerian, I used to say, 'Yeah, that's my uncle.' That's what I used to tell people," said Udoh, who comes from Nigerian descent himself. 
 
Udoh's biggest success as a pro was internationally, winning a EuroLeague championship and earning Final Four MVP honors with the Turkish club Fenerbahce in 2017. 
 
"That was incredible. One of the best times of my life, if not the best time thus far," said Udoh, who also played in Israel, Italy, China and Japan. "The crowd over there are totally different. It's like a football game or the soccer games we see, and you have that in a basketball arena, and they're going crazy. It was a special feeling because it was the first EuroLeague championship for (Turkey) in basketball. So, it was huge. And I still have support to this day."
 
Udoh also got the chance to play for the Nigerian National basketball team at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo and then played his final pro season in 2023 in Kyoto, Japan. 
 
"Retiring from basketball, I almost feel like a piece of me died," he said. "That's the part I was struggling with, even through this past season (as an assistant coach with the Atlanta Hawks). But then, getting that call that you're in the Baylor Hall of Fame with the success that we've had, that is special. That puts me in a place where I'm like, 'Wow, my game was respected. I was able to make an impact.'''
 
Joining Udoh in the 20024 Baylor Hall of Fame class are Brittney Griner and Odyssey Sims from women's basketball, softball's Whitney Canion Reichenstein, baseball's Michael Griffin, football's Mark Cochran, Nina Secerbegovic from women's tennis and Ronnie Allen from track & field.

The Hall of Fame banquet will be held at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 1 in the Grand Ballroom of the Hurd Welcome Center on the Baylor University campus. Tickets are $50 per person, with table sponsorships available for $600 (green level) or $800 (gold level). 
 
Registration is available at 2024 Baylor Hall of Fame Banquet.