NBLC Alumni: Jeremiah Mordi
6’4
Guard
From Lagos, Nigeria
Tenure: 2017-2020
2020 MIP
2020 All-NBLC
Jeremiah Mordi was flying under the radar, until he found himself a home in the NBL Canada, where he and his much-valued basketball skills thrived.
An All-Conference player in junior and senior year at Valley Stream Central, Mordi joined up with the NCAA Division 2 team, Queen’s College Knights. Averaging a career-best 19.2 points per game in his senior year, as well as 6.9 rebounds, he earned him All-East Coast Conference second team honours. In four years with the Knights, he scored 1285 points, the twelfth-highest of all time, while his 529 rebounds is the school's fourteenth-highest total.
His time with Queen's over, he went on to play semi-professionally in the Global Basketball Summer League and for the New York Fearless in the American Professional Basketball League (APBL). He then went on to play in Mexico, but unable to secure a contract, he made the move to Canada and, in 2017, joined the Saint John Riptide.
Mordi made big impression in his debut season, averaging 11.6 points per game he quickly worked his way into the starting lineup, beginning 31 out of 37 games. With seven twenty-point games, including a season-best 29 against the Halifax Hurricanes, he finished the season in the top ten for three-point percentage in all of the league, as well as in the top twenty in blocks.
After the enormous impression made in his first year, it was no wonder why the Riptide were keen to retain Mordi for the following season. Hey played a key role for Saint John in his second season, starting in every game he played and leading the struggling side to the playoffs. They lost out in the first round, but he bowed having flourished as a defensive player, one of the leading players in the NBLC for steals.
For the 2019-20 season, Mordi signed with defending NBLC Champions Moncton Magic, immediately playing the same role for his new team as his old. Before the season suspension, he had two separate runs of nine games where he scored in double digits and was one of the top scorers for the Magic and in the league.
Averaging career-best 16.0 points, 7.1 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game on 52% field shooting, he scored an NBLC career-best 33 points against the Windsor Express on February 10th and was named as both a member of the All-NBLC First Team and the league's Most Improved Player.
With no 2020-21 season to be played in Canada, Mordi signed with French club Caen BC, for whom he averaged 8.6 points per game, after which he was selected to represent Nigeria at AfroBasket 2021. Always looking to go one step further with every game he plays, Mordi has won over many fans en route to emerging as one of the top talents nourished in the NBL Canada.
Picture Credit: Acadie Nouvelle
