Biography

BIOGRAPHY

Daniel Oturu was born on September 20, 1999 in Brooklyn, New York. He is a center in the NBA.

Oturu played basketball for Cretin-Derham Hall High School in Saint Paul, Minnesota for four years. He grew from 6'6 as a freshman to 6'9 as a junior and developed good hand-eye coordination and navigation on the court. As a senior, he averaged 18.8 points, 11.5 rebounds and 6.1 blocks per game and became his school's all-time leader in each of the three categories. In his final season, Oturu led his team to a Class 4A state championship over Apple Valley High School, scoring a game-winning dunk with 0.5 seconds left in regulation. Despite his strong play, he was excluded from the all-tournament team for sportsmanship reasons, as he had received a technical foul for shoving opposing player, Tre Jones, in the first half. Oturu was invited to play for the World Select team, representing his parents' home country of Nigeria, at the Nike Hoop Summit in Portland, Oregon. He was considered a four-star recruit and committed to play college basketball for Minnesota over offers from Kansas, among others. At the close of this sophomore season, Oturu was named to the Second Team All-Big Ten by the coaches and media and to the All-Defensive Team.

Oturu was selected with the 33rd pick in the 2020 NBA draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves, becoming the first University of Minnesota player to be drafted since Kris Humphries in 2004. Oturu was subsequently traded to the Los Angeles Clippers.