Some players have to start from the bottom to get to the 7DAYS EuroCup and enjoying the journey is part of the experience.
Babatunde Olumuyiwa, Andorra: 'I like to play against the best'
Few fans and basketball experts had heard of Babatunde Olumuyiwa before he signed with MoraBanc Andorra late in the 2019-20 season. Two years later, he is a key member of the team's frontcourt rotation, always bringing energy and hunger. That willingness and character are what allowed him to climb from the Mexican development league to the EuroCup, slowly by steadily earning a reputation as a hard-working center.
There were so many twists and turns in Olumuyiwa’s career that not even Wikipedia has his origins straight.
"I was born in L.A. and then I moved to Athens, Georgia, when I was a baby," Olumuyiwa, who is nicknamed 'Tunde', said. "But my mother is from Sierra Leone and my father is from Nigeria."
Basketball was not part of Olumuyiwa’s life in his early childhood. He only picked up the game at age 13 when a friend convinced him to try out for a team because of his height. He was a stand-out player in high school and played college basketball at the University of South Carolina Upstate, though he had a tougher time there. During his senior year, Tunde averaged 2.9 points and 1.9 rebounds in 22 NCAA games.
With numbers like those, many players might hang up their shoes, but Olumuyiwa kept pursuing a basketball career. His first professional club was Cerveceros de Meoqui in Mexico in a local development league named Chihuahua Vive.
"It was interesting because this was my first time really away from home," he said. "I enjoyed it. And I grew a lot from being there. I had to grow up a lot mentally, not only because of the game of basketball, but because of my living environment. So it was difficult at the beginning, but as I adjusted, as I adapted, things got better and in the end, I enjoyed my time there."
Olumuyiwa played well enough to draw attention from a Spanish second division club, Clavijo, in the city of Logroño. He played there with another EuroCup center, Simon Birgander of Joventut Badalona. Olumuyiwa averaged 8.8 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.0 blocks and earned a spot on the team for another season.
"After my year in Mexico, the agent that I had at the time had a European partner and I guess they were in contact. And then next thing you know, I'm in Spain! I played well my first year and so I end up signing again for a second year and spending two years in Clavijo, in Logroño, which is nice. I really enjoy and love the city," Tunde said. "The cultural shock was definitely brutal. It was my first time in Spain and it was interesting. The first few months were very different and I had to adjust. The language barrier was difficult for me, but little by little, I adjusted. I like the city and I like the Spanish culture and the customs that I'm used to now."
After two years in Logroño, Olumuyiwa wanted to take play more and joined a third division team, Arcos Albacete Basket. His good numbers there (11.2 ppg., 6.8 rpg.) earned him a shot with Real Betis Energia Plus in the second division. Olumuyiwa played a key role off the bench and helped Betis gain promotion. Then he moved to Palma de Mallorca at the start of the 2019-20 season until the COVID-19 pandemic stopped basketball for several months.
"It was definitely a journey because I did the two years in Logroño, then I moved to the third division in Albacete, then later Sevilla, where we got the promotion, and then my year in Majorca. I'm happy for the time and the development throughout all of these years," Olumuyiwa said. "I think it made me a better player mentally and physically and I was happy for this opportunity when I when I got a call from Andorra."
Andorra needed a big man to complement its roster for the Spanish League's end-of-season tournament in Valencia in the summer of 2020 and signed Olumuyiwa on a short-term contract. The opportunity he was looking for had finally arrived and Tunde was ready to give everything he had.
"Of course, and this was the goal when I got to Spain, to get to the ACB. It took a little bit longer than originally planned, but it happened in the end. When they called, I was ready,” said Olumuyiwa. “It was the opportunity of a lifetime and I wasn't going to pass this opportunity or say no. So for me, I was excited. I was like a kid in a candy shop and I was ready. Whenever they needed, I was ready."
Olumuyiwa played a big role in the tournament for Andorra with 6.6 points on great shooting percentages (72.2% 2FG, 87.5% FT) and 5.0 rebounds. His efforts led Andorra to resign him and Olumuyiwa is still with the team.
"The game never stops, and I just want to continue to grow. Each day, each game, each year, I am just trying to be better than I was the year before and just continue to improve. I'm hungry for the game, and I'm continuing to enjoy it and just trying to improve as much as I can," he said.
Tunde has adjusted well to life in his new home and has had time to see everything in the Principality of Andorra, the sixth-smallest state in Europe.
"Andorra is nice. It's quiet. It's not like a big, big city or something, but it's really nice and quiet. I enjoy the snow. I was never someone who spent a lot of time in the mountains growing up. But now being here, I enjoy it," Olumuyiwa said. "The food is really good. This year, with the borders open both from Spain and France, now I can see the tourism that comes to Andorra, and it's a nice country. It's really nice. It's beautiful, and the sightseeing? Oh man, it's amazing."
He has remained effective at both ends of the court. Staying in Andorra gave Olumuyiwa the chance to make his EuroCup debut and in his two seasons in the competition, he has regularly provided Andorra with a physical spark no matter how much playing time he gets.
"I really like the competition. I enjoy it and I think it's an opportunity to see how you are against other players around Europe, not just in your respective country," he said. "And I enjoy it because I like to play against the best. So for me, it's a really big opportunity and I just try and take advantage of it as much as I can."