Yor Anei

Yor Anei
Anei with the Oklahoma State Cowboys in 2019
No. 14 – Wisconsin Herd
PositionPower forward
LeagueNBA G League
Personal information
Born (1999-12-07) December 7, 1999 (age 25)
Overland Park, Kansas, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)
Listed weight220 lb (100 kg)
Career information
High school
College
NBA draft2023: undrafted
Playing career2023–present
Career history
2023Motor City Cruise
2024Raptors 905
2024Westchester Knicks
2024–presentWisconsin Herd

Yor Anei (born December 7, 1999) is an American professional basketball player for the Wisconsin Herd of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the SMU Mustangs and the DePaul Blue Demons.[1][2][3]

High school career

Anei started off his high school career at Shawnee Mission South in Overland Park. He was a standout in his junior year and caught the eye of many recruiters. In his senior year, he joined Lee's Summit West where he was vital in helping the Titans earn a 22–5 record along with a Missouri Suburban Gold Conference championship. At the end of the season Anei was selected to the 2018 Missouri vs Kansas All-Star game where he would help Missouri to win 114–92, in the game he grabbed 15 points and 4 assists.[citation needed] Anei was named the number 1 player in Kansas regardless of position and the number 56 power forward in the country.[4]

Anei played AAU Basketball for Team Rush in Kansas City. Team Rush was coached by former Oklahoma State Cowboy, Victor Williams.[5]

Recruiting

Anei received attention from multiple schools, such as Oklahoma State, UAB, and Denver.[6]

College recruiting information
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Yor Anei
PF 		Lenexa, KS Lee's Summit West High School (MO) 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Oct 26, 2017 
Star ratings: Scout:3/5 stars   Rivals:3/5 stars   247Sports:3/5 stars    ESPN: N/A
Overall recruiting rankings:
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

  • "2018 Team Ranking". Rivals.com.

College career

Oklahoma State

As a freshman at Oklahoma State Anei averaged 7.7 points and 5 rebounds, along with being an elite blocker on the national stage. He tied for 8th in the NCAA for blocks and 2nd in Freshman.[7] He also tied Andre Williams' Oklahoma State school block record of 85. He had his first career double-double against TCU with 17 points and 10 rebounds, in that game he also had 7 blocks, which was only one away from the Big 12 record.[8] In his sophomore season, Anei averaged 8.1 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game.[9] Anei also recorded 13 double-digit scoring performances, in which Oklahoma State was 13–0 in those games.[10] He had 8 blocks against Oral Roberts which was the most by any Big 12 player.[citation needed]

SMU

On July 15, 2020, Anei announced his transfer to SMU[11] following OSU's one-year postseason ban from the NCAA.[12] In his Junior season, and his first with SMU, he averaged 6.6 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 2.2 blocked shots. He led the American Athletic Conference in blocked shots. He had 12 points and 4 blocks in a win against UCF and 15 points along with 5 blocks in a win against Temple.[13]

DePaul

On August 11, 2021, DePaul head coach Tony Stubblefield announced Anei's transfer to their program.[14] In his senior season with DePaul, Anei averaged 4.6 points and 4.1 rebounds. Anei also recorded 49 blocks on the season. Anei ranked top among blocks in the Big East, Anei joined with Nick Ongenda as the first duo to reach 40 blocks in program history.[4]

Career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

College

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2018–19 Oklahoma State 32 29 23.5 .616 .000 .641 4.8 .7 .3 2.7 7.7
2019–20 Oklahoma State 32 26 20.3 .484 .333 .704 4.7 .5 .6 1.9 8.1
2020–21 SMU 11 1 17.4 .587 .143 .750 2.2 .3 .5 2.2 6.6
2021–22 DePaul 30 4 15.4 .550 .000 .707 4.1 .4 .6 1.6 4.6
2022–23 DePaul 18 16 18.0 .433 .000 .640 3.8 .9 .8 1.3 5.2
Career 123 76 19.3 .532 .083 .685 4.2 .6 .5 2.0 6.6

Stats are updated as of March 4, 2023.[15]

Professional career

Motor City Cruise (2023)

After going undrafted in the 2023 NBA draft, Anei joined the Wisconsin Herd on October 30, 2023,[16][17] but was waived on November 11.[18] On December 13, he joined the Motor City Cruise,[19] but was waived four days later.[20]

Raptors 905 (2024)

On February 10, 2024, Anei joined Raptors 905,[21] but was waived on February 20.[21]

Westchester Knicks (2024)

On February 22, 2024, Anei joined the Westchester Knicks,[22] but was waived on March 2.[23]

Wisconsin Herd (2024–present)

On March 8, 2024, Anei joined the Wisconsin Herd.[24]

On September 25, 2024, Anei signed with House of Talent Spurs of the BNXT League,[25] but never played for them. On October 28, he re-joined the Herd.[26]

Personal life

Anei's mother, Kathleen Akot was a South Sudanese refugee when she fled to the United States to leave the war-torn South Sudan. She moved to Overland Park, where she then gave birth to Anei. His mother had to work long and late shifts to support her and Anei.[27] So in 2017, Anei was legally adopted by the parents of his high school teammate, Christian Bishop. The Bishops were able to help Anei achieve his academic and athletic goals and supported him for his senior year.[28]

Anei lost his right index and middle fingers in a blender accident as a young kid.[29][30][31]

References

  1. ^ "Yor Anei - MEN'S BASKETBALL". DePaul University Athletics. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
  2. ^ Frydman, Josh; Tarsitano, Rick (March 8, 2022). "DePaul big man Yor Anei lands NIL deal for inspiring underdog story". WGN9. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
  3. ^ Kerkhoff, Blair (March 15, 2019). "Lee's Summit West's Yor Anei impresses at Oklahoma State". Lee's Summit Journal. p. 8A. Retrieved March 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.Open access icon
  4. ^ a b "Yor Anei – Men's basketball". depaulbluedemons.com. DePaul Blue Demons. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  5. ^ "Yor AneiYor Anei Player Profile, DePaul – RealGM". basketball.realgm.com. RealGM. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  6. ^ "Yor Anei – Interests". 247sports.com. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  7. ^ "2018–19 Men's College Basketball Leaders". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  8. ^ Berry Tramel (14 March 2019). "A star is born: OSU freshman Yor Anei shines despite Cowboys' 73–70 loss to TCU". The Oklahoman. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  9. ^ Marshall Levenson (16 June 2020). "Updated: Yor Anei Set To Transfer From Oklahoma State". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  10. ^ "Yor Anei – Cowboy basketball". okstate.com. Oklahoma State University. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  11. ^ Jacob Unruh (16 July 2020). "OSU basketball: Yor Anei to transfer to SMU". The Oklahoman. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  12. ^ Jacob Unruh (16 June 2020). "OSU basketball: Yor Anei to transfer following NCAA penalties". The Oklahoman. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  13. ^ "Yor Anei – SMU men's basketball". smumustangs.com. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  14. ^ "Men's Basketball Adds Transfer Yor Anei". depaulbluedemons.com. DePaul Blue Demons. 11 August 2021. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  15. ^ "Yor Anei College stats". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  16. ^ "WISCONSIN HERD ANNOUNCE 2023 TRAINING CAMP ROSTER". NBA.com. October 30, 2023. Retrieved January 23, 2024.
  17. ^ Owczarski, Jim (October 30, 2023). "Drew Timme, Alex Antetokounmpo, Glenn Robinson III headline the Wisconsin Herd camp roster". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
  18. ^ "WISCONSIN HERD ANNOUNCE 2023-24 OPENING NIGHT ROSTER". NBA.com. November 11, 2023. Retrieved November 21, 2023.
  19. ^ "2023-2024 Motor City Cruise Transaction History". RealGM.com. Retrieved December 14, 2023.
  20. ^ Blake [@blakesilverman] (December 17, 2023). "The @MotorCityCruise acquired Nathan Knight from the Maine Celtics in exchange for a 2024 first round draft pick. In a related move, the Cruise have waived Yor Anei. @detroitbadboys" (Tweet). Retrieved December 17, 2023 – via Twitter.
  21. ^ a b "2023-2024 Raptors 905 Transaction History". RealGM.com. Retrieved February 21, 2024.
  22. ^ Westchester Knicks [@wcknicks] (February 22, 2024). "Westchester Knicks have acquired Yor Anei via Available Player Pool" (Tweet). Retrieved February 22, 2024 – via Twitter.
  23. ^ "2023-2024 Westchester Knicks Transaction History". RealGM.com. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
  24. ^ "WISCONSIN HERD ADD YOR ANEI". NBA.com. March 9, 2024. Retrieved March 9, 2024.
  25. ^ Xouras, Georges (September 25, 2024). "Yor Anei remplace Douglas Wilson à Courtrai". BeBasket.be (in French). Retrieved September 27, 2024.
  26. ^ "WISCONSIN HERD ANNOUNCES 2024-25 TRAINING CAMP ROSTER". NBA.com. October 28, 2024. Retrieved October 29, 2024.
  27. ^ Hallie Hart (12 March 2019). "A new beginning: Network of mentors inspires Anei to strengthen basketball dreams, change perspective". The O'Colly. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  28. ^ Dave McQueen (9 November 2017). "Newcomer Yor Anei already a big man at Lee's Summit West". The Kansas City Star. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  29. ^ Nathan Ruiz (30 November 2018). "OSU basketball: Despite missing two fingers, Yor Anei showing unique shot-blocking ability". The Oklahoman. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  30. ^ Sam Blum (20 July 2020). "New SMU basketball commit Yor Anei learned to become a shot-blocking star with 2 missing fingers". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  31. ^ Kellis Robinett (3 March 2020). "Oklahoma State shot-blocker Yor Anei, who lost two fingers on one hand, faces K-State". The Wichita Eagle. Retrieved 4 March 2023.