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Denver Nuggets Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Masai Ujiri is the recipient of the 2012-13 NBA Basketball Executive of the Year award, the NBA announced today.
Ujiri was instrumental in assembling an ensemble cast -- nine players averaged between 8.0 and 16.7 points and Denver's bench ranked second overall in scoring (41.3 ppg) -- that finished with the league's fourth-best record (57-25, .695) and secured the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference Playoffs. Denver's league-best 38-3 (.927) mark at Pepsi Center tied for the 14th best home mark in league history.
Over the summer, Ujiri augmented Denver's roster by acquiring Andre Iguodala from Philadelphia in a four-team, 12-player deal, and he re-signed JaVale McGee and Andre Miller. Since joining the Nuggets front office prior to the 2010-11 season, Ujiri has drafted Kenneth Faried (No. 22 overall in 2011), and in addition to Iguodala, McGee and Miller, has acquired Corey Brewer, Wilson Chandler, Ty Lawson, Danilo Gallinari and Kosta Koufos via trades.

A native of Zaria, Nigeria, he is the first African-born general manager for an American major league sports team.
The son of a doctor mother and a hospital administrator/nursing educationist father, Ujiri originally played soccer as a youth before focusing on basketball. His interest with basketball started as a 13-year old playing with friends on outdoor basketball courts in northern Nigeria. This interest would be fed by American sports magazines and VHS tapes of NBA games or basketball movies. He admired Hakeem Olajuwon, an NBA star who was born in Nigeria.
Ujiri grew to be 6-foot-4 and emigrated to the United States to play two years of basketball at Bismarck State College, then transferred to Montana State University-Billings, though he left the latter school after one semester. He spent six years playing professionally in Europe, making 5000USD a month. After ending a professional playing career in 2002, Ujiri worked as a youth coach in Nigeria. During an NBA summer league game in Boston, he met David Thorpe, who eventually introduced him to college coaches. In 2002, Ujiri was accompanying a young Nigerian player to a draft tryout in Orlando when he impressed Magic scouting director Gary Brokaw, who then introduced Ujiri to coach Doc Rivers and GM John Gabriel. Ujiri then became an unpaid scout for the NBA's Orlando Magic, paying his own way when he had to and sharing rooms with scouts or players when he could.
Jeff Weltman, then a young Nuggets executive, introduced Ujiri to Nuggets GM Kiki Vandeweghe, who then hired Ujiri on salary as an international scout. After four seasons there, he was hired away by Bryan Colangelo of the Toronto Raptors as their Director of Global Scouting. Ujiri became the Raptors' assistant general manager in 2008, and returned to the Nuggets in 2010, when he accepted his position as executive vice president in charge of basketball operations. In 2013, he was named the NBA Executive of the Year.
Ujiri has also been the director of the NBA's Basketball Without Borders Africa program, which promotes basketball throughout the continent. He also conducts two camps, one for the top 50 players of Nigeria, which is sponsored by Nestle Milo, and another for African big men, which Ujiri sponsors himself with help from Nike.

Here's what Zola had to say about him:

Mario has all the qualities to be a top player: power and athleticism, alongside a good understanding of the game — all positive.

I worked with Mario for a short period with Italy’s under-21 side. I liked him straightaway. I liked the way he handled himself and his composure and calmness in situations. Mario could shrug off things happening around him. Only the big players have that calm.

Mario can play the big games and handle the crucial moments, but he needs to keep control. That is vital for him.

From afar, people may think he’s a madman, but he isn’t. Mario is a lovely guy, very humble and very funny. I can assure people he has always been a pleasure to deal with. He has returned to Italy from England as the main man with lots of attention. Now he has to ensure he keeps control and keeps focus. Mario loves the pressure, but to succeed, it is about finding balance.



Read more: http://time100.time.com/2013/04/18/time-100/slide/mario-balotelli/

Here's what Richard Corliss wrote about her:

The world’s most productive English-language film industry is not Hollywood but Nollywood. The teeming Nigerian cinema grinds out some 2,500 movies a year, mostly direct-to-DVD quickies mixing melodrama, music and an evangelical Christian spin. (Think Bollywood via Tyler Perry.) Employing a million Nigerians, Nollywood enthralls millions more who come for the thrills, the uplift and the artful agitations of Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde — the Queen of Nollywood.

Called OmoSexy by her fans, she has made 300 or so features, from the 1996 Mortal Inheritance to the 2010 superproduction Ijé, shot partly on location in Los Angeles. Married to an airline pilot she wed on a flight from Lagos to Benin, Jalade-Ekeinde brings a juggler’s grace to her roles as actress, singer, reality-show star, mother of four and philanthropist (the Omotola Youth Empowerment Programme).

Success hasn’t spoiled Africa’s most renowned leading lady. Rather than going Hollywood, Omotola wants to stay Nollywood.



Read more: http://time100.time.com/2013/04/18/time-100/slide/omotola-jalade-ekeinde/

I hope this is a sign of good things to come. http://www.fifa.com/worldranking/rankingtable/index.html

Guys please is there any maximum and/or minimum amount of cash you should have with you as a student when travelling to US?

Guys, please can anyone give me advice on the best way to travel to new orleans from lagos. How should i book my flight to ensure i get the cheapest rates? Should i break the journey? What airline offers are available? Expected cost. Etc. That kind of stuff. Thanks in anticipation.

Guys please i'm waiting for your replies.

Xtus send me your email address if you want more details about the school.

xtus: what is d name of ur school and is it a master or undergraduate program

its a phd program

Guys, i just recieved my I-20 form. My school fees is 43,300 while my living expenses is 15,000. Which totals up to 58,300.

However, i have been given a school fees waiver plus stipend that totals 66,300.

Please. What is the LEAST amount i should have on my sponsor's bank statement? Also, my school resumes august 1st when is the latest time for which it is safe for me to apply for visa?

Thank you for you replies

Guys,

Lovely posts,

Please, how easy is it for someone who has got a phd admission and teaching assistantship to get a visa

Also, how much is required on the sponsor's bank statement and must the person bear your surname or be directly related to you?

Thanks for your replies