Michael Olowokandi (born 3 April 1975) is a Nigerian former professional basketball player. Born in Lagos, Nigeria, and raised in London, he played collegiately for the Pacific Tigers in Stockton, California. Nicknamed "The Kandi Man," Olowokandi was selected as the first overall pick of the 1998 NBA draft by the Los Angeles Clippers. He played professionally until 2007, when he was forced to retire due to severe hernia and knee injuries. Early years Olowokandi was born in Lagos, Nigeria, as the oldest of five children. His father, Ezekiel, was a Nigerian diplomat. When Olowokandi was aged 3, his family moved to London where he was raised. Olowokandi has Nigerian citizenship and did not hold a British passport as of 2004. Olowokandi attended the Newlands Manor School in Seaford, East Sussex, where he set British age group records in long jump and triple jump and also played center midfield in football. Olowokandi had a height of at age 16, growing six inches in two years. He first touched a basketball at the age of 17, and began playing basketball when he was 18. Olowokandi then entered Brunel University as a mechanical engineering major, where he was an athlete in track and field, cricket, and rugby union. He had a tryout with the Thames Valley Tigers of the Budweiser Basketball League but did not receive a contract. College career On 3 April 1995, on Olowokandi's 20th birthday, he opened the Peterson's Guide to American Colleges and Universities to a random page and landed on the University of the Pacific (UOP). Olowokandi called the UOP basketball office in hopes that he would be accepted to play basketball for the Pacific Tigers. UOP assistant coach Tony Marcopulos answered the phone call and was stunned when informed of Olowokandi's height of . After being informed that there were no more available basketball scholarships at UOP, Olowokandi offered to pay for his schooling (about $23,000 annually) for two years. He also called Georgetown University and Duke University but was informed they would not offer scholarships without sending a scout to see him. Olowokandi and Marcupulos spent hundreds of phone calls arranging credit transferal and National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) eligibility, which was determined that Olowokandi had three seasons of college remaining. When Olowokandi arrived in the United States in August 1995, he had not played a game of organized basketball or met the UOP coaches; Pacific