====== Odartey Blankson #2, #0 ====== {{ men_s_basketball:p-blankson.jpg|}} **Position:** Forward\\ **Height:** 6'7"\\ **Weight:** 225\\ **Born:** March 12, 1982\\ **Hometown:** Country Club Hills, IL\\ **High School:** [[Hillcrest H.S.]]\\ ===== High School Career ===== Averaged 20.0 points, 9.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game as a senior at Hillcrest High School ... His prep team finished with an overall record of 28-2 and ended the regular season ranked No. 2 in the state of Illinois Class AA poll ... Selected as the SICA Central Player of the Year ... Chosen to the Chicago Sun Times All-Area Team ... Earned Special Mention honors on the Chicago Tribune-s All-State Team ... Chosen to play in the Windy City/Big Apple Classic which pitted all-stars from Chicago and New York ... Was ranked as the No. 100 player in the nation by analyst Bob Gibbons ... As a junior, he tossed in 13.0 points while grabbing 9.0 rebounds per contest as Hillcrest advanced to the final eight of the -99 Class AA Tournament ... During the summer of 1999, he played for the Illinois Warriors, the runners-up at the AAU Nationals ... One of his teammates on the Warriors was Darius Miles of the NBA's Los Angeles Clippers - Picked Marquette after considering DePaul, Notre Dame and Iowa State. ===== Collegiate Career ===== Marquette G GS FGM FGA PCT FTM FTA PCT 3PM 3PA PCT REB AST STL BL PTS AVG 2000-01 29 28 66 168 .393 30 54 .556 16 45 .356 160 11 27 7 178 6.10 2001-02 29 27 92 195 .472 49 82 .598 10 41 .244 179 22 25 9 243 8.40 Totals 58 55 158 363 .435 79 136 .581 26 86 .302 339 33 52 16 421 7.30 UNLV G GS FGM FGA PCT FTM FTA PCT 3PM 3PA PCT REB AST STL BL PTS AVG 2003-04 31 30 189 360 .525 140 177 .791 28 77 .364 315 46 37 11 546 17.6 2004-05 31 31 193 411 .470 132 161 .820 23 79 .291 252 36 22 8 541 17.5 Totals 62 61 382 771 .495 272 338 .805 51 156 .327 567 82 59 19 1087 17.5 === 2000-01 === {{ men_s_basketball:blankson.jpg|}} Earned his first letter after starting 28 of Marquette's 29 games - Named to the Conference USA All-Freshman Team - Concluded the year as the team's No. 1 rebounder with a 5.5 per-game mark - Was the first MU freshman to lead the team in rebounding since Trevor Powell in 1987-88 ... 160 total boards were fourth most by a Marquette frosh ... His 5.4 per-game rebound average in league games ranked him 19th among C-USA performers ... Paced the squad with 110 defensive rebounds - Averaged 24.9 minutes per game - Started all 16 C-USA games - Either led or shared for the team's rebounding lead in the last six games of the campaign, averaging 7.2 boards per contest in that stretch - Snatched a team-high eight boards vs. Tulane (3/7) in the opening round of the C-USA Tournament - Either led or shared for the club's rebounding lead in a team-high 12 games - First career double-double was a 14-point, season-high 12-rebound performance at UAB (2/14) - Just two games later, he registered his second double-double, 14 points and a game-high 11 rebounds vs. DePaul (2/22) - Played 35 minutes (season-long for a C-USA game) vs. Louisville (2/24) and tied for the team lead with eight rebounds while coming up with five steals - Ended the year second on the team in steals with 27 - Notched a season-high 16 points (6-of-10 from the floor), and totaled six steals, highest by a MU player during the year, vs. Tulane (1/27) - Also knocked down a season-high four three-point field goals against the Green Wave - Seven pts., team-high tying seven boards vs. S. Florida (1/17) - Team-high seven rebounds vs. CS-Northridge (12/2) in the championship game of Blue & Gold Classic - Five-of-10 from floor and finished with 12 points (8 rebs.) vs. Western Carolina (12/20) - 11 points, team-best nine boards vs. Minnesota (12/7). === 2001-02 === Ended the year starting 27 of his 29 appearances ... Finished No. 3 on the squad in scoring (8.4 ppg) and No. 2 in rebounding (6.2 rpg) ... Paced the team with 131 defensive rebounds ... Finished with eight points and was the club's No. 2 rebounder with six vs. Tulsa (Mar. 14) in the NCAA Tournament ... Team's top rebounder vs. Houston (Mar. 8) with five ... Four-of-seven from the floor and totaled nine points vs. DePaul (Mar. 1) ... Team's No. 2 scorer with nine points and finished with six boards (tied for No. 2 spot on team) vs. East Carolina (Feb. 26) ... Tied with Dwyane Wade for the team's led with seven rebounds vs. Charlotte (Feb. 19) ... Team's top board man in 10 games during the year ... Scored in double figures for the 11th time in '01-02, totaling 11 points vs. Louisville (Feb. 16) ... Career-best 16 rebound performance at Southern Miss (Feb. 9) was his fourth outing of double-digit rebounding this season ... Totaled 14 points and paced the team in rebounding with nine against East Carolina (Feb. 6) ... Finished the year with steals in nine of his last 10 games ... Tied Oluoma Nnamaka for team lead in rebounding with seven vs. Saint Louis (Jan. 26) ... Led the team in scoring for the second time this year with 19 points vs. TCU (Jan. 23) and hit a career-high tying eight-of-13 from the floor against the Horned Frogs ... Started the last 20 games of the year ... Named C-USA Player of the Week after totaling 35 points and 21 rebounds in wins over Louisville (Jan. 9) and Saint Louis (Jan. 12) ... Sank eight field goals in 10 attempts en route to a career best 23 points vs. Saint Louis (Jan. 12) ... Team-high tying eight caroms vs. Saint Louis (Jan. 12) ... Had eight games of seven or more rebounds in league action ... Recorded 12 points along with a then career-high 13-rebounds vs. Louisville (Jan. 9), his third double-double of the year and fifth of his career ... Recorded his second double-double of the year, a 15-point, 11-rebound performance vs. Morris Brown (Jan. 2) ... Hit seven-of-13 from the floor against Morris Brown ... Shared for the team lead in boards with eight against Wake Forest (Dec. 29) ... Paced the team with eight caroms vs. Wisconsin (Dec. 22) ... Returned to the lineup in the Arkansas-Pine Bluff (Dec. 19) contest after missing the previous four due to a stress fracture in his left foot ... Notched 13 points, connecting on six-of-eight from the floor against Pine Bluff ... Golden Eagles were 11-0 this season when he scored in double figures ... Started the first five MU games ... 10 pts., 12 rebs., vs. Chicago State was first double-double of the year and third of his career ... 12 rebounds vs. Chicago State tied his then career high ... Totaled 10 points vs. Tennessee (Nov. 21) in the opening game of the Great Alaska Shootout. After two years at Marquette, "ODB" transferred to UNLV. He believed that leaving MU would get him a better role and closer to the NBA. This was a miscalculation, as he did not get drafted, and missed Marquette's Final Four run. ==== Marquette All-Time Rankings ==== === All-Time Freshman Season Rankings === *4th, Rebounds (160) *4th, Rebounding Average (5.5) == Marquette Highs == FG\\ 6 vs. Tulane - Jan. 27\\ FGA\\ 12 vs. Arkansas-Little Rock - Dec. 9\\ FG%\\ 60.0% (6-10) vs. Tulane - Jan. 27\\ 3FG\\ 4 vs. Tulane - Jan. 27\\ 3FGA\\ 5 vs. Tulane - Jan. 27\\ 5 vs. Minnesota - Dec. 7\\ 3FG%\\ 80.0% (4-5) vs. Tulane - Jan. 27\\ Free Throws\\ 3 vs. DePaul - Feb. 22\\ 3 vs. Cincinnati - Jan. 10\\ 3 vs. Wisconsin - Dec. 23\\ 3 vs. South Alabama - Nov. 14\\ Free Throw Attempts\\ 5 vs. Houston - Feb. 28 Offensive Rebounds\\ 4 vs. Louisville - Feb. 24 (3ot)\\ 4 vs. Cincinnati - Jan. 10\\ 4 vs. Western Carolina - Dec. 20\\ Defensive Rebounds\\ 9 vs. DePaul - Feb. 22\\ Total Rebounds\\ 11 vs. DePaul - Feb. 22\\ Blocked Shots\\ 2 vs. Cincinnati - Feb. 18\\ Steals\\ 6 vs. Tulane - Jan. 27\\ Minutes\\ 37 vs. Minnesota - Dec. 7\\ Points\\ 16 vs. Tulane - Jan. 27\\ ==== UNLV 2003-04 ==== Led the MWC and ranked third in the nation in rebounding (10.2 rpg). Registered 19 double-doubles, third-best in the nation. Scored season-high 28 points at New Mexico. Posted a double-double of 26 points and 15 rebounds vs. Wyoming. Recorded 20 points and tied a career-high by grabbing 16 rebounds at Colorado State. Tallied 23 points in the title game of the Mountain West Conference tournament vs. Utah. ==== UNLV 2004-05 ==== Ranked sixth in the Mountain West Conference in scoring (17.0 ppg), fifth in rebounding (8.1 rpg), and tied for sixth in free throw percentage (.820). Recorded 11 double-doubles. Scored 20 or more points 13 times, including a career-high 33 points vs. BYU. Posted 31 points and 12 rebounds at Colorado State. Scored 25 points and grabbed 11 rebounds vs. Oregon State. Grabbed a season-high 15 rebounds vs. Fort Lewis. Registered 19 points on 8-for-12 shooting vs. Arizona State in the first round of the postseason NIT. Career Highlights: Ranks 30th on UNLV’s all-time scoring list with 1,087 career points. === Accolades === *2000-01 Conference USA All-Freshman Team *2003-04 USBWA&NABC All-District Honors *2004-05 USBWA&NABC All-District Honors *2004-05 All-Mountain West Conference First Team ===== Professional Career ===== In 2007, he is playing for the Trotamundos in Venezuela. [[http://www.eurobasket.com/player.asp?Cntry=ITA&PlayerID=52006|Eruobasket link]] ====== Personal: ====== Son of Emmanuel and Annie Blankson - Sister, Candis, is a coach on the women's staff at DePaul. ===== Images ===== {{http://www2.jsonline.com/sports/marq/image/2002/blank209.jpg}} {{http://www.somos10.com/pics/0trotamundosblankson.jpg}}