Awudu Abass


Awudu Abass Abass is an Italian professional basketball player who last played for Virtus Bologna of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A as a small forward.

Personal life

Awudu Abass Abass father is originally from Ghana whilst his mother is from Nigeria, they met in Rome where they married before moving to Como where Awudu was born. He obtained Italian citizenship as soon as he could, at the age of 18, having to wait that long as he was born to foreign nationals.
Abass still lived in Como, in 2012, at only 19, he was a candidate for the municipal elections as second on the Amo la Mia Città list, however it obtained only one seat so he was not elected.

Professional career

Abass joined local club Pallacanestro Cantù as a teenager, progressing quickly through the youth ranks to make his debut in 2011 aged only 18. He was too young to make an immediate impact, playing sparingly in his first three seasons, he did however grab minutes, and rebounds, in Europe's top-tier level EuroLeague, playing in two games, one against powerhouse Real Madrid.
The 2013–14 proved to be his breakthrough season, he earned regular minutes in the LBA and European second tier EuroCup, as a youth product he became a fan favourite and was awarded the captaincy the next season, becoming the youngest captain of Cantù's history.
On 19 July 2018, Abass signed a two-year deal with Basket Brescia Leonessa. After two important seasons with Brescia, during which he became one of the most prominent Italian players of the league, in June 2020, he signed with Virtus Bologna.

National team career

Abass was called up soon after officially becoming Italian, joining the Under-20 side of the Italian national basketball team that won gold at the 2013 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship, where he was part of the All Tournament Team.
He represented the Italian National Basketball team at the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup in China, where he averaged 8 points, 3 rebounds and 0.3 assists.