Rating:

0.0 (0 votes)

TUCSON - Former University of Arizona men's basketball player Fendi Onobun has made his way into professional sports as a tight end in the National Football League.

Onobun, listed at 6-foot-6 and 249 pounds made the 53-man opening day roster for the St. Louis Rams.

Originally from Houston, Texas, Onobun averaged 1.8 points and 1.2 rebounds in 81 career appearances (three starts), while connecting on 58.7 percent of his field goal attempts (61-of-104) at Arizona. He helped the Wildcats amass an 80-53 (.602) record in his four seasons in Tucson (2005-09), capped by four trips to the NCAA Tournament, including the 2009 Midwest Region Sweet 16.

He earned his undergraduate degree in interdisciplinary studies from Arizona in 2009 and pursued postgraduate work at the University of Houston, where he played football for the first time since seventh grade. In one season with the Cougars (2009), Onobun played in 11 games, catching two passes for 33 yards and a touchdown. UH ended the season in the Armed Forces Bowl.

Onobun and the Rams open the 2010 NFL season on Sunday, Sept. 12, as the club hosts the Atlanta Falcons.

Arizona has a long history of standouts who have starred professionally in different sports, including such notables as basketball letterman Kenny Lofton (1985-89), who enjoyed a 17-year Major League Baseball career; 1982 NCAA long jump champion Vance Johnson, who enjoyed a 10-year NFL career; Tony Bouie, a UA baseball alumnus (1991, '93-94) who went on to a four-year NFL career; and track standout and 1992 Olympic medalist Michael Bates, who went on to a 10-year NFL career that included five Pro Bowl appearances.

Courtesy: University of Arizona Media Relations