Boston Celtics: Player of the Week – Semi Ojeleye

The Boston Celtics knew what kind of player Semi Ojeleye would become in the NBA.

After a college career that started at Duke University and ended at Southern Methodist University, Semi Ojeleye was selected by the Boston Celtics in the second-round of the 2017 NBA Draft.

Semi Ojeleye made the decision to transfer from Duke to SMU in hopes of achieving his goals of reaching the NBA. It sounds contradictory to leave a great basketball program that Duke offers, but Ojeleye wasn’t seeing the court nearly enough to be noticed by NBA scouts.

Transferring to SMU in 2016 was probably the best option for Ojeleye. After only appearing in 23 games (0 starts) for the Blue Devils, Ojeleye went on to start all 35 games for the Mustangs and led SMU to the American Athletic Conference championship and tournament championship that season.

Ojeleye would finish his season at SMU averaging 18.9 points and 6.8 rebounds per game in 2016-17. Semi would go on to earn First Team All-AAC, AAC Player of the Year, AP Honorable Mention All-American, and AAC Tournament MVP. His efforts then landed him an invitation to the 2017 NBA Draft Combine.

Semi being in the same draft class as Jayson Tatum sometimes makes him become an afterthought. During Ojeleye’s rookie season, due to his defensive presence he started in Game 5 of the first round in the playoffs to provide support for the “Greek Freak” Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Since then, Ojeleye has spent his career being put into the game to provide support for match up purposes. I’m sure if Ojeleye was more offensive dominant he could see more time on the court, but with that he is averaging 13.8 minutes per game for his career.

Semi usually finds himself playing the four and it usually leaves him available to take the outside shot. This season, Ojeleye is connecting a career high 34 percent of his three-pointers. It’s also noted that Ojeleye went on a seven-game streak this season of making at least one 3-pointer.

Semi is averaging 2.6 points and 2 rebounds while playing 15.5 minutes per game this season. What’s so great about Ojeleye is he knows what his role is and is great teammate. He isn’t expected to start many games or even drop a crazy amount of points a night. His role allows him to just be a reliable, solid, and consistent player for the Boston Celtics.

Last season, Brad Stevens called Semi their “most improved player”, and he continues to prove he is. Ojeleye has started a game this season due to Marcus Smart being out with injury. After the game, Kemba Walker has high praise for his teammate.

"“Semi was great. He was really loud, talking behind the defense, making sure everyone was in the right spots and that’s who Semi is for us as well. He’s a great player and we need him to be great defensively, make open shots like he’s doing, making the hustle plays.” – Kemba Walker, per John Karalis of MassLive"

It’ll be interesting to see if Ojeleye will take the next step in being a three-year pro for the Boston Celtics. Although he’s started off strong this season, he will need to finish the season even stronger in order to make that “leap”.

Semi Ojeleye is a fan favorite in Boston and he does hold importance for the Celtics. His value stands on the defensive end of the court, but as of lately, he is becoming more offensive prone. As previously mentioned, he understands his role on the team and it will increase as the team is heading towards the playoffs.