US Charges Nigerian Basketball Player With First-Degree Rape

• A US-based Nigerian basketball player has been charged with first-degree rape in Alabama and is being held without bond.

A United States-based Nigerian basketball player, Daniel Adegboyega, has been charged with first-degree rape by forcible compulsion in Alabama after police accused him of sexually assaulting a woman inside his apartment.

The 21-year-old, who recently joined Jacksonville State University’s men’s basketball team ahead of the new season, was arrested in July by the Jacksonville Police Department at his apartment in Jacksonville, Alabama.

He is currently being held without bond at the Calhoun County Jail.

Court records also show that the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has placed an immigration hold on him, meaning he could face deportation proceedings if released on bond.

According to investigators, the alleged victim visited Adegboyega’s apartment on July 28 to watch a movie.

Police said the woman secretly sent a text message to her roommate after Adegboyega allegedly made unwanted sexual advances toward her.

When repeated phone calls and messages from the roommate went unanswered, Adegboyega reportedly answered one of the calls using the woman’s phone and claimed she was in the bathroom.

Concerned about her safety, the roommate contacted the Jacksonville Police Department to request a welfare check.

Officers arrived at the apartment at about 2 a.m., where they reportedly found the woman visibly distressed.

Investigators obtained statements from both Adegboyega and the complainant and collected evidence from the scene, including the woman’s trousers, which allegedly contained bloodstains.

According to the investigation, the woman accused Adegboyega of forcibly raping her twice during the visit. However, the Nigerian basketball player denied using force.

He was taken into custody that same night and has remained in jail since his arrest.

During a bond hearing, ICE agent Ty Unruh testified that Adegboyega entered the United States on an F-1 student visa that expired in 2023.

The agent told the court that if Adegboyega is granted bond, he would immediately be transferred to an immigration detention facility in Louisiana, where deportation proceedings to Nigeria could begin.

However, Adegboyega’s host father, Ryan Parlee, disputed the immigration testimony, insisting it was inaccurate.

Parlee said Adegboyega attended high school in Iowa for four years and graduated in 2022 without returning to Nigeria.

He claimed the immigration complications began after a family trip to Mexico in 2022 and became worse following the player’s transfer from the University of South Florida to the University of California, Riverside.

According to Parlee, UC Riverside allegedly failed to process the required immigration documents before Adegboyega transferred to Jacksonville State University this summer, resulting in the visa complications.

Adegboyega has pleaded not guilty to the first-degree rape charge, while the case remains before the court.