In his second year as a reserve behind center George Zidek, he played in a career-high 23 games, averaging 2.7 points and 1.6 rebounds.
After Zidek graduated, Nwankwo anticipated a larger role in 1995–96; however, freshman Jelani McCoy became the starting center instead.
In 2003 Nwankwo joined the Huntsville Flight (now Albuquerque Thunderbirds) of the National Basketball Development League.
[3] Nwankwo signed to play with an NBA squad every year from 2000 to 2004 except 2003, with the Miami Heat (2000), Houston Rockets (2001), Cleveland Cavaliers (2002)[4] and the Los Angeles Lakers (2004)[5] seasons.
[3] After his playing career ended, Nwankwo started a basketball academy for kids in Bangkok in 2010,[6] which he later launched in Hong Kong as well.