Ariel Washington Hukporti (born 12 April 2002) is a German-Togolese professional basketball player for Melbourne United of the National Basketball League (NBL).
Early life and youth career
Hukporti was born in Stralsund, Germany to Togolese parents and was raised by a single mother. He grew up playing football as a defender. Hukporti stood at age nine and started playing basketball when he was 11 years old, in part due to his height. He began playing in the Jugend Basketball Bundesliga, the German U16 league, with USC Freiburg. After one season, he received offers from renowned clubs, including Bayern Munich and Brose Bamberg. He decided to continue his career with Riesen Ludwigsburg and its junior team, Porsche BBA Ludwigsburg.
In December 2018, at the Adidas Next Generation Tournament (ANGT) Valencia, Hukporti averaged 18 points, 15.2 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game for U18 Porsche Ludwigsburg, while leading the event in blocks (1.8 per game) and index rating (26.7). He helped his team to fourth place and was named to the all-tournament team. In 2019, Hukporti was honored as Rookie of the Year and All-Star Game MVP in the Nachwuchs Basketball Bundesliga (NBBL), the German U19 league. He played for U18 Porsche Ludwigsburg at ANGT Munich in February 2020 but did not return to action after suffering a foot injury in his second game. Hukporti was named NBBL MVP for the 2019–20 season after averaging 16.9 points and 9.4 rebounds per game for Porsche BBA Ludwigsburg.
Professional career
