| Earvin N'Gapeth | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) N'Gapeth in 2018 | |||||
| Personal information | |||||
| Nationality | French | ||||
| Born | (1991-02-12)12 February 1991 (age 34) Saint-Raphaël, France | ||||
| Height | 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) | ||||
| Weight | 94 kg (207 lb) | ||||
| Spike | 358 cm (141 in) | ||||
| Block | 327 cm (129 in) | ||||
| Volleyball information | |||||
| Position | Outside hitter | ||||
| Current club |  Fenerbahçe | ||||
| Number | 9 | ||||
| Career | |||||
| |||||
| National team | |||||
| |||||
Earvin N'Gapeth (born 12 February 1991) is a French professionalvolleyball player who plays for theTurkish clubFenerbahçe and representsFrance in international competitions. He has achieved numerous accolades, including theFrenchleague championship in2010, theItalian league championship in2016, and theEuropean continental championship in2015. N'Gapeth is a four-time gold medalist in theWorld League/Nations League (2015,2017,2022,2024) and a two-timeOlympic gold medalist (2020,2024).
N'Gapeth was born inSaint-Raphaël, France, and spent most of his childhood in the nearby commune ofFréjus. During his youth, he participated in both volleyball andfootball, initially showing a strong passion for football, where he played as acentre-forward. While living in Fréjus, he attended afootball academy and played alongside French footballerLayvin Kurzawa. At age 11, his family relocated toPoitiers, a city with a more prominent volleyball community than football. Consequently, N'Gapeth shifted his focus from football to volleyball. He progressed quickly in the sport and turned professional in 2008, at the age of 17.[1][2]
N'Gapeth began his professional volleyball career in the 2008–09 season when he signed withTours VB, where he spent three seasons and won thePro A league title in 2009–10. In 2011–12, he moved toItaly to joinPiemonte Volley inSerie A1, playing two seasons and helping the team reach theCEV Champions League final in2012–13 as runners-up. The following season, he transferred toKuzbass Kemerovo in theRussian Super League but left mid-season to return to Italy withModena Volley. During his tenure at Modena, N'Gapeth won the Italian Cup and Italian SuperCup in 2014–15, and theItalian Championship, Italian Cup, and Italian SuperCup in 2015–16. After four seasons with Modena, he returned toRussia to play forZenit Kazan in the Russian Super League until 2021.[2]
On October 6, 2010, N'Gapeth was expelled from theFrench national volleyball team on disciplinary grounds during theWorld Championship inItaly following an incident in which he insulted then-coachPhilippe Blain.[3][4] Despite this setback, he returned to the national team for the2011 European Championship. In 2014, N'Gapeth competed at theWorld Championship held inPoland, where France finished fourth after losing the bronze medal match toGermany. He played a key role in France’s victorious2015 World League campaign. On October 18, 2015, he contributed to France’sEuropean Championship triumph with a straight-sets 3–0 win overSlovenia in the final.[5] In 2017, N'Gapeth was named Most Valuable Player of theWorld League, leading France to win the gold medal.[2]
2012/2013 – withBre Banca Lannutti Cuneo2018/2019 – withZenit Kazan
2020/2021 – withZenit Kazan
2022/2023 – withValsa Group Modena
2022 Iran – withPaykan Tehran VC
2024 Iran – withJakarta Presisi
Betim 2019 – withZenit Kazan
French Cup, withTours VB
French Championship, withTours VB French Cup, withTours VB French Cup, withTours VB
Italian Championship, withModena Volley
Italian SuperCup, withModena VolleyItalian Championship, withParmareggio Modena Italian Cup, withParmareggio ModenaItalian Championship, withDHL Modena Italian Cup, withDHL Modena Italian SuperCup, withDHL Modena Italian SuperCup, withDHL ModenaItalian Championship, withDHL ModenaRussian Super League, withZenit KazanRussian Cup, withZenit KazanRussian SuperCup, withZenit KazanRussian Super League, withZenit KazanRussian Cup, withZenit KazanRussian SuperCup, withZenit KazanIranian Super League, withPaykan TehranTurkish Volleyball League, withHalkbankTurkish Cup, withHalkbankTurkish Super Cup, withHalkbankIndonesian Proliga, withJakarta Bhayangkara PresisiTurkish Cup, withFenerbahçe
Volleyball World LeagueEuropean Championship
Volleyball World LeagueVolleyball World League
Volleyball Nations LeagueVolleyball Nations League
Olympic GamesVolleyball Nations LeagueVolleyball Nations League Olympic GamesN'Gapeth is sponsored byAdidas.[7]
In December 2014, N'Gapeth was given asuspended sentence of three months' imprisonment by theMontpellier criminal court for his involvement in a nightclub brawl in August 2013.[4]
In July 2015, N'Gapeth was arrested following an incident atParis Montparnasse station involving an allegedassault on aTGVtrain conductor. N'Gapeth and his brother were waiting for a friend when N'Gapeth requested to delay the train’s departure.[4] The conductor accused N'Gapeth’s brother of blocking the train door, leading to an argument during which N'Gapeth allegedly insulted and struck the conductor, causing minor injuries. It was also reported that N'Gapeth threw a newspaper at the conductor's face. In April 2016, N'Gapeth was sentenced to a three-month suspended prison term andfined €3,000.[8] However, in March 2018, theCourt of Appeal of Parisacquitted N'Gapeth of allcharges related to the incident.[9]
In November 2015, N'Gapeth was involved in ahit-and-run incident outside the Frozen Club inModena,Italy, which resulted in injuries to three pedestrians. Two victims sustained minor injuries, while one was critically injured and hospitalized. N'Gapeth fled the scene but later turned himself in to the Italian authorities by voluntarily going to the prosecutor's office to confess. Following the incident,ModenaVolley imposed a temporary suspension on him for several games.[10][11] In May 2018, hepleaded guilty before a judge in Modena and was sentenced to a one-year suspended prison term along with a suspendeddriving license.[12][13]
In December 2017, N'Gapeth was stopped by Modena traffic police during aroutine check and found to bedriving under the influence of alcohol. Following an evening spent at a wine bar and the Frozen Club inModena, Italy, with his teammates, he was measured to have ablood alcohol level of 1.98 g/L, nearly four times the Italian legal limit of 0.50 g/L. As a result, his driver's license was immediately revoked, and the car he was traveling in wastowed away.[14]
In December 2019, N'Gapeth was arrested inBelo Horizonte, Brazil, following allegations ofsexual assault. A woman accused him of slapping herbuttocks during a party at a local nightclub. N'Gapeth told authorities that he believed the woman was a friend and that he did not intend to cause harm.[15] He was held in custody for over 24 hours before being released onbail set at €10,000. Following the incident, theFrench Ministry of Sports removed N'Gapeth from a video campaign againstsexual violence, citing precautionary measures despite hispresumption of innocence.[9]
N'Gapeth is ofCameroonian descent through his father,Éric N'Gapeth, who was born inCameroon and representedFrance in volleyball at theSeoul 1988 Summer Olympics.[2]
N'Gapeth was named afterbasketball playerEarvin "Magic" Johnson by his father, who has long been an avid basketball fan.[2][16]
N'Gapeth has described his volleyball career as highly fulfilling, expressing no regrets about choosing volleyball over football. He noted that the life of a professional footballer appears more complex, with greater pressure and heightened media scrutiny. Nevertheless, he has expressed a desire to have continued playing football for a longer period, as he finds the sport itself genuinely engaging. Outside of his volleyball career, N'Gapeth maintains his passion for football by playingFIFA on hisPlayStation and organizing informal matches with friends at local football pitches during his spare time.[1]
N'Gapeth supportsParis Saint-Germain as his favorite football club and citesZinedine Zidane as his favorite footballer.[1]
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Most Valuable Player Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 Paris 2024 | Succeeded by TBD |
| Preceded by | Best Outside Spiker of Olympic Games Tokyo 2020(with  Egor Kliuka)Paris 2024 (with  Trévor Clévenot) | Succeeded by TBD |
| Preceded by | Most Valuable Player FIVB Nations League Bologna 2022 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Best Outside Spiker of FIVB Nations League Bologna 2022 (with Trévor Clévenot) | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Most Valuable Player FIVB World League Rio de Janeiro 2015 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Best Outside Spiker of FIVB World League Rio de Janeiro 2015 (with  Michał Kubiak) | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Most Valuable Player FIVB World League Curitiba 2017 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Best Outside Spiker of FIVB World League Curitiba 2017 (with  Ricardo Lucarelli) | Succeeded by |
France squads | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
