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Drew Nicholas

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Drew Nicholas
Nicholas with Efes Pilsen
Personal information
Born (1981-05-17) May 17, 1981 (age 43)
Hempstead, New York, U.S.
Listed height1.94 m (6 ft 4 in)
Listed weight180 lb (82 kg)
Career information
High schoolLong Island Lutheran
(Brookville, New York)
CollegeMaryland (1999–2003)
NBA draft2003: undrafted
Playing career2003–2012
PositionShooting guard
Number4, 11, 12, 21
Career history
2003–2004Fabriano Basket
2004–2005Basket Livorno
2005TAU Ceramica
2005–2006Benetton Treviso
2006–2008Efes Pilsen
2008–2011Panathinaikos
2011–2012Emporio Armani Milano
2012CSKA Moscow
Career highlights and awards

Andrew Lawrence Nicholas (born May 17, 1981) is an American former professional basketball player. A 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) shooting guard, Nicholas was the leading scorer in the EuroLeague 2005–06 season, being awarded the Alphonso Ford Trophy. He is a two-time EuroLeague champion, winning in 2009 and 2011 with Panathinaikos.

High school

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Born in Hempstead, New York, Nicholas played high school basketball at Long Island Lutheran, in New York, from 1995 to 1999.

College career

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Nicholas played college basketball at the University of Maryland, College Park with the Maryland Terrapins from 1999 to 2003.[1] In 2002, Nicholas helped Maryland win its first national championship.[2] He made the All-Atlantic Coast Conference 2nd Team in his senior season in college.[3] His most memorable moment came in the 2003 NCAA Tournament when he hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to win a first-round game against UNC-Wilmington.[4] He also hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to give coach Gary Williams his 500th career coaching victory against NC State.[5]

Professional career

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Nicholas was selected in the 2003 USBL Draft by the Texas Rim Rockers (59th overall).[6] He then moved to Italy for the 2003–04 season, signed by Fabriano Basket, in the Italian LegADue (Italy's 2nd-tier level league). He led Legadue in scoring with 27.1 points per game that season. He was signed for the 2004–05 season by Basket Livorno. He led Italy's top-tier level LBA in scoring with 22.8 points per game. At the end of the Italian League's regular season, he moved to Spain, signed for the remainder of the season by TAU Ceramica.[7] He then went back to Italy for the 2005–06 season, signed by Benetton Treviso.[8] He led the EuroLeague in scoring with 18.4 points per game. He moved to Turkey for the 2006–07 season, signed by Efes Pilsen. In March 2008, he briefly negotiated with the Israeli Super League club Maccabi Tel Aviv, on a three-year contract offer, but he was unable to reach a final contractual agreement with the club.

On June 24, 2008, he signed a two-year contract with Greek club Panathinaikos.[9] Nicholas helped Panathinaikos win the 2009 and 2011 EuroLeague championships. He also won the Greek Cup in 2009, as well as the Greek League championship in 2009, 2010, and 2011. In July 2011, he signed with Italian club Armani Jeans Milano.[10] In January 2012, Nicholas was waived by Armani Jeans Milano.[11]

In July 2012, after being a free agent for 7 months since his departure from AJ Milano, Nicholas signed a one-year contract with the Russian club CSKA Moscow.[12] However, on November 23, 2012, Nicholas reached an agreement to terminate his contract with the team, by mutual agreement.[13] In July 2013, he officially announced his retirement from playing professional basketball, after having played his last game in 2012.[14]

Post playing career

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After he retired from playing professional basketball, Nicholas became a basketball analyst and sports commentator.[15] In 2016 he joined the Minnesota Timberwolves as a scout.[16] He then moved on to similar roles with the Philadelphia 76ers and the Boston Celtics. He is currently the Director of Scouting for the Denver Nuggets.[17]

Personal life

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In February 2008, Nicholas refused to travel with Efes Pilsen for their away game against Partizan in Belgrade, due to a recommendation for U.S. citizens not to visit Serbia, which was related to the tension that was caused after the declaration of the independence of Kosovo.[18] He was then banned from the club, and shortly after that he was released.[19] He has an extensive front office resume and currently works with the Denver Nuggets in Denver, CO, where he resides with his wife and three children.

Career statistics

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Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  PIR  Performance Index Rating
 Bold  Career high

EuroLeague

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† Denotes season in which Nicholas won the EuroLeague
* Led the league
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG PIR
2005–06 Treviso 20 17 33.8 .479 .457 .827 2.8 2.7 1.1 .1 18.4* 16.6
2006–07 Efes 20 20 34.3 .429 .400 .726 2.5 2.5 3.8 .2 13.9 13.1
2007–08 14 12 32.5 .430 .353 .729 3.0 2.9 1.0 .1 16.5 14.1
2008–09† Panathinaikos 22 16 23.5 .429 .408 .615 1.3 1.2 1.0 .1 8.3 6.0
2009–10 16 15 27.6 .433 .410 .667 1.2 2.2 .9 .2 10.5 7.9
2010–11† 20 6 23.0 .437 .415 .600 1.1 1.7 .4 .1 9.8 6.1
2011–12 Milano 14 8 26.4 .302 .297 .625 2.6 1.7 .5 .2 7.4 4.2
2012–13 CSKA Moscow 4 1 15.0 .067 .000 — .5 .8 — — .5 -3.5
Career 130 95 28.2 .422 .391 .737 2.0 2.3 .8 .1 11.8 9.4

References

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  1. ^ Player Bio: Drew Nicholas :: Men's Basketball - Maryland Terrapins
  2. ^ Drew Nicholas: 10 years after Maryland's national title
  3. ^ Bosh, Elder Earn All-ACC Honors
  4. ^ Nicholas twists Maryland past UNC-Wilmington at buzzer
  5. ^ COLLEGE BASKETBALL: MEN'S ROUNDUP; Williams's 500th Victory Is at Wolfpack's Expense
  6. ^ USBL Completes 2003 Draft
  7. ^ El Tau contrata a Drew Nicholas (Spanish)
  8. ^ La Benetton conferma l'ingaggio di Drew Nicholas (Italian)
  9. ^ Panathinaikos brings in Drew Nicholas
  10. ^ Milano lands Drew Nicholas!
  11. ^ Drew Nicholas and Olimpia Milano part ways
  12. ^ "CSKA Moscow inks two-time champ Nicholas". Euroleague. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
  13. ^ "CSKA Moscow, Drew Nicholas part ways". Sportando. Retrieved 29 December 2012.
  14. ^ "Drew Nicholas retires at 32". Sportando.net. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
  15. ^ Former Terps guard Drew Nicholas beginning new career.
  16. ^ "Timberwolves Announce Basketball Staff Additions". NBA.com.
  17. ^ "Nuggets make slew of front office, scouting hires, sources say". The Denver Post. 2022-08-15. Retrieved 2023-03-23.
  18. ^ Efes Pilsen without four Americans
  19. ^ Efes Pilsen releases Nicholas, Wright
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