Rashad Anderson
Encyclopedia
Rashad Shaheed Anderson is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 professional basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

 player who plays for the Iowa Energy
Iowa Energy
The Iowa Energy are a 2007-08 expansion team of the NBA Development League, of which they are the current defending champions. They play their home games at the Wells Fargo Arena at Iowa Events Center....

. He previously played guard/forward for the UConn
University of Connecticut
The admission rate to the University of Connecticut is about 50% and has been steadily decreasing, with about 28,000 prospective students applying for admission to the freshman class in recent years. Approximately 40,000 prospective students tour the main campus in Storrs annually...

 Huskies. Rashad was drafted on November 5, 2009 by the Iowa Energy of the NBA Developmental League. He was drafted in the first round, ninth overall.

Early life

Rashad's first interest was baseball. His cousin introduced him to basketball when Rashad was 10 and Rashad has not stopped playing ever since. At age 13 he played on an AAU team that placed third in the nation. The following year on the 14 and under AAU team, they placed second in the country.

High school career

At Kathleen High School in Lakeland
Lakeland, Florida
Lakeland is a city in Polk County, Florida, United States, located approximately midway between Tampa and Orlando along Interstate 4. According to the 2008 U.S. Census Bureau estimate, the city had a population of 94,406...

, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

, Anderson averaged 22.8 points a game and finished as the second leading scorer in school history. In his junior year at Kathleen, Rashad helped the Red Devils won the State Championship. As a senior Rashad was one of the top 50 recruits in the nation, he was named an All-American, leading his team to a 106-24 record in his four seasons. http://www.uconnhuskies.com/sports/MBasketball/2004/PlayerBios/Andersonbio.html

College career

Rashad chose UConn
University of Connecticut
The admission rate to the University of Connecticut is about 50% and has been steadily decreasing, with about 28,000 prospective students applying for admission to the freshman class in recent years. Approximately 40,000 prospective students tour the main campus in Storrs annually...

 over the University of Florida, University of Tennessee, University of Texas. He had a great career at UConn and was known as "the dagger" by UConn head coach Jim Calhoun
Jim Calhoun
James A. Calhoun is the head coach of the University of Connecticut's men's basketball team. His teams have won three national championships , played in four Final Fours , won the 1988 NIT championship, and have won seven Big East tournament championships...

 because of his penchant for hitting shots at key moments of games. Anderson is known as one of the best clutch three-point shooters in college basketball history. Anderson also finished his career with 276 three pointers, the most in UConn history.http://nbadraft.net/profiles/rashadanderson.asp

Freshman

Rashad played in all 33 games, mostly coming off the bench. Although he started in the last four contests of the regular season. He finished fourth on the squad with 8.2 ppg. His season high for points was 22 at Notre Dame which included 6 for 9 from beyond the arc.

Sophomore

In the 2004 season Rashad finished as third leading scorer for NCAA Champion Huskies with 11.2 ppg. He reached double figures in 19 total games on the season and was named to the NCAA Final Four All-Tournament Team after scoring 18 points vs. Georgia Tech in the Championship game and 14 points vs. Duke. In the NCAA Tournament he averaged 17.3 points and .488 from three-point range (21-of-43). His 21 threes set a UConn single-tournament record. Rashad scored 28 points in NCAA Elite Eight win over Alabama, matching the school-NCAA record of six three-pointers he set in First Round win over Vermont.

Junior

In his junior season Rashad was placed in the starting role. He started 15 of 24 games at the shooting guard spot and finished as team’s third leading scorer with 11.9 ppg. In February of that year Rashad was hospitalized for 13 days and missed seven games due to skin abscess in his right leg. The team would suffer without him.
He returned to action for the Big East Tournament. His season high for points was 27, including 16 in final 13 minutes, in win over Rice.

Senior

Rashad was a big sparkplug off the bench and as a senior Rashad was the Nation’s leading scorer among players not in the starting lineup. He earned All-Big East Honorable Mention honors, and averaged 12.8 points off the bench in 22.4 minutes of play. He reached double figures in 26 games. In one of the more memorable games of his collegiate career Rashad scored the game-tying three-pointer at end of regulation against the Washington Huskies
Washington Huskies
Washington Huskies is the nickname of the University of Washington's athletic teams. The school is a member of the Pacific-12 Conference. The athletic program is made up of 9 men's sports and 10 women's sports Washington Huskies is the nickname of the University of Washington's athletic teams. The...

 during the regional semifinals of the 2006 NCAA National Tournament sending the game into overtime with a score tied at 82. UConn went on to win in overtime, 98 to 92. Rashad ended that game with 19 points.

Professional career

Despite his prolific college career, Anderson was not selected in the 2006 NBA Draft
2006 NBA Draft
The 2006 NBA Draft was held on June 28, 2006 at the Theatre at Madison Square Garden in New York City and was broadcast in the United States on ESPN. In this draft, National Basketball Association teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players,...

. He had accepted an offer to play for the Washington Wizards
Washington Wizards
The Washington Wizards are a professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C., previously known as Washington Bullets. They play in the National Basketball Association .-Early years:...

 entry in the Las Vegas Summer League, but ultimately was not signed to a contract.http://www.hoopsworld.com/article_18047.shtml Anderson began his professional career playing in the Greek League
A1 Ethniki
The Greek Basket League , commonly referred to as the Greek Basketball League or Greek Basketball Championship, is the highest professional basketball league in Greece. It is run by HEBA...

 for Egaleo BC in the A1 Ethniki 2006-07
A1 Ethniki 2006-07
The Greek Basket League 2006–07 season saw Panathinaikos finish both in first place in the regular season and win the championship via the playoff.-Standings:...

 season, a club recently promoted to the country's first division. For 2007-2008 season he has signed for the Italian second division team TDShop.it Livorno
Basket Livorno
Basket Livorno, also known for sponsorship reasons as TDShop.it Livorno was an Italian basketball club based in Livorno.In 2008/09 season it played in the Italian LegADue , but after that season the team finished its activity due to debits.It got relegated from Serie A, the top division, after the...

. Rashad was taken in the 1st round of the NBA D-League
NBA Development League
The NBA Development League, or NBA D-League, is the National Basketball Association's official minor league basketball organization. Known until summer 2005 as the National Basketball Development League , the NBA D-League started with eight teams in the fall of 2001...

 draft, ninth overall by the Iowa Energy
Iowa Energy
The Iowa Energy are a 2007-08 expansion team of the NBA Development League, of which they are the current defending champions. They play their home games at the Wells Fargo Arena at Iowa Events Center....

. After season which Anderson started in D-League, but finished in Italian side Gruppo Triboldi Basket
Gruppo Triboldi Basket
Gruppo Triboldi Basket, also known for sponsorship reasons as Vanoli Soresina or Vanoli Cremona, is an Italian League professional basketball team whose legal domicile is in Soresina but plays its home games in Cremona...

, next season Rashad signed with Latvian club BK Ventspils
BK Ventspils
BK Ventspils is a professional basketball club that is located in Ventspils, Latvia. The club competes in the Latvian Basketball League and the Baltic Basketball League .-History:...

.

External links

  • http://collegebasketball.rivals.com/bviewplayer.asp?Player=33819
  • http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/player/profile?playerId=11221
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