Luke Nelson (basketball)

Luke Isaiah Nelson (born 29 June 1995) is a British basketball player for the London Lions of the British Basketball League (BBL). He also represents the Great Britain national team in international competitions. He played American college basketball for UC Irvine, where he was named the 2017 Big West Conference Player of the Year.

Luke Nelson
Luke Nelson 2021
No. 10 – London Lions
PositionShooting guard / point guard
LeagueBBL
Personal information
Born (1995-06-29) 29 June 1995
Worthing, England
Listed height6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Listed weight190 lb (86 kg)
Career information
CollegeUC Irvine (2013–2017)
NBA draft2017: undrafted
Playing career2017–present
Career history
2017–2018Real Betis
2019–2020Manresa
2020–2021BG Göttingen
2021–2022ESSM Le Portel
2022–presentLondon Lions
Career highlights and awards

Nelson, a point guard born in London and raised in Worthing, first played basketball for the Worthing Thunder junior program, Followed by spending his later teenage years at Henley College whilst Playing with the Reading Rockets Division 1 team alongside playing for several England and Great Britain squads in the U16, U18 and U20 age groups in FIBA tournaments. He was named British player of the year in his age group for three consecutive seasons.[1]

He attended college at the University of California, Irvine, where he became a four-year starter. He was named first-team All-Big West Conference in his junior and senior seasons and was named Big West Player of the Year as a senior.[2]

Nelson helped UC Irvine to its first ever NCAA Tournament appearance in 2015 and help guided the Anteaters to a program record 28 wins in 2016. For all 4 seasons at UC Irvine, Nelson helped the team make a postseason appearance of some kind. He finished his collegiate career 4th in made threes (204), fifth in assists (361) and eighth in steals (115) and played in the collegiate All Star Game at the 2017 Final Four.

After going undrafted in the 2017 NBA draft after playing in the NBA Summer League with the Los Angeles Clippers, Nelson signed his first professional contract with Herbalife Gran Canaria in Spain's Liga ACB and EuroCup competition.[3] He was sent to Real Betis Energía Plus on loan prior to the start of the season.[4]

On 15 November 2019 he signed with Baxi Manresa of the Spanish Liga ACB.[5]

On 30 July 2020 he signed with BG Göttingen of the Basketball Bundesliga.[6]

On 16 July 2021 he signed with ESSM Le Portel of the French LNB Pro A.[7]

International career

Nelson has competed for the Great Britain senior national team since graduating college and is usually the starting shooting guard on the squad during competition.

SEASON AVERAGES
SEASON TEAM MIN FGM-FGA FG% 3PM-3PA 3P% FTM-FTA FT% REB AST BLK STL PF TO PTS
2016-17 UCI 26.0 5.6-12.3 .457 3.0-6.9 .432 2.7-3.9 .690 3.3 3.0 0.2 1.7 2.3 2.6 16.9
2015-16 UCI 31.0 4.7-10.8 .430 2.2-6.1 .358 2.2-2.6 .866 2.9 3.9 0.1 1.3 1.7 1.8 13.7
2014-15 UCI 29.3 3.5-9.7 .357 1.7-5.5 .303 1.9-2.6 .722 2.9 4.0 0.1 1.0 2.0 2.6 10.5
2013-14 UCI 29.0 4.0-9.6 .412 2.1-5.6 .376 1.7-2.3 .732 2.5 2.9 0.3 1.1 2.1 2.2 11.8

References
  1. Whicker, Mark (23 October 2013). "UCI freshman guard is a barrier breaker". Orange County Register. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
  2. Faulkner, Barry (8 March 2017). "Brit with grit leads UCI". Daily Pilot. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
  3. "El Herbalife Gran Canaria llega a un acuerdo con Luke Nelson". Herbalife Gran Canaria (in Spanish). 8 August 2017. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
  4. "Luke Nelson jugara cedido en el Real Betis Energía Plus". Herbalife Gran Canaria (in Spanish). 10 August 2017. Retrieved 13 August 2017.
  5. "Luke Nelson inks with Baxi Manresa". Sportando. 15 November 2019. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
  6. "BG Göttingen signs Luke Nelson". Sportando. 30 July 2020. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  7. "L'international britannique Luke Nelson débarque au Portel" (in French). essm-basket.fr. 16 July 2021. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
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