Andrew Sullivan (basketball)

Andrew Sullivan ( born February 12, 1980 in Euston, Greater London ) is a British professional basketball player. After studying in the United States Sullivan played professionally at various clubs in Europe. In his home country he won in the British Basketball League (BBL ) with its respective clubs a total of three championships. With the British national team, he participated in his hometown of London at the European Championship finals in 2009 and 2011 and at the 2012 Olympic Games.

Career

Sullivan went in 1996 to the United States to the " St. Augustine College Preparatory School " in Richland (New Jersey) and after his high school graduation he enrolled in 1999 at Villanova University on the outskirts of Philadelphia one. After a promising career in high school, where he was appointed in his final year for the "South Jersey Player of the Year ," he was out of high school team Wildcats in the Big East Conference of the NCAA as to the course. In his second year as a sophomore he saw virtually no playing time after he was however prevented by injury. The Wildcats stumbled after they had reached six times the national finals of the NCAA in the 1990s. Thus, the former successful coach Steve Lappas was released in 2001 and under his successor, Jay Wright also got Sullivan again more playing time without hindeuteten his personal statistics on a promising professional career.

After graduating in 2003 Sullivan signed a contract in the Dutch League in February when giants EBBC in 's- Hertogenbosch. With this team, but he could not celebrate successes in the 2003/04 season. For the season 2004 /05 he returned to his homeland and joined the Eagles from Newcastle upon Tyne. After the BBL Trophy, won a separate competition of BBL with regional group matches in the preliminary round, they also won the play-offs for the championship of the league. In the following season 2005/ 06 they dominated the league and won the cup competition next BBL Cup, BBL Trophy and the championship again after this time had also finished the regular season as a table first. Sullivan was named MVP of BBL. After the Olympic games were awarded in 2012 to Sullivan's home town of London, the British National Basketball Team was re-formed, the host had an automatic right to start. In this new national Sullivan also was first appointed. After his successes Sullivan had recommended for tasks in higher-ranking European leagues, and he left after the British League.

For the season 2006/ 07 Sullivan got a contract with the Spanish FIBA EuroCup winner Joventut Badalona, which already played his team-mate Andrew Betts and Robert Archibald. With this club he took on top-ranked European club competition ULEB Euro League part of 2006/ 07, where then was eliminated in the group stage of the 16 best teams. In the Spanish championship of the ACB league would retire in the semifinal series in five games just to eventual champions Real Madrid. Plan for the next season of the British coach Chris Finch took him to Dexia Mons -Hainaut in Belgium, where he played with his team-mate Nate Reinking, Roger Huggins and Michael Lenzly. Together they reached the final of the FIBA EuroCup, which was, however, lost to the Latvian team Barons / LMT Riga just one point. Without a contract for the new season Sullivan initially returned to the Newcastle Eagles back in the BBL.

A few weeks after start of the season in 2008 moved Sullivan to the Russian club ZSK WWS to Samara. In the group stage of the 16 best teams in the Euro Challenge, as the FIBA EuroCup was called from this season, they met Sullivan's former club Dexia Mons -Hainaut, but remained winless in all six group matches in the second round. After Sullivan had successfully played with the British team in the Division A of the best European teams, managed the first-time qualifiers for the European Championships in Poland. In the first round, however, they lost all three group matches against eventual semi-finalists Slovenia, Spain and Serbia. In the following season 2009/10 Sullivan then moved to Limassol on Cyprus, but not to the former Euro Challenge Final Four host AEL, but to local rivals Apollo. After just two months he left the club and returned in January 2010 again to the Newcastle Eagles back, although the main round of the BBL and BBL Trophy won, but lost in the semi-final play-offs against the eventual champions Everton Tigers. The Tigers under coach Tony Garbelotto called off the following season Mersey Tigers and committed Sullivan. They won both the Main Round and the BBL Trophy and play-offs of the BBL, only a significant defeat in the BBL Cup Final against Sheffield Sharks runners prevented the total triumph of the Tigers.

2011 was followed by the second part of a British national championships at the European Championship. In the European Championship finals in 2011 would retire after two wins in five games again in the first round. After it came to disputes about payment methods, Sullivan left at the beginning of the 2011/12 season the Mersey Tigers and moved to league rivals Riders from Leicester. His former club Newcastle Eagles dominated the league and won both the play- off final as well as the semi-finals of the BBL Trophy against the Riders. After the end of the season Sullivan could cite as team captain the British national team in the Olympic tournament in 2012 in his hometown, in which also was eliminated in the first round after a win in five group games.