Thomas Kelati

Thomas Kelati ( born September 27, 1982 in Walla Walla, Washington) is a native American professional basketball player of Eritrean origin. Kelati adopted after marrying a Polish woman, 2010, the nationality of his wife and occurs in international matches for Poland. In international club competitions Kelati has won the Valencia Basket Club Eurocup 2009/10 and with BK Khimki Eastern European VTB United League in 2011 and the Eurocup 2011/12.

Career

During his studies at Washington State University in Pullman in his native U.S. state Kelati played from 2001 for the high school team Cougars in the Pacific -12 Conference of NCAA Division I. During his playing days, the Cougars could not qualify for national finals of the NCAA. Kelati is one of the most successful three-point throw shooters in the history of the Cougars.

After the end of the study in 2005 as a professional Kelati moved to Europe, where he signed a contract with Dexia Mons Hainaut from the Walloon signed in the Belgian Ethias League. With this club he was 2006 Belgian Cup winners and runners-up. He then moved into the Polish PLK to Zgorzelec, the Polish sister city of Gorlitz on the River Neisse, where he consecutively Polish vice-champion was washed twice with PGE Turow. In the second season Kelati could also make international attention when he, with his team pushed forward in this competition after the preliminary round group winners in the ULEB Cup in 2007 /08 to the final tournament of the eight best teams, where one retired in the quarterfinals against Dynamo Moscow.

Then moved Kelati 2008 in the Spanish ACB league to Unicaja Málaga in the Andalusian. This club also played in the highest European League ULEB Euro Cup 2008/ 09, where you retired in the second round of the sixteen best teams after the group victory in the first round. In the Spanish Cup after they finished the regular season in third place and was eliminated in the play-off semi-final against eventual champions FC Barcelona. In the Spanish Cup Copa del Rey they reached the final, which was lost against the Basque club Tau Ceramica. Following Kelati signed a contract with Greek club Olympiakos Piraeus, which was dissolved after the medical check but the club again, instead he got from the NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers a contract, but this was solved before the season starts again. Then Kelati returned to Spain, where he was engaged by the basketball club from Valencia, with whom he won the ULEB Eurocup in the final against the German representatives Alba Berlin 2010. The main round fourth in the Spanish Championship you failed in the first play-off round just to Kelatis former club from Málaga. In 2010 he then moved to the basketball club from the Russian Khimki, a suburb of Moscow, where he signed a two -year contract. With this club he won the 2011 VTB United League and the 2012 ULEB Eurocup.

With the Polish national team Kelati 2010 could qualify for the European Championship finals in 2011 in neighboring Lithuania. In the preliminary round of the tournament finals would retire after two wins just because of the poorer direct comparison prematurely. For the 2012/13 season he returned to Valencia BC in the ACB league back. In the European Championship finals in 2013 disappointed the Polish national team and won under the German coach Dirk Bauer man only the meaningless final group match of the preliminary round against host Slovenia. After Kelati has been traded for the 2013/14 season as a new signing of the Turkish first division returnee Trabzonspor, he returned before the start of the season in the ACB league back and replaced on a temporary basis of two months the injured Devon van Oostrum at Laboral Kutxa from Vitoria- Gasteiz. Kelati itself also was injured after just four weeks and was replaced by Rimantas Kaukėnas. Beginning in February 2014 got Kelati then a contract with Premier League rivals UCAM Murcia.

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