Luke Isaiah Nelson (born 29 June 1995) is a British basketball player for ESSM Le Portel of the French LNB Pro A. 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 2021 | |
| ESSM Le Portel | |
|---|---|
| Position | Shooting guard / Point guard |
| League | LNB Pro A |
| Personal information | |
| Born | 29 June 1995 London, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Listed height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) |
| Listed weight | 190 lb (86 kg) |
| Career information | |
| College | UC Irvine (2013–2017) |
| NBA draft | 2017: undrafted |
| Playing career | 2017–present |
| Career history | |
| 2017–2018 | Real Betis |
| 2019–2020 | Manresa |
| 2020–2021 | BG Göttingen |
| 2021–present | ESSM Le Portel |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Nelson, a point guard from London, played 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 chose to attend 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 November 15, 2019, he has signed with Baxi Manresa of the Spanish Liga ACB. [5]
On July 30, 2020, he has signed with BG Göttingen of the Basketball Bundesliga.[6]
On July 16, 2021, he has 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
- ^ Whicker, Mark (October 23, 2013). "UCI freshman guard is a barrier breaker". Orange County Register. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
- ^ Faulkner, Barry (March 8, 2017). "Brit with grit leads UCI". Daily Pilot. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
- ^ "El Herbalife Gran Canaria llega a un acuerdo con Luke Nelson". Herbalife Gran Canaria (in Spanish). August 8, 2017. Retrieved August 9, 2017.
- ^ "Luke Nelson jugara cedido en el Real Betis Energía Plus". Herbalife Gran Canaria (in Spanish). August 10, 2017. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
- ^ "Luke Nelson inks with Baxi Manresa". Sportando. November 15, 2019. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
- ^ "BG Göttingen signs Luke Nelson". Sportando. July 30, 2020. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
- ^ "L'international britannique Luke Nelson débarque au Portel" (in French). essm-basket.fr. July 16, 2021. Retrieved July 17, 2021.
External links
- Luke Nelson at acb.com (in Spanish)
- UC Irvine Anteaters bio
- FIBA profile