Rick Rickert

Rick Rickert
Personal information
Born (1983-02-11) February 11, 1983
Duluth, Minnesota
Nationality American
Listed height 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)
Listed weight 235 lb (107 kg)
Career information
High school East (Duluth, Minnesota)
College Minnesota (2001–2003)
NBA draft 2003 / Round: 2 / Pick: 55th overall
Selected by the Minnesota Timberwolves
Playing career 2003–2018
Position Power forward / Center
Career history
2003–2004 Krka Novo Mesto
2004 Minnesota Timberwolves
2004–2005 Asheville Altitude
2005 Panellinios
2005 Lleida Bàsquet
2006 Fayetteville Patriots
2006 Detroit Pistons
2006–2007 Colorado 14ers
2007–2010 New Zealand Breakers
2010 Harbour Heat
2010–2011 EnBW Ludwigsburg
2011 Vaqueros de Bayamón
2011–2012 Kyoto Hannaryz
2012–2013 Osaka Evessa
2013 Wellington Saints
2013–2014 Wakayama Trians
2014–2016 Chiba Jets
2016–2018 Cyberdyne Ibaraki Robots
Career highlights and awards
  • NBA D-League All-Star (2007)
  • Slovenian League All-Star (2004)
  • First-team All-Big Ten (2003)
  • Second-team All-Big Ten (2002)
  • Big Ten Freshman of the Year (2002)

Rick Rickert (born February 11, 1983) is an American former professional basketball player. He is a 2001 graduate of Duluth East High School where he was a basketball star and highly recruited college prospect.[1] He was named 2001 Minnesota Mr. Basketball.[2]

Career

Rickert played collegiately for the University of Minnesota, where after averaging 15 points and 5 rebounds per game in 2001–02[3] he became the first Gopher player ever to win the Big Ten Freshman of the Year award.[4] After averaging 16 points and 6 rebounds his sophomore season Rickert declared for the 2003 NBA Draft.

Rickert was drafted by the Minnesota Timberwolves 2nd round in the 2003 NBA Draft. The Wolves sent him to play in Europe for Slovenia's premier team Novo Mesto, competeing in both the EuroLeague and Adriatic League. Rickert has played with: Krka Novo Mesto (Adriatic League/Euroleague), Timberwolves, Asheville Altitude (D-League), Panellinios B.C. Athens (Greece), Lleida Bàsquet (Spain - 2nd Division), Fayetteville Patriots (D-League), Detroit Pistons (NBA - preseason only), Colorado 14ers (D-League), the D-League All Star Team that traveled to China, representing the U.S. in the world tournament (D-League), and the New Zealand Breakers (Australasian National Basketball League). Rick has played in just about every professional league in the world and has lived in 8 different countries over his 15 year professional career.

Kevin Garnett punched Rickert during a 2004 pick-up game, leading to stitches and a chipped tooth.[5] It is speculated that Kevin Garnett is the reason for Rickert's release after assaulting Rick in a team pickup game. The NBA MVP at the time was influential in roster development and this was a negative impact for Rickert who was a rookie.

In 2007, Rickert signed to play with the New Zealand Breakers in the Australasian NBL. In June 2008, he re-signed with the New Zealand Breakers. In the 2008–09 season, he averaged 13.6 points and 8.1 rebounds. He played 73 game overall for the Breakers.[6] Rick played for the Harbour Heat during the 2010 New Zealand NBL season.

After Rickert played in the Australian League with the NZ Breakers for 3 seasons, his career took him back to Europe playing for ENBW Ludwigsburg in Germany's BEKO BBL top league. During this season, Rick broke his nose and cheek during a game going up for a rebound leading to months wearing a face mask during practice and games.

In 2011, Rickert played in Puerto Rico for the Bayamon Vaqueros in the Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN). Rickert was a leading scorer and rebounder in this league.

In 2011, Rickert signed with Kyoto, Hannaryz in Japan. His impact in Japan as a player and person was successful and welcomed leading to 7 seasons playing for top teams in Japan's professional leagues. Rickert is one of the few players who have played in all of the Japanese professional leagues. He played in both of the top leagues called The BJ League and The NBL League, as well as the recently developed professional league which combined both leagues, now named the B League. During Rickert's basketball career in Japan, he played for Kyoto Hannaryz, Osaka Evessa, Wakayama Trians, Chiba Jets, and Ibraki Robots.

After Rickert finished his season with Osaka Evessa, he was signed to play for the Wellington Saints. On 6 June 2013, the Wellington Saints signed Rickert for the rest of the 2013 season.[7]

Rick has recently retired after 15 professional basketball seasons. [8] This retirement marks a long career playing across the world in the top basketball leagues in the world. Rickert has had a remarkably long career, retiring healthy and on top of his game. Few players in the world have been able to play as long as Rickert with his caliber of overseas success.

References

  1. ↑ Recruiting Rankings CNNSI.com
  2. ↑ "Rickert, Calhoun honored". Minneapolis Star-Tribune. NewsBank. April 30, 2001. Retrieved August 18, 2010.
  3. ↑ Rickert's college stats sportsstats.com
  4. ↑ Freshman of the year hoopshype.com
  5. ↑ Garnett Punches Player in a Game
  6. ↑ Player statistics for Rick Rickert
  7. ↑ Saints import Warren axed for former Breaker
  8. ↑ https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2018/07/05/basketball/b-league/globetrotting-rickert-reaches-end-line/#.W6J89-hKg2w
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