Sandro Varejão

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Sandro Varejão
Personal information
Born (1972-04-09) April 9, 1972 (age 52)
Vitória, Espírito Santo
NationalityBrazilian
Listed height2.10 m (6 ft 11 in)
Listed weight111 kg (245 lb)
Career information
CollegeSouthern Idaho (1993–1995)
West Virginia (1995–1997)
NBA draft1997: undrafted
Playing career1998–2007
PositionCenter
Career history
1998Grêmio Londrina
1998–1999Franca
1999–2002Vasco da Gama
2002–2003Universo/Ajax
2003Brasília
2004Universo/Ajax
2004–2006Telemar Rio de Janeiro
2006–2007Saldanha da Gama
Career highlights and awards
Medals
Men's Basketball
Representing  Brazil
Pan American Games
Gold medal – first place 1999 Winnipeg
FIBA AmeriCup
Bronze medal – third place 1997 Montevideo
Silver medal – second place 2001 Neuquén
FIBA South American Championship
Gold medal – first place 1999 Bahía Blanca
Silver medal – second place 2001 Valdivia
Goodwill Games
Bronze medal – third place 2001 Brisbane

Sandro França Varejão (born April 9, 1972) is a Brazilian former professional basketball player. A 6'11" (2.10 m) center, he is the older brother of Anderson Varejão and played college basketball in the United States from 1993 to 1997, initially with Southern Idaho in the NJCAA and then with West Virginia in the NCAA Division I. After going undrafted in the 1997 NBA draft he started his professional career in Brazil, where he won several titles, among them 4 national championships and a Liga Sudamericana. He is a 6-time medalist with the Brazilian national team and participated in two FIBA World Championships in 1998 and 2002.

College career

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Born in Vitória, in the Espírito Santo state of Brazil, Varejão played basketball in high school at Colégio Salesiano Nossa Senhora da Vitória, where he also played volleyball: he won a volleyball national title during his last year of high school.[1] In 1991 he moved to the United States,[2] and joined the College of Southern Idaho Golden Eagles, playing in the NJCAA. In his first season with the team he averaged 8.3 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game,[1] and was named in the All-Region 18 Second Team.[3] In his sophomore year at Southern Idaho he improved his averages to 17.8 points and 11 rebounds, and after the 1994–95 season he decided to transfer to West Virginia, in the NCAA Division I.[1]

In his first year with the Mountaineers Varejão wore jersey number 40. He started all of his 27 games, averaging 6.5 points and 3.7 rebounds and 0.03 blocks in 23 minutes per game.[4] He recorded a career-high 18 points (and added 10 rebounds) against Ohio on December 16, 1995.[5] Varejão was 7th in the team in scoring and 3rd in rebounding.[6] In his senior year of college he started 17 of 29 games, averaging 6.1 points, 4.7 rebounds and 0.3 blocks in 20.2 minutes per game;[7] he recorded a season-high 14 points against Providence on February 8, 1997.[1] At the end of the season he ranked 7th in the team in scoring and 3rd in rebounding (behind Gordon Malone and Damian Owens).[8] He ended his career at West Virginia with totals of 353 points and 234 rebounds.

College statistics

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1995–96 West Virginia 27 27 23.0 .511 .000 .493 3.7 0.6 0.5 0.3 6.5
1996–97 West Virginia 29 17 20.2 .514 .000 .545 4.7 0.8 0.5 0.3 6.1
Career 56 44 21.6 .513 .000 .515 4.2 0.7 0.5 0.3 6.3

Professional career

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After his senior year in college Varejão was automatically eligible for the NBA draft: during the 1997 draft he was not selected by an NBA franchise. He then moved back to his native Brazil and started a professional career: in 1998 he joined Franca, and he was selected as an All-Star in 1999 and played the All-Star Game in Mogi das Cruzes in March 1999.[9] For the 1999 season he averaged 16.6 points, 6.4 rebounds and 0.7 assists over 37 games while shooting 62.3% from the field.[10] In the final game of the title series of the 1999 Brazilian Championship against Vasco da Gama, Varejão scored 14 points and recorded 2 rebounds in 31 minutes of play, winning the game and the national title.[11]

He then joined Vasco da Gama for the 1999 McDonald's Championship, reaching the tournament finals where they lost to the San Antonio Spurs.[12] He was then part of the Vasco team that won the Campeonato Carioca, the Brazilian league and the Liga Sudamericana in 2000.[13] In 2001 he won the Brazilian league (his third consecutive title) and the Carioca league with Vasco. He then played the 2002–03 season with Universo/Ajax, a team based in Goiânia,[14] reaching the league semifinals where they were eliminated by Unitri/Uberlândia. He then played for Brasília in 2003[15] before going back to Universo/Ajax for the 2004 season.[16] In 2004 Universo/Ajax again reached the league semifinals, and they were eliminated by Flamengo.

In 2004 he joined Telemar Rio de Janeiro, and in 2005 he won the national league title (his 4th personal), beating Unitri/Uberlândia in the finals.[17] He then played the 2006–07 season with Saldanha da Gama.[18]

National team career

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Varejão was first called up to the Brazilian national team in 1997,[2] and in the 1997 Tournament of the Americas he won the bronze medal. In 1998 he participated in the 1998 FIBA World Championship, averaging 2.9 points and 2.9 rebounds per game over 7 appearances. In 1999 he won two gold medals, one in the FIBA South American Championship[19] and one in the Pan American Games. In 2001 he took part in the South American Championship, winning the silver medal,[20] and in the 2001 Tournament of the Americas, where he also won silver. He won the bronze at the 2001 Goodwill Games, his third medal of the year. In 2002 he played in the 2002 FIBA World Championship, averaging 7.3 points and 4.8 rebounds over 9 games played.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Draft Spotlight: Sandro Varejao". NBA.com. Archived from the original on October 12, 1999. Retrieved April 20, 2019.
  2. ^ a b Curro, Luís (July 7, 1997). "Emergente nos EUA, pivô faz 'vestibular' na seleção". Folha de São Paulo (in Portuguese). Retrieved April 20, 2019.
  3. ^ College of Southern Idaho Golden Eagles Men's Basketball 2011–12 Media Guide, p. 26.
  4. ^ "Final Mountaineer Statistics (12-15)" (PDF). wvuni.sidearmsports.com. Retrieved April 20, 2019.
  5. ^ "West Virginia romps over Ohio, 94-69". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. December 17, 1995. p. 51.
  6. ^ "1995-96 West Virginia Mountaineers Roster and Stats". sports-reference.com. Retrieved April 20, 2019.
  7. ^ "1996-97 Player Totals (21-10/11-7)" (PDF). wvuni.sidearmsports.com. Retrieved April 20, 2019.
  8. ^ "1996-97 West Virginia Mountaineers Roster and Stats". sports-reference.com. Retrieved April 20, 2019.
  9. ^ "Jogo reúne estrelas do basquete em Mogi". Folha de Londrina (in Portuguese). March 4, 1999. Retrieved April 20, 2019.
  10. ^ "Sandro Varejão #8". basquetedefranca.com.br (in Portuguese). Retrieved April 20, 2019.
  11. ^ "Vasco da Gama X Franca/Marathon". cbb.com.br (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on March 28, 2004. Retrieved April 20, 2019.
  12. ^ "Vasco joga hoje para conhecer NBA". Folha de São Paulo (in Portuguese). October 15, 1999. Retrieved April 20, 2019.
  13. ^ "CAMPEÃO DA LIGA SUL-AMERICANA 2000 - CAMPEÃO BRASILEIRO 2000 - CAMPEÃO ESTADUAL 2000". netvasco.com (in Portuguese). Retrieved April 20, 2019.
  14. ^ Gouveia, Guilherme (February 5, 2003). "Londrina desafia Ajax em Goiânia". Folha de Londrina (in Portuguese). Retrieved April 20, 2019.
  15. ^ "Universo se expande e põe em risco elite do basquete". Folha de São Paulo (in Portuguese). December 4, 2003. Retrieved April 20, 2019.
  16. ^ "Universo/Ajax vence a segunda e lidera o Nacional masculino". UOL Esporte (in Portuguese). January 26, 2004. Retrieved April 20, 2019.
  17. ^ "Telemar ganha outra de Brasília e vai à final do Nacional". UOL Esporte (in Portuguese). June 10, 2005. Retrieved April 20, 2019.
  18. ^ "Universo march on". fiba.basketball. February 7, 2007. Retrieved April 20, 2019.
  19. ^ "Sul-Americano masculino de basquete". UOL Esporte (in Portuguese). Retrieved April 20, 2019.
  20. ^ "Brasil bate venezuelanos e conquista 2ª vitória no Sul-Americano". terra.com.br (in Portuguese). July 23, 2001. Retrieved April 20, 2019.
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