Anthony Pelle (born December 1, 1972) is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player who was selected by the

Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team was founded as the D ...

in the second round (44th overall pick) of the

1995 NBA draft The 1995 NBA draft took place on June 28, 1995, at SkyDome in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It marked the first NBA draft to be held outside the United States and was the first draft for the two Canadian expansion teams, Toronto Raptors and Vancouve ...

. Pelle, who was born in

the Bronx, New York The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New York ...

and played collegiately at

Villanova University Villanova University is a Private university, private Catholic church, Roman Catholic research university in Villanova, Pennsylvania. It was founded by the Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinians in 1842 and named after Thomas of Villanova, Sa ...

and

Fresno State University California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California. It is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers bache ...

, did not appear in any NBA games but plied his trade several leagues in Europe, most notably in Greece, Spain and Italy as well as in second-tier leagues in the United States.

College career

After coming out of Stevenson High, in the Bronx Pelle committed to Villanova to play under coach

Steve Lappas Stephan Thomas Lappas (born March 18, 1954) is an American former college basketball coach. He coached at Manhattan (1988–1992), Villanova (1992–2001) and UMass (2001–2005), compiling a 280–237 (.542) record over a 17-year coaching ca ...

. He stayed in Villanova for three seasons, appeared in 81 games and averaged 3.1

points per game Points per game, often abbreviated PPG, is the average number of points scored by a player per game played in a sport, over the course of a series of games, a whole season, or a career. It is calculated by dividing the total number of points by nu ...

, 2.5 rebounds per game and 1.2 blocks per game. At the time he left Villanova, in 1193, he was fourth all-time in blocked shots for the school. In May 1993 Pelle was arrested for assaulting another student. After getting transferred to

Fresno State California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California. It is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers bachelo ...

he sat out for the 1993–1994 season. In his last year of college eligibility Pelle appeared in 24 games for the Bulldogs averaging 10.8 points per game, 8.0 rebounds per game and 2.0 blocks per game.

Professional career

Pelle was drafted 44th overall in the

by the

. In 1995 Pelle signed for

AEK A.E.K ( el, AEK , formally Αθλητική Ένωσις Κωνσταντινουπόλεως; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople''), known as A.E.K, is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadelf ...

in the

Greek Basket League The Greek Basket League (GBL), often also referred to as the Greek A1 Basketball League, or Greek Basketball Championship (originally called Panhellenic Basketball Championship), and also known as the Stoiximan Basket League for sponsorship reaso ...

. In the following season he played for

CB Girona Club Bàsquet Sant Josep was a professional basketball team based in Girona, Catalonia, Spain. History The club was founded in 1962 by Ramon Sitjà as CB Sant Josep. In 1989 it became the Anonymous Sport Association (SAD). In 1987, when the ACB ...

where he averaged 10.1 points, 8.6 rebounds and 3.0 blocks per game in 33 games. Subsequently, Pelle played for several teams in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. Pelle has also played in second-tier leagues in the US ( ABA, CBA,

NBDL The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) from 2001 to 2005, and the NBA Dev ...

and

USBL The United States Basketball League (USBL) was a professional men's spring basketball league. The league was formed in 1985 and ceased operations in 2008. The USBL started in 1985 as one of the first basketball leagues to play a late-spring to ...

). On September 30, 2002 he signed for the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at Li ...

as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

but he was waived after a few days.

References

External links

*Player profile a
USAbasket.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pelle, Anthony 1972 births Living people AEK B.C. players American expatriate basketball people in Greece American expatriate basketball people in Spain CB Girona players Denver Nuggets draft picks Fresno State Bulldogs men's basketball players Greek Basket League players Liga ACB players Papagou B.C. players Basketball players from the Bronx Villanova Wildcats men's basketball players American men's basketball players Centers (basketball)