Andy Van Vliet (born July 27, 1995) is a Belgian basketball player who plays

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to centers. When on offense, they typically play with their ba ...

and

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

for Bnei Herzliya Basket in the Israeli Basketball Premier League. He played college basketball for the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...

and the

College of William & Mary The College of William & Mary (officially The College of William and Mary in Virginia, abbreviated as William & Mary, W&M) is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia. Founded in 1693 by letters patent issued by King William I ...

Early and personal life

Van Vliet was born in

Brasschaat Brasschaat () is a municipality located in Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium, and in the Flemish province of Antwerp. The municipality only comprises the town of Brasschaat proper. In November 2006, Brasschaat won the LivCom-Award 200 ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

, and his hometown is Antwerp, Belgium. He speaks Dutch, French, English, and German. He is 7' 0" (213 cm) tall, and weighs 231 pounds (105 kg). He played as an amateur for the

Antwerp Giants Antwerp Giants, named Telenet Giants Antwerp for sponsorship reasons, are a Belgians, Belgian professional basketball club based in Antwerp. Their home arena is Lotto Arena. The club plays in the BNXT League, the highest tier of Belgian basketbal ...

on its B team in 2013–15. Van Vilet would make brief appearances with the senior team mainly during the 2014–2015 season including games against

Enisey The Yenisey (russian: Енисе́й, ''Yeniséy''; mn, Горлог мөрөн, ''Gorlog mörön''; Buryat: Горлог мүрэн, ''Gorlog müren''; Tuvan: Улуг-Хем, ''Uluğ-Hem''; Khakas: Ким суғ, ''Kim suğ''; Ket: Ӄук, ...

and

Trabzonspor Trabzonspor Kulübü is a Turkish sports club located in the city of Trabzon. Formed in 1967 through a merger of several local clubs, the men's football team has won seven Süper Lig championships. Trabzonspor also have a women's football team, ...

in the

EuroChallenge FIBA EuroChallenge (called the FIBA Europe League in 2003–05, and FIBA EuroCup in 2005–08) was the 3rd-tier level transnational men's professional continental club basketball competition in Europe, from 2003 to 2015. It was organized and run ...

. Van Vliet also played on the Belgian Youth National Basketball Team, and competed in the European Championship on its U16, U18 and the U20 team in July 2015. He averaged 5.8 points and 5.2 rebounds per game during the 2015 European Championship. Van Vliet attended Canarias Basketball Academy in Spain for high school.

College

Van Vliet first attended the

, where he studied Sociology and played for the

Badgers Badgers are short-legged omnivores in the family Mustelidae (which also includes the otters, wolverines, martens, minks, polecats, weasels, and ferrets). Badgers are a polyphyletic rather than a natural taxonomic grouping, being united by the ...

in the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

. He was the sixth 7-footer in team history. In his freshman season in 2015–16, he sat out the season after the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

ruled him ineligible for not enrolling in college within a year of his high school graduation. In his sophomore season in 2016–17, Van Vliet played only 3.4 minutes a game, during which he averaged 1.3 points and 1.4 rebounds. In his junior season in 2017–18, he averaged 3.4 points and 1.4 rebounds per game. After transferring from Wisconsin to the

('20), where he earned a degree in

kinesiology Kinesiology () is the scientific study of human body movement. Kinesiology addresses physiological, anatomical, biomechanical, pathological, neuropsychological principles and mechanisms of movement. Applications of kinesiology to human healt ...

and played for the

Tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to confli ...

in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA), Van Vliet sat out his junior season in 2018-19 as a

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Entertainment * ''Red Shirts'' (film), a 1952 film about Anita Garibaldi by Franco Rossi * Redshirt (stock character), originally derived from ''Star Trek'', a stock character who dies soon after ...

due to NCAA transfer rules. In his senior season in 2019–20, Van Vliet ranked second in the CAA in blocks per game (1.3), third in defensive rebounds (7.3), fourth in overall rebounds (8.7), fifth in field goal percentage (.461), and 13th in scoring (13.2). He ranked 17th nationally in defensive rebounds, 61st in overall rebounds, and 77th in rebounds per game. He was named CAA Player of the Week on November 18. He was named All-CAA Third Team.

Professional career

In 2020 he started his professional career with BC Šiauliai in the

Lithuanian Basketball League Lithuanian may refer to: * Lithuanians * Lithuanian language * The country of Lithuania * Grand Duchy of Lithuania * Culture of Lithuania * Lithuanian cuisine * Lithuanian Jews as often called "Lithuanians" (''Lita'im'' or ''Litvaks'') by other Jew ...

, averaging 11.1 points, 5.8 rebounds (10th in the league), and 0.6 blocks per game. In 2021 Van Vliet joined the Israeli team Bnei Herzliya Basket in the Israeli Basketball Premier League, for whom he plays both

and

International play

In 2020 Van Vliet was called up to the Belgian Lions national basketball team for the first time.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Van Vliet, Andy 1995 births Living people BC Šiauliai players Belgian expatriate sportspeople in Israel Belgian men's basketball players Belgium national basketball players Belgian expatriate sportspeople in Lithuania Bnei Hertzeliya basketball players Israeli Basketball Premier League players People from Brasschaat Sportspeople from Antwerp Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball players William & Mary Tribe men's basketball players