Casey Sanders (born October 23, 1979) is a retired American professional basketball player better known for his high school and collegiate careers in the United States. He was the starting

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 eccentricity ...

in the 2001 NCAA tournament national championship game for

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...

, who won the game and were crowned national champions during his

sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. In ...

season.

Playing career

High school

Sanders played for

Tampa Preparatory School Tampa Preparatory School is a 6–12 private, co-educational middle and high college-preparatory school in Tampa, Florida, United States. It was established in 1974. The school is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schoo ...

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...

from 1995 to 1999. During his four-year varsity career, he scored over 2,400 points and recorded more than 500 blocks. His average of 7.0 blocks per game in one season is the second-highest average in United States high school history, while his single game (19) and career blocks totals set Florida state all-time prep records. Sanders led Tampa Prep to three consecutive state tournament appearances over his final three seasons while the team went a combined 89–10 during that span. In his

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

year, Sanders averaged 22 points, 11 rebounds and 7 blocks per game; he was named Florida's Class AAA Player of the Year,

Florida Mr. Basketball Each year the Florida Mr. Basketball award is given to the person chosen as the best high school boys basketball player in the U.S. state of Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bor ...

, and a

McDonald's All-American McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hamburger ...

. He also recorded 26

triple-double In basketball, a double-double is a single-game performance in which a player accumulates ten or more in two of the following five statistical categories: points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocked shots. The first "double" in the term ...

s during his high school career.

College

Sanders played for

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...

between 1999 and 2003. During his

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. Ara ...

year he averaged 1.8 points and 1.2 rebounds per game but was part of a freshman class who averaged a collective 40.5 points per game, which at the time was the fourth-highest total by a freshman class in

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

(ACC) history. His contributions increased slightly the following year when he averaged 2.5 points, 1.8 rebounds and 0.9 blocks per game. During a home game against Maryland late in the ACC season, Duke's starting center

Carlos Boozer Carlos Austin Boozer Jr. (born November 20, 1981) is an American former professional basketball player. The two-time NBA All-Star played for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Utah Jazz, Chicago Bulls, and Los Angeles Lakers, and then spent his last seas ...

broke his foot, leaving the Blue Devils—an already undersized team—without a veteran "big man" heading into the NCAA Tournament. Sanders made his first career start in the ACC tournament championship game against

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, but his athleticism made Duke even quicker than before as they won the game. He went on to anchor Duke's defense throughout the NCAA Tournament. On April 2, 2001, the Blue Devils defeated

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

82–72 in the national championship game with Sanders as their starting center. His final two seasons at Duke were not as successful. The Blue Devils did not reach beyond the Sweet 16 in either year, and Sanders' season averages were still very low for a player who came out of high school as a top recruit. In his

year in 2002–03, he accumulated more personal fouls (102) than made

field goals A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. The entire ball ...

(58).

Professional

No team selected Sanders in the

2003 NBA draft The 2003 NBA draft was held on June 26, 2003, at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. The NBA announced that 41 college and high school players and a record 31 international players had filed as early-entry candidates ...

after his college career ended. With the exception of a 31-game stint for the

NBA Development League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official List of developmental and minor sports leagues, minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development ...

Roanoke Dazzle The Roanoke Dazzle were an NBA Development League team based in Roanoke, Virginia, U.S.. In operation from the inaugural D-League season of 2001–02 through the 2005–06 season, the Dazzle marked the return of professional basketball to Roanoke ...

in 2005, he played his entire professional career overseas. Teams he played for include LF Basket in Sweden,

Panteras de Miranda Panteras de Miranda is a Venezuelan professional basketball club based in Miranda. The club competes in the Liga Profesional de Baloncesto The Superliga Profesional de Baloncesto, commonly known as the SPB, is the Venezuelan first division natio ...

in Venezuela, and Unia Tarnów in Poland.

Personal life

Casey Sanders is the son of Jesse and Alice Jackson. He has two sisters and two brothers. During college he held an

internship An internship is a period of work experience offered by an organization for a limited period of time. Once confined to medical graduates, internship is used practice for a wide range of placements in businesses, non-profit organizations and gover ...

for

GlaxoSmithKline GSK plc, formerly GlaxoSmithKline plc, is a British multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company with global headquarters in London, England. Established in 2000 by a merger of Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham. GSK is the ten ...

, saying that he "really enjoyed isinternship" and that "it was really good for im"

References

External links

College statistics
@ sports-reference.com
Duke profile

Eurobasket profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sanders, Casey 1979 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Poland American expatriate basketball people in Sweden American expatriate basketball people in Venezuela Basketball players from Tampa, Florida Centers (basketball) Duke Blue Devils men's basketball players LF Basket Norrbotten players McDonald's High School All-Americans Panteras de Miranda players Roanoke Dazzle players Unia Tarnów basketball players American men's basketball players