Cozell McQueen (born January 18, 1962) is an American former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player. He was part of the

NC State North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The university ...

side that surprisingly won the 1983 NCAA Tournament. Though he briefly played in the NBA 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 L ...

, the majority of his professional career took place in the minor leagues and in Europe. He played as a

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College career

As a sophomore, McQueen took part in

North Carolina State North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The unive ...

's 1983 NCAA title. He sunk an off-balance shot to tie the overtime game against

Pepperdine Pepperdine University () is a private research university affiliated with the Churches of Christ with its main campus in Los Angeles County, California. Pepperdine's main campus consists of 830 acres (340 ha) overlooking the Pacific Ocean and ...

in the first round of the Tournament. In the semifinal against

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, McQueen - who had more playing than usual as the Wolfpack dropped their three-guard lineup - posted a career-high 13 rebounds and added 8 points. In the final against favourites

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

, he had 12 rebounds and 4 points whilst also defending Hakeem Olajuwon as NC State earned an upset win to win the tournament. He finished his collegiate career in 1985 with 5.3 points and 6 rebounds per game on average.

Professional career

He was drafted by the

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 1968 ...

in the 4th round of the

1985 NBA draft The 1985 NBA Draft took place on June 18, 1985. It was also the first NBA draft of the "lottery" era. It was also around this time where the league decreased the amount of rounds the draft spent, with the previous few years lasting up to 10 roun ...

, he was waived by the Bucks a week later. McQueen signed with Spanish side Cacaolat Granollers the same year but was again released, having only played in the Catalan league. McQueen then moved to the Continental Basketball Association, playing with the Wisconsin Flyers. He was signed as a free-agent by the New York Knicks in August 1986 but was released without playing a competitive game less than two months later. He then returned to play in the CBA. He averaged 11.9 points and 10.2 rebounds for the

La Crosse Catbirds The La Crosse Catbirds was an American basketball team based in La Crosse, Wisconsin and member of the Continental Basketball Association. The Catbirds were the 1990 and 1992 CBA champions. The team moved to La Crosse from Louisville in 1985, an ...

in the CBA for the first-half of the 1986-1987 season. McQueen was signed by the

in January 1987 on a 10-day contract as an injury replacement for Rick Mahorn. Though he posted 6 points (on 3 for 3 shooting) and 8 rebounds in 7 minutes, he could not find space in a roster containing Adrian Dantley,

John Salley John Thomas Salley (born May 16, 1964) is an American former professional basketball player, talk show host, and actor. He was the first player in NBA history to win championships with three franchises (since joined by Robert Horry, Danny Gree ...

and

Dennis Rodman Dennis Keith Rodman (born May 13, 1961) is an American former professional basketball player. Known for his fierce defensive and rebounding abilities, his biography on the official NBA website states that he is "arguably the best reboundin ...

and left after 3 games, finishing the season with the Catbirds. McQueen then moved abroad, returning to his birth country,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, to play for

Tours Tours ( , ) is one of the largest cities in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the prefecture of the department of Indre-et-Loire. The commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabitants as of 2018 while the population of the whole metro ...

in the Pro A. He had 12 points, 10.6 rebounds and 1.5 blocks in 37.3 minutes per game for 1987-88. For the next season, he moved to the Italian

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Cop ...

, signing with Paini Napoli. He led the league in blocks with 2.1 per game in 1988-89, adding 16.3 points and 11.5 rebounds in 35.4 minutes. Joining Philips Milano in 1990, he had 10.2 points, 12.1 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in 32.7 minutes per game. The American then signed with Spanish side CAI Zaragoza in 1991. He averaged 9 points, 11 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in 35 minutes on average in the Liga ACB during 1991-1992. A return to Italy followed, signing a $800,000 contract with Scaini Venezia. He was replaced by

Shelton Jones Shelton Jones (born April 4, 1966) is an American former professional basketball player who played collegiately at St. John's University. He was selected by the San Antonio Spurs in the second round (27th pick overall) of the 1988 NBA draft. Sh ...

in February 1993 after posting 9.1 points, 10.2 rebounds and 1.2 blocks in nearly 33 minutes per game. He finished his career in the American minor leagues, retiring in 1996.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McQueen, Cozell 1962 births Living people American men's basketball players Basketball players from South Carolina Basket Napoli players CB Zaragoza players Centers (basketball) Detroit Pistons players Kansas City Sizzlers players La Crosse Catbirds players Lega Basket Serie A players Liga ACB players Milwaukee Bucks draft picks NC State Wolfpack men's basketball players Olimpia Milano players People from Marlboro County, South Carolina Power forwards (basketball) Rochester Renegade players Reyer Venezia players Wisconsin Flyers players