David Aliu (born 13 March 1981) is a British retired professional

basketball player 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 ...

. He last played for

Cheshire Phoenix The Cheshire Phoenix are a professional basketball team based in Ellesmere Port, England. Founded in 1984, they are members of the British Basketball League and play their home games at the Cheshire Oaks Arena. From 1993 until 2015 the team was ...

in the

British Basketball League The British Basketball League (BBL) is a men's professional basketball league in Great Britain and represents the highest level of play in the countries. The league is contested by 10 teams from England and Scotland. There are no clubs howeve ...

. Aliu was part of the Mersey Tigers' treble-winning 2010/11 team, and in November 2011, became the Tigers' record points scorer in the BBL.

Early life and career

Born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

, England, Aliu started playing basketball at the age of 14 in his home town of Liverpool, playing for local side Toxteth Tigers. He landed a scholarship in the US, playing at the Notre Dame Academy in Virginia, before moving on to and graduating from Morehead State University, Kentucky in 2004.

Professional career

The power forward made his

debut on 01/10/2004 playing for

Scottish Rocks The Caledonia Gladiators are a professional basketball club in Glasgow, Scotland. The Gladiators compete in the British Basketball League, the top tier of British basketball. Since 2012, the team have played their home games at the Emirates Ar ...

against Newcastle Eagles, and he went on to make 11 appearances for the Rocks, averaging 6.27 PPG. He then moved on to play for three teams in the Icelandic Úrvalsdeild karla - Tindastóll (15.7 ppg and 5.0 rpg), Hamar/Selfoss (20.7 ppg and 8.9 rpg) and

Þór Þorlákshöfn Ungmennafélagið Þór, commonly known as Þór Þorlákshöfn, is a multi-sport club in Þorlákshöfn, Iceland. It has active departments in athletics, badminton, basketball, motorcycle sports and track & field but has also featured various othe ...

(23.6 ppg and 9.5 rpg) - from 2005 to 2007, with a short spell at

Leicester Riders Leicester Riders are a British professional basketball team and the oldest club in the British Basketball League (BBL). Established in 1967, the club have played in various locations around Leicestershire before moving to their current purpose- ...

in the BBL in the middle. After a brief spell with Celso Míguez Procolor in Spain, Aliu returned to his home city to play for the new professional franchise, Everton Tigers. He averaged 15.8 points per game in 33 appearances for the Tigers, before leaving to play for BBC Lausanne in Switzerland. He took a year out of the sport following the birth of his daughter, but returned to the re-branded Mersey Tigers for the 2010/11 season. Aliu won the BBL Championship, BBL Trophy and BBL play-off titles, playing alongside Great Britain players Andrew Sullivan and

Nate Reinking Nate James Reinking (born 12 December 1973) is a British-American professional basketball coach and former player, who is an assistant coach for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the coach of the Great Brit ...

, in a very successful season. In August 2011, Aliu signed a new two-year deal with the Tigers to keep him at the club until the end of the 2012/13 season. In September 2012, Aliu signed with a contract with the

Manchester Giants The Manchester Giants are a British professional basketball team based in Manchester, England. The franchise was established in 2011, and admitted to the top-tier British Basketball League in 2012. The team's formation was led by a consortium ...

. In June 2014, Aliu signed a two-year contract with the

. On 20 July 2016 Aliu retired from basketball.

Other Notes

Aliu was the first person to score a basket at the ECHO Arena in Liverpool.

References

External links

*
David Aliu Column on BBL Fans

Úrvalsdeild statistics
at

Icelandic Basketball Association The Icelandic Basketball Association (''Icelandic:Körfuknattleikssamband Íslands - KKÍ'') is the national governing body of basketball in Iceland and is a member of the continental association FIBA Europe and the global International Basketba ...

College statistics
at Sports Reference {{DEFAULTSORT:Aliu, David 1981 births Living people Cheshire Phoenix players English men's basketball players Hamar men's basketball players Leicester Riders players Manchester Giants players Mersey Tigers players Minnesota State–Moorhead Dragons men's basketball players Power forwards (basketball) Sportspeople from Liverpool Ungmennafélagið Tindastóll men's basketball players Úrvalsdeild karla (basketball) players Þór Þorlákshöfn (basketball club) players British expatriate basketball people in the United States British expatriate basketball people in Iceland Black British sportsmen British expatriate basketball people in Spain British expatriate basketball people in Switzerland English expatriate sportspeople in the United States English expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland English expatriate sportspeople in Spain English expatriate sportspeople in Iceland