Doron Sheffer ( he, דורון שפר; born 12 March 1972), is an Israeli retired 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 spent most of his club career playing with

Maccabi Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv ( he, מכבי תל אביב) is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such ...

. During his playing career he played at the point guard and shooting guard positions. During his playing days, his nickname was "The Iceman".

Early career

Sheffer first gained fame at age 21, in the

Israeli Premier League The Israeli Premier League ( he, ליגת העל, ''Ligat Ha`Al'', ), is a professional association football league which operates as the highest division of the Israeli Football League – the state's league of Israel. The league is contested b ...

, when he led

Hapoel Galil Elyon Hapoel Galil Elyon ( he, הפועל גליל עליון), also known as Hapoel Nofar Energy Galil Elion for sponsorship reasons, is an Israeli basketball club. The team competes in the Israeli Basketball Premier League, the top tier of Israeli b ...

to a victory in the Israeli League semifinals, over powerhouse

, in 1993.

College career

Following fellow Israeli Nadav Henefeld, Sheffer then played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

, under head coach

Jim Calhoun James A. Calhoun (born May 10, 1942) is a longtime college basketball coach. He is best known for his tenure as head coach of the University of Connecticut (UConn) men's basketball team. His teams won three NCAA national championships ( 1999, ...

, at the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from H ...

, with the

UConn Huskies The UConn Huskies (or Connecticut Huskies) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Connecticut, located in Storrs. The school is a member of the NCAA's Division I and the Big East Conference. The university's foo ...

, from 1993 to 1996. In the 1993–94 season, Sheffer was the Big East Conference Rookie of the Year. While at UConn, Sheffer formed a trio with fellow starters

Ray Allen Walter Ray Allen Jr. (born July 20, 1975) is an American former professional basketball player. He played 18 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a player in ...

and

Kevin Ollie Kevin Jermaine Ollie (born December 27, 1972) is an American basketball coach and former player. Kevin is the head coach for Overtime Elite, a professional basketball league co-founded by Dan Porter and Zack Weiner for top players between 16 and ...

, that won the Big East basketball championship in three straight years. He is the only player from UConn with 1,000 points and 500 assists, in three varsity seasons. He was named to the school's All-20th Century team.

Professional career

Sheffer was selected in the

1996 NBA Draft The 1996 NBA draft was the 50th draft in the National Basketball Association (NBA). It was held on June 26, 1996 at Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey. In this draft, NBA teams took turns selecting college basketball playe ...

, by the

Los Angeles Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division in the league's Western Conference. The Clipper ...

, with the 36th overall pick, but he chose to sign with

. After four years with Maccabi, where he won four straight Israeli League championships and played in the

2000 EuroLeague Final Four The 2000 FIBA EuroLeague Final Four was the FIBA EuroLeague Final Four tournament of the 1999–2000 season. It was the second to last edition of the FIBA EuroLeague Final Fours that were organized by FIBA Europe. For the next edition of the tou ...

, Sheffer retired suddenly, walking away from the public's eye, to travel the world, to

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

, and Costa Rica. During this time, he had a

cancerous tumor Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

removed from his testicles. Despite the illness, and the time away from basketball, Sheffer decided to make a comeback. After finishing his contract with Maccabi, he signed with

Hapoel Jerusalem Hapoel Jerusalem is a sport organization in Jerusalem as a local branch of the Hapoel movement. The branch was established in the 1920s and represents the city in more sports than any other sport organization in Jerusalem. Today, the club's leadi ...

. In 2004, he won the ULEB Eurocup ( EuroCup) championship with Hapoel.Sheffer Biography
UconnHoopLegends.com Sheffer retired again in 2005, and then made another comeback in 2006. He then retired again in 2008. 5 years later, in 2013, he made a final comeback to the game, before finally retiring in 2014.

National team career

Sheffer was a member of the senior

Israeli national basketball team The Israel men's national basketball team ( he, נבחרת ישראל בכדורסל) represents Israel in international basketball tournaments. They are administered by the Israeli Basketball Association. Israel is currently ranked 33rd in the ...

. With Israel, he played at the

1993 EuroBasket The 1993 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1993, was the 28th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA Europe. It was held in Germany between 22 June and 4 July 1993. Sixteen national teams entered ...

, the

1995 EuroBasket The 1995 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1995, was the 29th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe, which also served as Europe qualifier for the 1996 Summer Olympics, giving a berth to ea ...

, the

1997 EuroBasket The 1997 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1997, was the 30th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe, which also served as Europe qualifier for the 1998 FIBA World Championship, giving a be ...

, and the

1999 EuroBasket The 1999 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1999, was the 31st FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe, which also served as Europe qualifier for the 2000 Olympic Tournament, giving a berth ...

.Doron SHEFFER (ISR).
/ref>

References

External links

*

Euroleague.net profile

Israeli League profile

Mccabi Tel Aviv profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sheffer, Doron 1972 births Living people Baalei teshuva Israeli Orthodox Jews Point guards Shooting guards Israeli men's basketball players Sportspeople from Petah Tikva Hapoel Galil Elyon players Maccabi Tel Aviv B.C. players Hapoel Jerusalem B.C. players Hapoel Tel Aviv B.C. players Israeli Basketball Premier League players Israeli expatriate basketball people in the United States All-American college men's basketball players Los Angeles Clippers draft picks UConn Huskies men's basketball players