Francisco Fernando Alonso Martínez (born 25 May 1996) is a Spanish professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player for Estudiantes of the Spanish

Liga ACB The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administrated by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, wi ...

. He 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 ...

for the

UNC Greensboro Spartans The UNC Greensboro Spartans are the athletic teams that represent the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in Greensboro, North Carolina. They compete in the Southern Conference in all sports. History The intercollegiate athletics program ...

Early life and career

Alonso was born and brought up in

Málaga Málaga (, ) is a municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 578,460 in 2020, it is the second-most populous city in Andalusia after Seville and the sixth most pop ...

, Spain. The son of former basketball player and coach Paco Alonso, he began playing basketball from a young age. He played youth basketball for

Unicaja Málaga Unicaja is a Spanish savings bank based in Málaga and chartered as a caja de ahorros providing retail banking services. The banks full name is ''Monte de Piedad y Caja de Ahorros de Ronda, Cádiz, Almería, Málaga y Antequera'' after th ...

and competed for Clinicas Rincón Axarquía. Alonso became friends with his Unicaja teammate

Domantas Sabonis Domantas Sabonis (; born May 3, 1996) is a Lithuanian-American professional basketball player for the Sacramento Kings of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is a two-time NBA All-Star. Sabonis started his career in Spain with Unicaj ...

, a future

NBA All-Star The National Basketball Association (NBA) All-Star Game is an annual exhibition basketball game. It is the main event of the NBA All-Star Weekend. Originally, the All-Star Game featured a conference-based format, featuring a team composed of al ...

. At age 18, he moved to the United States to attend

Cushing Academy Cushing Academy is a Private school, private, coeducational College preparatory, college-preparatory school for Boarding school, boarding and Day school, day students in Ashburnham, Massachusetts, United States. It serves approximately 400 student ...

, a private boarding school in

Ashburnham, Massachusetts Ashburnham () is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. At the 2020 census, the town population was 6,315. It is home to Cushing Academy, a private preparatory boarding school. Ashburnham contains the census-designated place ...

. In his only season at the school, Alonso averaged 17.0 points, 6.5 assists and three rebounds per game, leading his team to an 18–8 record and the

New England Preparatory School Athletic Council The New England Preparatory School Athletic Council (NEPSAC) is an organization that serves as the governing body for sports in preparatory schools and leagues in New England. The organization has 169 full member schools as well as 24 associate ...

quarterfinals. He committed to

UNC Greensboro The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG or UNC Greensboro) is a public research university in Greensboro, North Carolina. It is part of the University of North Carolina system. UNCG, like all members of the UNC system, is a stand-al ...

over offers from

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, Elon,

South Florida South Florida is the southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the other two are Central Florida and North Florida. South Florida is the southernmost part of th ...

Iona Iona (; gd, Ì Chaluim Chille (IPA: �iːˈxaɫ̪ɯimˈçiʎə, sometimes simply ''Ì''; sco, Iona) is a small island in the Inner Hebrides, off the Ross of Mull on the western coast of Scotland. It is mainly known for Iona Abbey, though there ...

Western Kentucky Western Kentucky is the western portion of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It generally includes part or all of several more widely recognized regions of the state. ;Always included * The Jackson Purchase, the state's westernmost generally recogniz ...

, and

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

College career

Before Alonso arrived at UNC Greensboro, the team had endure seven consecutive losing seasons. He primarily functioned as a catch-and-shoot perimeter scorer as a freshman. He led the team in scording during his freshman season at 13.0 points per game. As a sophomore, Alonso averaged 14.9 points and 2.0 assists per game for a team that reached the NIT. He was named to the Second Team All-

Southern Conference The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I. Southern Conference football teams compete in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly ...

. As a junior, Alonso averaged 15.6 points and 2.9 rebounds per game in leading the team to the NCAA Tournament. He scored a career-high 31 points in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament versus Samford. He was named to the First Team All-SoCon and was named most outstanding player of the conference tournament. On February 28, 2019, Alonso became the second player in school history to surpass 2,000 career points, finishing with 18 points in a 100-96 win over

The Citadel The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, commonly known simply as The Citadel, is a Public college, public United States senior military college, senior military college in Charleston, South Carolina. Established in 1842, it is one ...

. As a senior, Alonso averaged 17.6 points, 2.5 assists and 2.3 rebounds per game, shooting 37.1 percent from three-point range. He was named to the First Team All-SoCon alongside teammate Isaiah Miller.

Professional career

On 26 July 2019, Alonso signed a two-year contract with an option for a third year with

of the

. He was immediately loaned to ACB club Montakit Fuenlabrada for his first season. About one month into the season, Alonso suffered an ankle injury at the

Supercopa de España The Supercopa de España or the ''Spanish Super Cup'' is a super cup tournament in Spanish football. Founded in 1982 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2019–20 by four teams: the winners and runners-up of ...

and initially attempted to play through it. He had

edema Edema, also spelled oedema, and also known as fluid retention, dropsy, hydropsy and swelling, is the build-up of fluid in the body's Tissue (biology), tissue. Most commonly, the legs or arms are affected. Symptoms may include skin which feels t ...

in his joint and missed about five months of action while recovering. Alonso played three games for Fuenlabrada, averaging 1.7 points per game, before being loaned to Liberbank Oviedo Baloncesto of the

LEB Oro LEB or Leb may refer to: * Lausanne–Echallens–Bercher railway, Switzerland * Lebanon, UNDP country code * Lebanon Municipal Airport (New Hampshire) (FAA identifier) * Lexham English Bible * Life expectancy at birth * Liga Española de Balonces ...

. On 7 March 2020, Alonso recorded a season-high 31 points, seven rebounds and five assists in an 88–70 win over Leyma Básquet Coruña. He later rejoined Unicaja. On 8 June, Alonso announced that he had tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

National team career

Alonso represented Spain during the 2016 FIBA U20 European Championship in Helsinki, Finland. He helped the team to a 68-55 victory over Lithuania in the championship game. Alonso averaged 13.0 points, 3.7 assists and 3.4 rebounds per game and was named to the Championship’s All-Star Five team.

References

External links