Khalid El-Amin (born April 25, 1979) is a retired American 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. He was a member of the 1999

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 Hart ...

men's basketball team that won the NCAA championship. He is originally from

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

where he played for North High School in Minneapolis. In 2000, he was selected in the 2nd round by the

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded on January 1 ...

of the NBA Draft and played 50 games for them, averaging 6.3 points and 2.9 assists per game. He played professionally in several countries, mainly in Europe.

College career

After leading Minneapolis North HS to three straight state titles and being named 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 ...

, the three-time Minnesota State Player of the Year and 1997

Minnesota Mr. Basketball Minnesota Mr. Basketball is an annual award recognizing excellence in Minnesota boys' high school basketball. The female equivalent is Minnesota Miss Basketball. The award's legitimacy was challenged in February 2017 when Henry Sibley, Minnesota h ...

was named Big East Conference Rookie of the Year while being second in the team in scoring (16.0) and setting the UConn single-season scoring record for a freshman. As a sophomore, El-Amin was the starting point guard on their team that won the 1999 NCAA Championship game over Duke. In the final game he scored the Huskies' final 4 points in their 77–74 victory. In 2000 El-Amin led the Huskies in scoring (16.0), assists (4.4) and steals (1.7) and was named to the All-Big East first team. He was also one of 15 finalists for the Naismith Award and set a Big East record by making 93.4 percent of his FTs in league games. El-Amin scored a collegiate career-high 34 points in a 75–70 loss to the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...

on January 5, 2000, which ended the UConn Huskies' 10-game winning streak. He left UConn as fourth all-time at the school in FT percentage at 82.2, sixth all-time in assists and fifth in steals. His averages per game in his final season are 31.9 minutes, 16.0 points, 3.1 rebounds, 5.2 assists, 2.7 turnovers, 1.7 steals, makes 2.9 of 5.5 field goals (41.1%) and 4.1 of 4.6 free throws (89.2%). He finished his college career with averages of 30.1 minutes, 15.3 points on 41.6% shooting and 82.2% free throws, 3.0 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 2.7 turnovers and 1.7 steals. El-Amin also helped the U.S. to a gold medal performance in the '98 Goodwill Games in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

NBA career

El-Amin was drafted by the

in the 2nd round with the 5th pick (34th overall) of the 2000 NBA Draft. That year, he played in the Schick Rookie Challenge at All-Star weekend in Washington, DC and scored 18 points. El-Amin only played 1 season in the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

, playing 50 games (14 starts) and had a per-game average of 6.3 points, 2.9 assists, 1.6 rebounds, 1 steal, and 1.1 turnovers. His final NBA game was played on February 6, 2001 in a 78 - 84 loss to the Golden State Warriors where he played for 13 minutes and recorded 2 assists.

European career

El-Amin signed with

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

(France) in January 2002. He then joined Maccabi Ironi

Ramat Gan Ramat Gan ( he, רָמַת גַּן or , ) is a city in the Tel Aviv District of Israel, located east of the municipality of Tel Aviv and part of the Tel Aviv metropolitan area. It is home to one of the world's major diamond exchanges, and many ...

(Israel) in November 2002. He joined Besiktas Istanbul of the Turkish league in August 2003. Dominating the league for two seasons, El-Amin was second in scoring (20.9) and third in assists (5.2) in his first season. In 2005, he led the league in assists and averaged 20.4 points a game. He was named MVP of the Turkish League All-Star Game in 2005 and was a member of the World Team at the 2005 FIBA Europe All-Star Game. In June 2005, he started his first season with

Azovmash Mariupol MBK Mariupol ( uk, МБК «Маріуполь»") (former name: BK Azovmash)is a Ukrainian professional basketball club. It was founded in 1990 in the city of Mariupol in South-Eastern Ukraine. Mariupol was one of the strongest teams in Ukraine ...

of the

Ukrainian Basketball SuperLeague The Ukrainian Basketball SuperLeague (USL) ( uk, Українська баскетбольна суперліга) is the first-tier level of professional basketball league in Ukraine. Established in 1992, the league is currently contested by 10 c ...

. Azovmash won the 2006 Ukrainian Championship, and El-Amin was named the MVP of both the regular season and playoffs. In June 2007, he signed with Türk Telekom B.K. of the

Turkish Basketball Super League Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

for the 2007–08 season. In June 2008, he returned to Azovmash and signed a two-year contract. In March 2009, he returned to Türk Telekom for the remainder of the season. He was named to the All-EuroCup Second Team for the 2008–09 Eurocup season. In August 2009, he signed with

Budivelnyk Kyiv BC Budivelnyk Kyiv (in Ukrainian: Будівельник Київ) is a Ukrainian professional basketball club based in Kyiv. The club plays in the Ukrainian Basketball SuperLeague. In June 2018, it was forced to withdraw from the Superleague due ...

. He left Budivelnyk after one season. In October 2010, he signed a one-year contract with

BC Lietuvos Rytas Rytas Vilnius is a Lithuanian professional basketball club based in Vilnius, Lithuania. The club was founded in 1997 from another club, Statyba, and has become one of the most successful Lithuanian basketball clubs. Rytas have won two EuroCup Ba ...

of the

Lithuanian Basketball League Lithuanian may refer to: * Lithuanians * Lithuanian language * The country of Lithuania * Grand Duchy of Lithuania * Culture of Lithuania * Lithuanian cuisine * Lithuanian Jews as often called "Lithuanians" (''Lita'im'' or ''Litvaks'') by other Jew ...

and EuroLeague. In March 2011, he suffered a torn

quadriceps The quadriceps femoris muscle (, also called the quadriceps extensor, quadriceps or quads) is a large muscle group that includes the four prevailing muscles on the front of the thigh. It is the sole extensor muscle of the knee, forming a large ...

ending his season and tenure with Lietuvos Rytas. In December 2011, El-Amin signed a one-month deal with

Cibona Zagreb Košarkaški klub Cibona, commonly referred to as Cibona Zagreb or simply Cibona, is a men's professional basketball club based in Zagreb, Croatia. The club is a founding member and shareholder of the Adriatic Basketball Association, and competes ...

of Croatia. He later extend his contract for the rest of the season, and helped his team to win the Croatian

A-1 Liga The Hrvatski Telekom Premijer liga ( en, Hrvatski Telekom Premier League, ), also known as HT Premijer liga or simply Premijer liga, is the first tier level men's professional basketball league in Croatia. It began in 1991, following the breakup ...

. In July 2012, he signed a one-year deal with

Le Mans Sarthe Basket Le Mans Sarthe Basket, commonly known as MSB or Le Mans, is a professional basketball club that is from the city of Le Mans, France. The team plays in the French League and internationally in the Basketball Champions League. History The Mode ...

of France. He left Le Mans in February 2013, and signed with the Turkish club

Trabzonspor Trabzonspor Kulübü is a Turkish sports club located in the city of Trabzon. Formed in 1967 through a merger of several local clubs, the men's football team has won seven Süper Lig championships. Trabzonspor also have a women's football team, ...

. In October 2013, during the

Turkish Cup The Turkish Cup ( Turkish: ''Türkiye Kupası'') is a football cup competition in Turkish football, run by the Turkish Football Federation since 1962. During a brief sponsorship period with Fortis, its sponsored name was ''Fortis Türkiye Kupası ...

game with Pinar Karsiyaka, he got injured and later missed whole 2013–14 season. In August 2014, he signed with

BG Göttingen Basketballgemeinschaft Göttingen ( eng, Basketball Association Göttingen) is a German basketball club based in Göttingen, Germany. In 2010, the club won the EuroChallenge against Krasnye Krylya Samara from Russia. The team had played in Germa ...

of the German

Basketball Bundesliga The Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) (English language: ''Federal Basketball League''), for sponsorship reasons named easyCredit BBL, is the highest level league of professional club basketball in Germany. The league comprises 18 teams. A BBL season ...

for the 2014–15 season. On August 11, 2015, he signed with

Sigal Prishtina Klubi i Basketbollit Prishtina (English: ''Basketball Club Prishtina''), officially known as Sigal Prishtina due to sponsorship reasons, is a Kosovar professional basketball club based in Pristina. The team currently competes in the IP Superl ...

of Kosovo for the 2015–16 season. On December 7, 2016, he left Prishtina and returned to BG Göttingen for the rest of the 2015–16 season. In May 2016, he underwent back surgery. In spring 2017, he had a short stint with the Marinos de Anzoategui of

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

. He joined

CBS Sports Network CBS Sports Network (a.k.a. CBSSN) is an American pay television network owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global. When it launched in 2002 as the National College Sports Network (later College Sports Television also known as ...

as a college basketball analyst. After retiring from professional basketball, El-Amin became an assistant coach for the boys' basketball team at Minneapolis North High School.

References

External links