Luke Isaiah Nelson (born 29 June 1995) is a British

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 the London Lions of 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 ...

(BBL) and EuroCup. He also represents the Great Britain national team in

international International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

competitions. He played American college basketball for

UC Irvine UC may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''University Challenge'', a popular British quiz programme airing on BBC Two ** '' University Challenge (New Zealand)'', the New Zealand version of the British programme * Universal Century, one of the ti ...

, where he was named the 2017 Big West Conference Player of the Year. Nelson, a

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the five Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position. Point guards are expected to run t ...

born in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and raised in

Worthing Worthing () is a seaside town in West Sussex, England, at the foot of the South Downs, west of Brighton, and east of Chichester. With a population of 111,400 and an area of , the borough is the second largest component of the Brighton and Hov ...

, first played basketball for the

Worthing Thunder The Worthing Thunder are an English professional basketball team based in Worthing, West Sussex. The Thunder compete in the National Basketball League (NBL). Founded in 1999 as the Worthing Rebels after the Worthing Bears had relocated to Bri ...

junior program, Followed by spending his later teenage years at Henley College whilst Playing with the Reading Rockets Division 1 team alongside playing for several England and Great Britain squads in the U16, U18 and U20 age groups in FIBA tournaments. He was named British player of the year in his age group for three consecutive seasons. He attended college at the

University of California, Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a public land-grant research university in Irvine, California. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, UCI offers 87 undergraduate degrees and 129 graduate and pr ...

, where he became a four-year starter. He was named first-team All-

Big West Conference The Big West Conference (BWC) is an American collegiate athletic conference whose member institutions participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I. The conference was originally formed on July 1, 1969, as the Pacific ...

in his junior and senior seasons and was named Big West Player of the Year as a senior. Nelson helped UC Irvine to its first ever NCAA Tournament appearance in 2015 and help guided the Anteaters to a program record 28 wins in 2016. For all 4 seasons at UC Irvine, Nelson helped the team make a postseason appearance of some kind. He finished his collegiate career 4th in made threes (204), fifth in assists (361) and eighth in steals (115) and played in the collegiate All Star Game at the 2017 Final Four. After going undrafted in the

2017 NBA draft The 2017 NBA draft was held on June 22, 2017, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players. ...

after playing in the NBA Summer League with 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 ...

, Nelson signed his first professional contract with Herbalife Gran Canaria in Spain's

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 ...

and EuroCup competition. He was sent to Real Betis Energía Plus on loan prior to the start of the season. On 15 November 2019 he signed with Baxi Manresa of the Spanish

. On 30 July 2020 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

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 ...

. On 16 July 2021 he signed with

ESSM Le Portel Étoile Sportive Saint-Michel Le Portel Côte d'Opale, commonly known as ESSM Le Portel or simply Le Portel, is a professional basketball team based in Le Portel, France. The team currently plays in the Pro A, the first tier in France. History In ...

of the French

LNB Pro A The LNB Pro A, currently known for sponsorship reasons as Betclic Élite, is the top-tier men's professional basketball league in France. The competition has existed since 1921. Since 1987, the Ligue Nationale de Basket has governed the league. ...

International career

Nelson has competed for the Great Britain senior national team since graduating college and is usually the starting shooting guard on the squad during competition.

References

External links

Luke Nelson
at acb.com
UC Irvine Anteaters bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nelson, Luke 1995 births Living people Basketball players from Greater London Bàsquet Manresa players BG Göttingen players British expatriate basketball people in Germany British expatriate basketball people in Spain British expatriate basketball people in the United States British men's basketball players English expatriate sportspeople in Germany English expatriate sportspeople in Spain English expatriate sportspeople in the United States English men's basketball players ESSM Le Portel players Liga ACB players Point guards Real Betis Baloncesto players Shooting guards Sportspeople from Worthing UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball players