Lucas Joseph Zeller (born April 7, 1987) is an American-Georgian former 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 is the brother of

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 ...

players

Tyler Tyler may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tyler (name), an English name; with lists of people with the surname or given name * Tyler, the Creator (born 1991), American rap artist and producer * John Tyler, 10th president of the United ...

and

Cody Zeller Cody Allen Zeller (born October 5, 1992) is an American professional basketball player who is currently a free agent. He played college basketball for the Indiana Hoosiers. Zeller was selected with the fourth pick in the 2013 NBA draft by the t ...

, and the nephew of former NBA player

Al Eberhard Allen Dean Eberhard (born May 10, 1952) is an American retired professional basketball player. Amateur career Out of rural Springville, Iowa and Springville High School, Eberhard was third team All-State in his senior year, graduating in 1970. ...

High school career

Zeller attended Washington High School in

Washington, Indiana Washington is a city in Daviess County, Indiana. The population was 11,509 at the time of the 2010 census. The city is the county seat of Daviess County. It is also the principal city of the Washington, Indiana Micropolitan Statistical Are ...

where he played for the basketball team all four years under coach Dave Omer. As a freshman in 2001–02, he averaged 15.3 points and 8.0 rebounds per game, and as a sophomore in 2002–03, he averaged 18.1 points and 8.3 rebounds per game. As a junior in 2003–04, he averaged a near double-double with 19.8 points and 9.4 rebounds per game, becoming the first player in Washington High School history to eclipse the 1,000-point career mark. He participated in the Nike All-America camps in 2003 and 2004, and was a member of the USA North Team that captured the silver medal at the 2004 Men's Youth Development Festival. In five games, Zeller averaged 9.4 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. On November 10, 2004, Zeller signed a

National Letter of Intent National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

to play

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

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 ...

. As senior in 2004–05, Zeller averaged 19.6 points, 8.9 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game while leading his team to a 27–2 record and the Indiana Class 3A state championship. He finished the state championship game with 27 points, nine rebounds and 11 assists (a Class 3A state finals record). In that game, he hit the game-winning shot from midcourt as time expired in overtime to lead the Hatchets to a 74–72 win over Plymouth. He finished his high school career as a four-time all-state, all-section and all-conference honoree, and finished as Washington's all-time leader in points (1,727) and second in rebounds (820). The three-time team captain and two-time MVP became the only player in Washington High School history to be selected all-conference four times. He earned

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 ...

and

Indiana Mr. Basketball The Indiana Mr. Basketball honor recognizes the top high school basketball player in the state of Indiana. The award is presented annually by ''The Indianapolis Star''. The first Indiana Mr. Basketball was George Crowe of Franklin High School in ...

honors at the season's end, was named the school's co-valedictorian, and earned National Honor Roll selection.

College career

As a freshman at Notre Dame in 2005–06, Zeller averaged 3.4 points and 3.1 rebounds per game, and played in 27 contests and made nine starts. At the season's end, he earned

Big East The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and ...

Academic All-Star Team honors, and was a member of the

Athletes in Action Athletes in Action (AIA) is an American sports organization founded in 1966. It is the sports ministry of Cru Ministries, formerly known as Campus Crusade for Christ. History Athletes in Action was started in 1966 by Dave Hannah."Fact Sheet: ...

team that captured the gold medal at the 2006

William Jones Cup The R. William Jones Cup (), also known as the Jones Cup, is an international basketball tournament organized by the Chinese Taipei Basketball Association (CTBA) held annually since 1977 in Taiwan. It was named in honor of basketball promoter ...

Taipei City, Taiwan Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the ...

. As a sophomore in 2006–07, Zeller started the first 16 games of the season and played in all 32 contests, while averaging 3.8 points and 2.2 rebounds per game. On December 16, 2006, he scored a then career-high 14 points in a 94–63 win over Elon. On March 9, 2007, he scored four points in 18 minutes in the team's Big East Championship semi-final loss to Georgetown. At the season's end, he was named the recipient of the Notre Dame Club of St. Joseph Valley Rockne Student-Athlete Award. In August 2007, Zeller travelled with Athletes in Action to Australia where he played in eight exhibition games and averaged 11.3 points and 6.6 rebounds while netting double figures in five of those contests. As a junior in 2007–08, Zeller earned the Notre Dame Most Improved Player Award after averaging 4.5 points and 2.2 rebounds coming off the bench in all 33 contests. As a senior in 2008–09, Zeller served as one of four captains. He played in all 36 games and earned seven starts during his final season, averaging a career-high 4.9 points per game, while bringing down 2.8 rebounds per contest. Zeller had a career outing against

USC Upstate USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses **South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of S ...

in the season opener as he came off the bench in 19 minutes of action to score a career-high 18 points on 6-of-7 from the field and was 4-of-6 from three-point range. In addition to the 18 points, he grabbed five rebounds. On November 24, 2008, he recorded his first career double-double in win over

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

at the EA Sports Maui Invitational as he finished with 10 points and a career-high 11 rebounds. He concluded his career tied for third with 128 games played; he made 32 career starts and averaged 4.2 points and 2.5 rebounds per game.

College statistics

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2005–06 , style="text-align:left;", Notre Dame , 27 , , 9 , , 13.7 , , .364 , , .339 , , .471 , , 3.1 , , 1.0 , , .1 , , .3 , , 3.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2006–07 , style="text-align:left;", Notre Dame , 32 , , 16 , , 12.4 , , .489 , , .395 , , .667 , , 2.2 , , .5 , , .3 , , .4 , , 3.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2007–08 , style="text-align:left;", Notre Dame , 33 , , 0 , , 11.8 , , .426 , , .381 , , .538 , , 2.2 , , .4 , , .4 , , .2 , , 4.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2008–09 , style="text-align:left;", Notre Dame , 36 , , 7 , , 14.6 , , .396 , , .342 , , .615 , , 2.8 , , .6 , , .2 , , .2 , , 4.9 , - , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 128 , , 32 , , 13.2 , , .417 , , .360 , , .574 , , 2.5 , , .6 , , .2 , , .3 , , 4.2 , -

Professional career

2009–10 season

After going undrafted in the

2009 NBA draft The 2009 NBA draft was held on June 25, 2009, at the WaMu Theatre at Madison Square Garden in New York City. In this draft, the National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and other eli ...

, Zeller joined 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 ...

for the 2009

NBA Summer League The NBA Summer League, also known as the Las Vegas Summer League, is an off-season competition organized by the National Basketball Association. NBA teams come together to try out different summer rosters instead of their regular season line-ups ...

where he averaged 3.0 points and 2.3 rebounds in four games. On July 31, 2009, he signed a one-year deal with the

Shiga Lakestars Shiga Lakes (滋賀レイクス) is a Japanese men's basketball team playing in the Western Conference of the B.League. They are based in the Shiga Prefecture. Coaches * Bob Pierce (2008–10) *Takatoshi Ishibashi *Hirokazu Nema *Al Westover ...

of the Japanese

bj league The was a professional basketball league in Japan that began in November 2005 as a six-team league. The league was operated as a competitor to the established Japan Super League which was run by the Japan Basketball Association, the official go ...

. In 50 games for Shiga in 2009–10, he averaged 8.2 points and 7.2 rebounds per game.

2010–11 season

On September 22, 2010, Zeller signed a one-year deal with Naglis-Adakris 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 ...

. However, he was released by the club on October 24 after appearing in six games. On November 1, he was selected by the

Iowa Energy Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wiscon ...

in the second round of the 2010 NBA Development League Draft. A week later, he was traded to the

Bakersfield Jam Bakersfield is a city in Kern County, California, United States. It is the county seat and largest city of Kern County. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley and the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's populat ...

. In 52 games for the Jam in 2010–11, he averaged 6.8 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game.

2011–12 season

On November 1, 2011, Zeller was acquired by the

Austin Toros Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

in a trade with the Bakersfield Jam. On December 9, he signed with the

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference Southwest Division ( ...

. However, he was later waived by the team on December 24 after appearing in one preseason game, one day prior to the start of the 2011–12 NBA season. He subsequently returned to the Toros, the Spurs' D-League affiliate team, and played out the 2011–12 season. In 33 games for the Toros, he averaged 8.2 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.0 assists per game, helping Austin win the 2012 D-League championship.

2012–13 season

In July 2012, Zeller joined the San Antonio Spurs for the 2012 NBA Summer League where he averaged 6.7 points and 2.3 rebounds in three games. On September 28, 2012, he signed a partially guaranteed, two-year minimum salary contract with the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Suns are the only team in t ...

. On October 25, he was named in the Suns' opening-night roster. He made his NBA debut on November 4, recording no stats in just under three minutes of action against the

Orlando Magic The Orlando Magic are an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The franchise was establ ...

. The following night, he scored a season-high 7 points in a loss to the

Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast Division (NBA), Southe ...

. On November 27, he played against the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers (often referred to as the Cavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

and his brother

. He played sparingly for the Suns in 2012–13, appearing in 16 out of a possible 55 games before being waived by the team on February 21, 2013.

2013–14 season

On December 27, 2013, Zeller was reacquired by the Austin Toros. He played out the rest of the season with the Toros, averaging 5.3 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 36 games.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

, - , align="left" , , align="left" ,

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

, 16 , , 0 , , 3.6 , , .346 , , .200 , , .000 , , .6 , , .2 , , .0 , , .0 , , 1.2 , - , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 16 , , 0 , , 3.6 , , .346 , , .200 , , .000 , , .6 , , .2 , , .0 , , .0 , , 1.2

Personal

Zeller is the son of Steve and Lorri Zeller, and has two younger brothers who also play basketball,

and

Cody Cody may refer to: People *Cody (given name) *Cody (surname) * Cody (wrestler), a ring name of Cody Runnels Places Canada *Cody, British Columbia United States * Cody, Florida *Cody (Duluth), Minnesota *Cody, Missouri *Cody, Nebraska *Cody, Wyo ...

References

External links

NBA.com profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zeller, Luke 1987 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Japan American expatriate basketball people in Lithuania Austin Toros players Bakersfield Jam players Basketball players from Indiana Centers (basketball) McDonald's High School All-Americans Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball players People from Washington, Indiana Phoenix Suns players Power forwards (basketball) Shiga Lakes players Undrafted National Basketball Association players American men's basketball players