Manuel "Manny" Suárez (born 12 November 1993) is a Chilean-Spanish basketball player who currently plays for Estonian club

BC Kalev BC Kalev, known as BC Kalev/Cramo for sponsorship reasons, is a professional basketball club based in Tallinn, Estonia. The team plays in the Korvpalli Meistriliiga, the Estonian-Latvian Basketball League and the FIBA Europe Cup. They play their ...

of the Estonian-Latvian Basketball League and the

FIBA Europe Cup The FIBA Europe Cup (FEC) is an annual professional club basketball competition organised by FIBA for eligible European clubs. It is FIBA's European-wide second level. Clubs mainly qualify for the competition based on their performance in natio ...

. Manny also competes internationally on the Chilean national team. Raised in

Cliffside Park, New Jersey Cliffside Park is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 23,594,Cliffside Park High School Cliffside Park High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grade from Cliffside Park, in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States, operating as the lone secondary school of the Cli ...

before transferring to Marist High School.

College career

Fordham Rams (2014-15)

In the 2014-15 season, Suárez played for the Fordham Rams.Manny_Súarez_[sic
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apunta a su regreso al basquetbol estadounidenseeluniversal.com.mx, 18 October 2020. Accessed 16 December 2021. Averaging 7.5 minutes in 19 games played, Manny averaged 1.8 points and 2.1 rebounds. The Rams finished the season 10–21, 4–14 in A-10 play to finish in last place. They advanced to the second round of the 2014 Atlantic 10 men's basketball tournament">A-10 tournament, where they lost to the Dayton Flyers men's basketball">Dayton Flyers The Dayton Flyers are the intercollegiate athletic teams of the University of Dayton of Dayton, Ohio. All Flyers intercollegiate sports teams participate at the NCAA Division I level. The football team competes in the Division I FCS non-schola ...

, a game in which Manny played 4 minutes and scored 3 points.

Adelphi Panthers (2015-2017)

In the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons, Suárez played for the Adelphi Panthers. In the two seasons combined, Manny averaged 15.1 points, 8.6 rebounds and 2.2 blocks. Adelphi finished the respective seasons 20-8 and 18-12. In 2015-16, Adelphi reached the quarter finals of the NE-10 championship. In the quarterfinals, Manny had 23 points, 11 rebounds and 4 blocks. Adelphi also reached the quarterfinals in the 2016-17 season, in which game Manny had 21 points,11 rebounds and 2 blocks.

Creighton Bluejays (2017-2018)

For the 2017-18 season, Manny was recruited to join the

Creighton Bluejays The Creighton Bluejays, or Jays, are the athletic teams that represent Creighton University, a Jesuit/Catholic University in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. They compete in NCAA Division I in the Big East Conference. Sports sponsored Baseba ...

Greg McDermott Greg McDermott (born November 25, 1964) is an American basketball coach who has been the head coach of the Creighton Bluejays men's basketball team since 2010. Previously, McDermott served as the head coach at Wayne State College, North Dakot ...

. About thirty college basketball teams had expressed interest in signing Suárez.Con el corazón puesto en la NBA y en Chile
Diego Hermosilla P. ( La Tercera), 27 May 2017. Accessed 16 December 2021. Manny averaged 3 points and 2.6 rebounds in 7 minutes per game in 24 games played. Seeded 8th in the NCAA tournament, Creighton lost in the first round to 9th seed

Kansas State Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...

, a game in which Manny played 1 minute and had 1 offensive rebound. Suárez later graduated from Creighton.

Professional career

CD Las Ánimas, CD Castro (2018-19)

In the 2018-19 season, Suárez played for Chilean club CD Las Ánimas in the

Basketball Champions League Americas The Basketball Champions League Americas (BCLA) (Spanish: ''Baloncesto Liga Campeones de las Américas'', Portuguese: ''Liga dos Campeões de Basquetebol das Américas'') is Pan-America's premier men's basketball club competition. Founded in 2019 ...

, the highest tier basketball league in the continent. With Las Animas, Manny averaged 4 points, 2.3 assists and 2 rebounds in 11.6 minutes per game over 3 games played. Las Animas finished the Champions League with 2 wins and 4 losses, placing 8th. In the same season, Suárez also played for CD Castro in the LNB Chile, the highest division of basketball in Chile. With CD Castro, Manny averaged 13.2 points, 8.7 rebounds, 2 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.7 blocks in 29.6 minutes per game over 23 games played. CD Castro finished the season with 14 wins and 15 losses.

CEB Puerto Montt (2019-20)

In the 2019-20 season, Suárez continued in the LNB Chile, playing for CEB Puerto Montt. With Puerto Montt, Manny averaged 15.8 points, 10.1 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.9 blocks in 30.1 minutes per game over 17 games played. Puerto Montt finished the season with 16 wins and 18 losses.

Iraurgi SB (2020-21)

In the 2020-21 season, Suárez played for Spanish club

Iraurgi SB Iraurgi Saski Baloia, also known as Sammic Hostelería for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Basketball team based in Azpeitia, Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country, Spain. Founded in 1975, the men's team currently plays in L ...

in the

LEB Plata The LEB Plata is the third basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system and the second basketball division organized by the Spanish Basketball Federation. Since 2019, three teams are promoted to LEB Oro and six teams are relegated t ...

, the third highest division of basketball in Spain. With Iraurgi, Manny averaged 12.2 points and 6.7 rebounds in 20.6 minutes per game over 14 games played. Iraurgi finished first in the league, winning 23 of 28 games and earning a promotion to

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 Balonce ...

of the second division.

Hübner Nyíregyháza BS (2021-22)

In the 2021-22 season, Suárez played for Hungarian club

Hübner Nyíregyháza BS Hübner Nyíregyháza BS is a Hungarian professional basketball team based in Nyíregyháza. The team currently plays in the Nemzeti Bajnokság I/A (men's basketball), Nemzeti Bajnokság I/A, the highest level of basketball in Hungary. The team p ...

in the

Nemzeti Bajnokság I/A The Nemzeti Bajnokság I/A ( en, National Championship I/A, commonly abbreviated NB I/A) is the highest level league of club men's basketball in Hungary. Format The league comprises 14 teams. A NB I/A season is split into a league stage and a pl ...

, the highest division of basketball in Hungary.Még erősebben térhetnek vissza a Cápák
szon.hu, 3 December 2021. Accessed 21 December 2021. With Nyíregyháza, Manny averaged 13.5 points and 6.2 rebounds in 26.9 minutes per game in 25 games played. With a record of 13 wins and 19 losses, Nyíregyháza finished the season in 11th place.

BC Balkan Botevgrad (2022-23)

In the 2022-23 season, Suárez played for 7-time Bulgarian champions

BC Balkan Botevgrad BC Balkan Botevgrad ( bg, БК Балкан Ботевград, BK Balkan Botevgrad) is a Bulgarian professional basketball club based in Botevgrad.Bulgarian NBL, the highest division of basketball in Bulgaria. With Balkan, Manny averaged 16.8 points, 8.7 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.5 blocks in 25.2 minutes per game over 39 games played. In the

, he averaged 12 points, 7 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 block in 22.7 minutes per game over 6 games played. Balkan finished the Bulgarian NBL regular season in 2nd place with a record of 23 wins and 7 losses, but were crowned the champions after beating

BC Chernomorets BC Chernomorets, also known as Chernomorets Burgas, is Bulgarian a basketball club based in Burgas. The team plays in the NBL, the highest level of national basketball. The club has won two Bulgarian Cups, in 1965 and 1975. History Basketball i ...

in the finals. Manny was crowned the MVP of the finals. In the FIBA Europe Cup, Balkan failed to qualify from Group K in the second round of the tournament.

BC Kalev (2023-24)

For the 2023-24 season, Suárez has signed with 13-time Estonian champions, 1-time Estonian-Latvian champions and 2022-23 FIBA Europe Cup semi-finalists

of the

Latvian–Estonian Basketball League The Latvian-Estonian Basketball League is the highest professional men's club basketball league in Latvia and Estonia; it has been organised since 2018, run by the Latvian Basketball Association and the Estonian Basketball Association. History ...

(LEBL) the highest division of basketball in both Estonia and Latvia. Kalev will also play in the

Korvpalli Meistriliiga The Korvpalli Meistriliiga ( en, Basketball Champions League), known as the OlyBet Korvpalli Meistriliiga for sponsorship reasons, is the highest tier level and most important professional basketball league in Estonia. It is controlled by the Es ...

, the Estonian domestic basketball league running parallel with the LEBL, the

Estonian Cup The Estonian Cup ( et, Eesti Karikas) is the national knockout competition in Estonian football. In 2012, the competition was unofficially rebranded as Evald Tipner's Cup. The winner will compete in UEFA Europa Conference League first qualifyi ...

, and the 2023-24 FIBA Europe Cup.

National team career

Upon graduation from Creighton, Suárez joined the Chilean national team. He later played at the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup qualification.

Player profile

He is ambidextrous and can play as

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three or swingman, is one of the five positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically shorter, quicker, and leaner than power forwards and centers but taller, larger, and stronger ...

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to centers. When on offense, they typically play with their ba ...

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

Personal

He is a Chilean citizen through his mother Mapi who moved to the United States. His father is a

Spaniard Spaniards, or Spanish people, are a Romance ethnic group native to Spain. Within Spain, there are a number of national and regional ethnic identities that reflect the country's complex history, including a number of different languages, both i ...

. Suárez has a sister named María Teresa. He recalls that playing in the

National Basketball Association 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 ...