Michael Damien Sweetney (born October 25, 1982) is an American 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 now the assistant coach of the

Yeshiva University Yeshiva University is a private Orthodox Jewish university with four campuses in New York City."About YU
on the Yeshiva Universit ...

Men's basketball team and head coach of the girls varsity basketball team at New York's

Ramaz School The Ramaz School is an elite American coeducational Jewish Modern Orthodox day school which offers a dual curriculum of general studies taught in English and Judaic studies taught in Hebrew. The school is located on the Upper East Side of Manha ...

High school and college careers

Sweetney went to

Oxon Hill Oxon Hill is an unincorporated area and census-designated place (CDP) in southern Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. Oxon Hill is a suburb of Washington, located southeast of the downtown district and east of Alexandria, Virginia. It ...

for high school, where he was named

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

All Met Basketball Player of the Year. He continued the tradition of highly skilled big men at

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

, averaging 18.2 points while shooting nearly 55% over his three-year collegiate career. He was especially dominant over his junior year, in which he was named Honorable Mention

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

by AP, as well as being a

Naismith College Player of the Year The Naismith College Player of the Year is an annual basketball award given by the Atlanta Tipoff Club to the top men's and women's collegiate basketball players. It is named in honor of Dr. James Naismith, the inventor of basketball. History an ...

finalist and a candidate for the

John R. Wooden Award The John R. Wooden Award is an award given annually to the most outstanding men's and women's college basketball players. The program consists of the men's and women's Player of the Year awards, the Legends of Coaching award, and recognizing the ...

. That year, Sweetney was the only player in the nation to rank in the top 20 in scoring and rebounding. Despite playing only three seasons, he ranks seventh on Georgetown's career scoring list (1,750), fifth in rebounds (887) and sixth in blocks (180).

Professional career

Sweetney was selected by the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Associat ...

with the 9th overall pick, in the

2003 NBA Draft The 2003 NBA draft was held on June 26, 2003, at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. The NBA announced that 41 college and high school players and a record 31 international players had filed as early-entry candidates ...

. After a two-year stint with only 42

regular season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of Se ...

contests in his rookie year, he was traded to 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 ...

on October 4, 2005, alongside Tim Thomas and

Jermaine Jackson Jermaine La Jaune Jackson (born December 11, 1954) is an American singer-songwriter and bassist. He is best known for being a member of the Jackson family. From 1964 to 1975, Jermaine was second vocalist after his brother Michael of The Jackson ...

, for

Eddy Curry Eddy Anthony Curry Jr. (born December 5, 1982) is an American former professional basketball player. Coming directly out of Thornwood High School in South Holland, Illinois, Curry was selected fourth overall in the 2001 NBA draft by the Chicago B ...

and

Antonio Davis Antonio Lee Davis (born October 31, 1968) is an American former professional basketball player who played for the Indiana Pacers, Toronto Raptors, Chicago Bulls, and New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He also played ...

. Sweetney has battled weight issues throughout his life and career. It was reported in ''

The Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'' that, if Sweetney did not lose a certain amount of weight, his career could be in danger. Sweetney's final NBA game ever ended up being in Game 2 of the 2007 Eastern Conference Semifinals on May 7th, 2007. In that game, the Bulls would lose 87 - 108 to the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at Li ...

while Sweetney recorded 2 points in 3 minutes of playing time. In the summer of 2009 he played with the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...

summer league team. He was invited to attend training camp in October 2009 to try out with the Celtics and attempt to resume an NBA career. He was waived on October 22. In early December 2011, Sweetney rejoined the Boston Celtics for training camp, but he was cut on December 22, 2011. On January 13, 2012, Sweetney agreed to a deal with the Vaqueros de Bayamon of the BSN, Puerto Rico's basketball league. In February 2013, he signed a one-month deal with the Venezuelan team

Guaiqueríes de Margarita Guaiqueríes de Margarita is a professional basketball team based in La Asunción, Venezuela. The team currently plays in Venezuela's Liga Profesional de Baloncesto. The team has won the Venezuelan championships nine times. Current rosters LPB ...

. After his contract expired, he returned to the Vaqueros de Bayamon. In February 2014, he signed with Club Atlético Atenas. On May 1, 2014, he signed with

Brujos de Guayama Brujos de Guayama is a Puerto Rican professional basketball team of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional based in Guayama, Puerto Rico. Despite being in the league since 1971, the team has not won any BSN Championships but have made 2 finals appeara ...

. He was waived on July 1, 2014. In November 2015, after more than a year off, Sweetney signed a contract in Uruguay with

Urunday Universitario Club Social y Deportivo Urunday Universitario is an Uruguayan sports club located in the Prado barrio of Montevideo Montevideo () is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census ...

. Sweetney competed for

Team City of Gods Team City of Gods are an American basketball team that has participated in The Basketball Tournament (TBT), a winner-take-all single-elimination tournament. The team advanced to the TBT 2015 semifinals, beating tournament favorite Boeheim's Army ...

The Basketball Tournament The Basketball Tournament (TBT) is an open-application, single-elimination tournament played each summer in the United States. The 2022 edition features 64 teams with a $1 million winner-take-all prize, broadcast by ESPN. TBT was founded in 201 ...

. He was a center on the 2015 team who made it to the semifinals, losing to

Overseas Elite Overseas Elite was an American basketball team that participated in The Basketball Tournament (TBT), an annual winner-take-all single-elimination tournament. The team won the tournament four consecutive times: 2015 (prize money $1 million), 2016 ...

84-71. Sweetney has since run

Tamir Goodman Tamir Goodman (born January 18, 1982) is a former American-Israeli professional basketball player. He was dubbed by ''Sports Illustrated'' magazine as the "Jewish Michael Jordan, Jordan". After playing basketball for the Talmudical Academy of Ba ...

's basketball camp.

Coaching career

In 2019, Sweetney became an assistant coach for the Yeshiva University men's basketball team and head coach of the girls' varsity basketball team at

.Mr. Michael Sweetney
. ''

''. Retrieved August 17, 2021.

References

External links

NBA.com profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sweetney, Michael 1982 births Living people All-American college men's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in China American expatriate basketball people in the Dominican Republic American expatriate basketball people in Uruguay American expatriate basketball people in Venezuela American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Baloncesto Superior Nacional players Basketball coaches from Washington, D.C. Basketball players from Washington, D.C. Big3 players Chicago Bulls players Club Biguá de Villa Biarritz basketball players Erie BayHawks (2008–2017) players Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball players Guaiqueríes de Margarita players Guangzhou Loong Lions players New York Knicks draft picks New York Knicks players Power forwards (basketball) American men's 3x3 basketball players