Mike Vreeswyk (born March 1, 1967) is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Temple Owls where he was a three year starter for ''Naismith'' Memorial ''Basketball

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

'' coach John Chaney. On February 8, 2021, Vreeswyk eulogized the legendary coach in an emotional 10-minute speech at the Liacouras Center on Temple's campus
video
. Vreeswyk has been involved with coaching youth basketball since 2010, and is currently an assistant coach at George School in Newtown PA.

Career

High school career

Vreeswyk attended Morrisville High School in Pennsylvania from 1981 to 1985 and finished his career as the school's all-time leading scorer with 2,019 points (without the 3-point line). As a junior he averaged 23 points per game and was named Third Team All-State. As a senior he led the state of Pennsylvania in scoring with an average of 33.5 points per game and was named First Team All-State. For college, Vreeswyk selected nearby Temple University to play for future

coach John Chaney. He chose the owls over Seton Hall,

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and West Virginia. In 1991 Morrisville High School retired Vreeswyk's #32 jersey, where it hangs proudly on the gymnasium wall. Vreeswyk attended the very first prestigious Nike ABCD (

ABCD Camp The ABCD Basketball Camp was a youth basketball camp founded by Sonny Vaccaro that was held from 1984 to 2006. The camp gathered the highest ranked high school players of the United States, and was considered one of the top events of high school b ...

) held at Princeton University in 1984.

College career

Vreeswyk attended Temple from 1985 to 1989. He was a three-year starter and finished his Temple career as the fifth leading scorer of all time with 1650 points. He is currently tied for 12th all time with Aaron McKie. He also left school as the holder of every 3-point record, including all-time 3-pointers made with 271, until surpassed by Lynn Greer in 2003. He is currently 3rd all time in 3-pointers made. He also set a record with 8 made 3-pointers in a game which stood as the record until Rick Brunson and Johnny Miller surpassed that total with 9. Vreeswyk is currently 5th all-time in 3-point FG percentage at .392. Vreeswyk is also currently 7th all-time in free throw percentage at .815. Vreeswyk is still tied for 1st all-time in NCAA Tournament free throw percentage at 100% (18-18 in the 1987-1988 NCAA Tournament). The kid could shoot! He was a member and second leading scorer on the 1987-88 team that was ranked #1 in the country for 9 weeks. The Owls entered the NCAA tournament as the #1 overall seed before losing to #2 Duke in the East Regional Finals.

Professional career

After college Vreeswyk had tryouts with the Seattle SuperSonics, Washington Bullets and

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, colloquially known as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eas ...

before embarking on a 9-year professional career overseas. He played in Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, France, the Netherlands, Portugal and Japan. For two summers he played in the professional league in Venezuela. He also played in the

Continental Basketball Association The Continental Basketball Association (CBA) (originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, and later as the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association) was a men's professional basketball m ...

for the Yakima Sun Kings.

Honors

Morrisville High School #32 retired in 1991. Vreeswyk was inducted into the

Philadelphia Big 5 The Big 5 is an informal association of college athletic programs in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is not a conference, but rather a group of NCAA Division I basketball schools who compete for the city’s collegiate championship. The Big 5 c ...

College Basketball Hall of Fame in 1995, the Temple University Sports Hall of Fame in 2001, the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame Bucks County Chapter in 2010 and enshrined in Temple Basketball's Ring of Honor in 2020.

References

External links

Profile
at

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Profile
at DonarBasketbal.nl

at

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Vreeswyk, Mike 1967 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Austria American expatriate basketball people in Belgium American expatriate basketball people in Cyprus American expatriate basketball people in France American expatriate basketball people in Japan American expatriate basketball people in the Netherlands American expatriate basketball people in Portugal American men's basketball players Basketball players from Minneapolis Donar (basketball club) players Heroes Den Bosch players People from Morrisville, Pennsylvania Sportspeople from Bucks County, Pennsylvania Small forwards Temple Owls men's basketball players Yakima Sun Kings players