Norris James Coleman (born September 27, 1961) is an American retired 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 who was selected by 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 ...

in the second round (38th pick overall) of the 1987 NBA draft. A 6'8" forward from

Kansas State University 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 ...

, Coleman played in only one

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 S ...

(NBA) season. Coleman played for the Clippers during the 1987–88 season, appearing in 29 games and scoring a total of 153 points. Following his one season in the NBA, Coleman had a lengthy and successful career in foreign professional basketball leagues, principally in

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. He played with

Hapoel Jerusalem Hapoel Jerusalem is a sport organization in Jerusalem as a local branch of the Hapoel movement. The branch was established in the 1920s and represents the city in more sports than any other sport organization in Jerusalem. Today, the club's leadi ...

during the 1992–93, 1993–94, and 1995–96 seasons, and with

Maccabi Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv ( he, מכבי תל אביב) is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such ...

during the 1994–95 season. He was the 1994

Israeli Basketball Premier League MVP The Israeli Basketball Premier League MVP, or Israeli Basketball Super League MVP, is an annual basketball award that is presented to the most valuable player in a given season of the Israeli Basketball Premier League, which is the top-tier lev ...

. Coleman continued to play in Israel in numerous teams until his retirement in 2001, with Hapoel Tel Aviv in the second league, at the age of 40.

College career

Coleman had an unusual collegiate career at Kansas State. Because he had spent five years in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

, Coleman was a 24-year-old freshman when he began play at K-State in the 1985–86 basketball season. That season, Coleman led the Big Eight Conference in scoring with 21.8 points per game and pulled down 8 rebounds a game, on the way to being named first-team All-Conference and Newcomer of the Year. In doing so, he became one of the few players to lead his league in scoring during his first season in college. However, near the close of that season, the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

found that Coleman had not met the minimum high school requirements and K-State immediately declared him ineligible. The saga took another twist in April 1986, when the NCAA issued an unusual ruling that said Coleman would have to sit out a year at K-State with no scholarship and surrender a year of eligibility, or transfer to a different school and face no penalties. Coleman immediately received scholarship offers from 25 schools, and took recruiting trips to

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

, the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentu ...

and the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...

, but eventually decided to stay at Kansas State. Early in the following basketball season, in November 1986, the NCAA reduced its penalty to a 12-game suspension, and Coleman returned to the court for the last 19 games of the 1986–1987 season, teaming with

Mitch Richmond Mitchell James Richmond III (born June 30, 1965) is an American former professional basketball player. He played collegiately at Moberly Area Community College and Kansas State University. He was a six-time NBA All-Star, a five-time All-NBA Tea ...

to help lead K-State to a berth in the 1987 NCAA tournament. After averaging 20.7 points per game and 8.4 rebounds per game and again being named first team All-Conference in his shortened sophomore season, Coleman decided to turn pro. Because of his career in the Army, Coleman was affectionately

nickname A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...

d "The Sarge" by Kansas State fans.

College statistics

, - , style="text-align:left;", 1985–86 , style="text-align:left;",

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 ...

, 28 , , 28 , , 35.4 , , .518 , , — , , .743 , , 8.0 , , .7 , , .9 , , .9 , , 21.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1986–87 , style="text-align:left;",

, 19 , , 12 , , 32.3 , , .508 , , .077 , , .752 , , 8.4 , , .4 , , .9 , , 1.4 , , 20.7 , - , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 47 , , 40 , , 34.2 , , .515 , , .077 , , .747 , , 8.2 , , .6 , , .9 , , 1.2 , , 21.3 , -

References

External links

Database BasketballList of KSU basketball award-winnersACB Profile
@ ACB.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Coleman, Norris 1961 births Living people African-American basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Argentina American expatriate basketball people in France American expatriate basketball people in Israel American expatriate basketball people in Spain American men's basketball players Basketball players from Jacksonville, Florida Bnei Hertzeliya basketball players CB Gran Canaria players Hapoel Jerusalem B.C. players Hapoel Tel Aviv B.C. players Ironi Ramat Gan players Israeli Basketball Premier League players Kansas State Wildcats men's basketball players Liga ACB players Los Angeles Clippers draft picks Los Angeles Clippers players Maccabi Givat Shmuel players Maccabi Tel Aviv B.C. players Military personnel from Florida NCAA sanctions Olympique Antibes basketball players Peñarol de Mar del Plata basketball players Power forwards (basketball) Small forwards United States Army soldiers United States Basketball League players American expatriate basketball people in the Philippines Philippine Basketball Association imports Pop Cola Panthers players 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople