Aleksander "Olek" Czyż is a Polish 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 has also represented the Polish national team.

Early years and college

Czyż grew up playing basketball in Poland. He first started playing when he was 10 years old for a club team called Prokom Trefl Gdynia. At the age of 14, he moved with his mother and sister to the United States and attended

Reno High School Reno High School (RHS) is a public secondary school in Reno, Nevada, United States. It is a part of the Washoe County School District. The school's teams are known as the Reno Huskies, and the school colors are red and blue. History Reno High wa ...

, in

Reno Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the c ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

where he was a two-time state champion. He received scholarship offers to attend colleges around the country going into his senior year at Reno High School. Throughout his collegiate freshman, and half of his sophomore basketball season, Olek played for

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...

in North Carolina. He transferred to the

University of Nevada, Reno The University of Nevada, Reno (Nevada, the University of Nevada, or UNR) is a public land-grant research university in Reno, Nevada. It is the state's flagship public university and primary land grant institution. It was founded on October 12, ...

, in

where he played during the 2010–11 and 2011–12 seasons. During his junior year, he was selected for the WAC All-Newcomer team. During his senior year, he was selected for the first-team All-WAC and led the Wolf Pack to a conference championship. Czyż graduated from Nevada with a bachelor's degree in speech communications in May 2012.

Professional career

After going undrafted in the

2012 NBA draft The 2012 NBA draft was held on June 28, 2012, at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The draft started at 7:00 pm Eastern Daylight Time (2300 UTC), and was broadcast in the United States on ESPN. In this draft, National Basketball Asso ...

, Czyż 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 2012

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 ...

. On 12 August 2012, he signed with

Virtus Roma Pallacanestro Virtus Roma, commonly known as Virtus Roma, was an Italian professional basketball club based in Rome, Lazio. It competed in the first division of Italian basketball, the LBA, for the last time in the 2020–21 season. It was form ...

of Italy for the 2012–13 season. In July 2013, Czyż joined the

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Con ...

for the

2013 NBA Summer League The 2013 NBA Summer League is a pro basketball league run by the NBA just after the 2013 NBA draft. It gives newly drafted players a chance to test their skills against each other, and to give them a feel for professional basketball. All 30 NBA ...

. On 30 September 2013, he signed with the

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 1968 ...

. However, he was waived by the Bucks on 26 October 2013. In November 2013, he was acquired by the

Fort Wayne Mad Ants The Fort Wayne Mad Ants are an American professional basketball team of the NBA G League based in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and are affiliated with the Indiana Pacers. The team plays their home games at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum. The M ...

as an affiliate player. On 2 January 2014, he was traded to the

Canton Charge The Cleveland Charge are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Cleveland, Ohio, and are affiliated with the Cleveland Cavaliers. The team plays its home games at the Wolstein Center in downtown Cleveland. The fr ...

. On 25 June 2014, Czyż signed with Enel Brindisi of Italy for the 2014–15 season. In July 2014, he joined the NBA D-League Select Team for the

2014 NBA Summer League The 2014 NBA Summer League consists of two pro basketball leagues organized by the NBA and the Orlando Magic just after the 2014 NBA Draft. Ten teams took part in the week-long summer league at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida, from July 5 t ...

. Upon his arrival at Brindisi, he failed his physicals and was subsequently released on 25 August 2014. On 7 January 2015, Czyż signed with PGE Turów Zgorzelec of Poland for the rest of the 2014–15 season.Olek Czyż inks with PGE Turow Zgorzelec
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Honours

;Individual * PLK Rookie of the Year: 2014–15

References

External links

Italian League profile

Duke Blue Devils bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Czyz, Olek 1990 births Living people Canton Charge players Duke Blue Devils men's basketball players Fort Wayne Mad Ants players Juvecaserta Basket players Lega Basket Serie A players Nevada Wolf Pack men's basketball players Pallacanestro Virtus Roma players Pistoia Basket 2000 players Polish men's basketball players Polish expatriate basketball people in the United States Polish expatriate basketball people in Italy Power forwards (basketball) Small forwards Sportspeople from Gdynia Turów Zgorzelec players