Rauno Nurger (born 24 November 1993) is an Estonian

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player for Kalev/Cramo of the Estonian League and

VTB United League VTB United League (russian: Единая Лига ВТБ) is an international professional men's club basketball league that was founded in 2008. It is made up of mostly Russian clubs, along with one each from Belarus and Kazakhstan. Since 2013, it ...

. He is a 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) tall

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 ...

and

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 ...

. Nurger played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

for the

Wichita State Shockers The Wichita State Shockers are the athletic teams that represent Wichita State University, located in Wichita, Kansas, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the NCAA Division I ranks, primarily competing in the American Athletic Conference (A ...

High school career

Nurger played for Sunrise Christian Academy in

Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 397,532. The Wichita metro area had a population of 647,610 in 2020. It is located in ...

. He averaged 10 points and 9 rebounds for the

postgraduate Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate ( bachelor's) degree. The organization and ...

team during 2013–14 season.

College career

Nurger originally signed with Ole Miss but was released from his letter of intent following a coaching change. He then committed to

Wichita State Wichita State University (WSU) is a public research university in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The university offers more than 60 undergraduate degree programs in more than 200 areas of study in ...

in the early summer of 2014. In his freshman year Nurger appeared in 24 games off the bench, averaging 2.3 points and 1.2 rebounds in 8.8 minutes. He scored four points in his collegiate debut against

New Mexico State New Mexico State University (NMSU or NM State) is a public land-grant research university based primarily in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest public institution of higher education in New Mexico and one of the state's tw ...

on November 11, 2014 and also played a season-high 20 minutes. Nurger scored a season-high 15 points on 5-of-9 shooting against Saint Louis on December 6, 2014. As a sophomore he had planned to

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Entertainment * ''Red Shirts'' (film), a 1952 film about Anita Garibaldi by Franco Rossi * Redshirt (stock character), originally derived from ''Star Trek'', a stock character who dies soon after ...

the 2015–16 season while focusing on strength and skill development but was forced into duty after an injury to senior Anton Grady on November 27, 2015. He removed his redshirt in the season’s sixth game on November 29, 2015 against

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...

. In his sophomore year Nurger appeared in 28 games off the bench, averaging 1.6 points and 1.2 rebounds in 7.6 minutes. In his

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

year Nurger appeared in all 36 games with five starts as he averaged 5.0 points and 2.7 rebounds in 14.1 minutes. He was ranked third on the team with 15 blocks. Noted as an effective screener and three-point sniper (13-of-28) he was the first Shocker's player off the bench in 15 games and was chosen to the

MVC MVC may refer to: Science and technology * Maximum-value composite procedure, an imaging procedure * Multivariable calculus, a concept in mathematics * Multivariable control, a concept in process engineering * Mechanical vapor compression, a desal ...

All-Bench Team selection. Nurger helped Wichita State win the 2017 Missouri Valley Conference tournament as they defeated

Illinois State Illinois State University (ISU) is a public university in Normal, Illinois. Founded in 1857 as Illinois State Normal University, it is the oldest public university in Illinois. The university emphasizes teaching and is recognized as one of th ...

71–51 in the championship game. Nurger ended his college career as one of nine Shockers to participate in more than 100 career victories as Wichita State.

Professional career

As a teenager, Nurger played two seasons in the Estonian League for

Rapla Rapla (German: ''Rappel'') is a town in central Estonia, the capital of Rapla County and the centre of Rapla Parish. The oldest records date back to 1241 in the Danish Census Book, when it was said that it was a small village with 8 acres of ...

and Tallinna Kalev teams. On August 16, 2018, he signed with Peñas Huesca of the

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 ...

. He stayed in Spain for the next season playing for Leche Río Breogán of the

. In July 2020 he signed with Kalev/Cramo and returned to his native Estonia. In September 2022, he went back to play in

, this time for

Gipuzkoa Basket Donosti Gipuzkoa Basket 2001 Saskibaloi Kirol Elkartea S.A.D., commonly known as Gipuzkoa Basket and as Acunsa GBC for sponsorship reasons, is a professional basketball club based in San Sebastián, Gipuzkoa, Spain. The team plays in the LEB Oro. ...

National team career

Nurger made his debut for the Estonian national team on 29 June 2018, in a 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup qualifier against

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

, scoring 8 points in a 65–74 away defeat.

Career statistics

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2014–15 , style="text-align:left;",

, 24 , , 0 , , 8.8 , , .474 , , .278 , , .700 , , 1.2 , , .2 , , .1 , , .4 , , 2.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2015–16 , style="text-align:left;",

, 28 , , 0 , , 7.6 , , .421 , , .083 , , .611 , , 1.2 , , .1 , , .1 , , .3 , , 1.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2016–17 , style="text-align:left;",

, 36 , , 5 , , 14.1 , , .525 , , .464 , , .722 , , 2.8 , , .6 , , .1 , , .4 , , 5.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2017–18 , style="text-align:left;",

, 33 , , 2 , , 13.4 , , .514 , , .296 , , .706 , , 2.8 , , .5 , , .2 , , .4 , , 4.4 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 121 , , 7 , , 11.4 , , .502 , , .318 , , .698 , , 2.1 , , .4 , , .1 , , .4 , , 3.5

Domestic leagues

Estonia national team

, - , style="text-align:left;",

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

, style="text-align:left;",

2012 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship The 2012 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship was the 15th edition of the FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship. 16 teams featured in the competition, held in Slovenia from 12 to 22 July 2012. Lithuania won the title for the second time. Participatin ...

, style="text-align:left;", Estonia U-20 , 9 , , 8 , , 28.0 , , .449 , , .000 , , .605 , , 5.7 , , .8 , , .4 , , 1.4 , , 10.3 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

, style="text-align:left;",

2013 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship The 2013 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship was the 16th edition of the FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship. The competition was played in Tallinn, Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northe ...

, style="text-align:left;", Estonia U-20 , 9 , , 8 , , 25.6 , , .535 , , .250 , , .467 , , 5.4 , , .9 , , .3 , , 1.8 , , 10.2 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

–19 , style="text-align:left;", 2019 Basketball World Cup Qualification , style="text-align:left;",

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

, 6 , , 2 , , 15.3 , , .522 , , .250 , , .625 , , 2.7 , , .0 , , .3 , , .3 , , 5.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

, style="text-align:left;",

EuroBasket 2022 qualification The EuroBasket 2022 qualification was a basketball competition that was played from November 2017 to February 2021, to determine the 20 FIBA Europe nations who would join the automatically qualified co-hosts Czech Republic, Georgia, Italy, and G ...

, style="text-align:left;", Estonia , 2 , , , , 10.1 , , .750 , , - , , 1.000 , , 3.5 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , 4.0

References

External links

Rauno Nurger
at basket.ee

at FIBA.com
ESPN.com profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nurger, Rauno 1993 births Living people BC Tallinn Kalev players CB Peñas Huesca players BC Kalev/Cramo players Centers (basketball) Estonian expatriate basketball people in Spain Estonian expatriate basketball people in the United States Estonian men's basketball players Korvpalli Meistriliiga players People from Keila Power forwards (basketball) Rapla KK players Wichita State Shockers men's basketball players