Rick Rickert (born February 11, 1983) is a former American 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 a 2001 graduate of

Duluth East High School East High School is a public secondary school in Duluth, Minnesota, United States. It educates students in grades nine through twelve. It first opened its doors in 1927 as a junior high school. In 1950, it became a senior high school to serve the ...

where he was a basketball star and highly recruited college prospect. He was named 2001

Minnesota Mr. Basketball Minnesota Mr. Basketball is an annual award recognizing excellence in Minnesota boys' high school basketball. The female equivalent is Minnesota Miss Basketball. The award's legitimacy was challenged in February 2017 when Henry Sibley, Minnesota h ...

Career

Rickert played collegiately for the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

, where after averaging 15 points and 5 rebounds per game in 2001–02 he became the first Gopher player ever to win the Big Ten Freshman of the Year award. After averaging 16 points and 6 rebounds his sophomore season Rickert declared for 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 ...

.
ESPN.com - 2003 NBA Draft: College seniors score first-round knockout
/ref> Rickert was drafted 55th overall (26th in the second round) by the

Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. Founded in 19 ...

. Rickert failed to make the team and went to play in Slovenia for Novo Mesto. Rickert has played with:

Krka Novo Mesto Košarkarski klub Krka (English: Basketball Club Krka), commonly referred to as KK Krka or simply Krka, is a professional basketball team based in Novo Mesto, Slovenia. The team competes in the Premier A Slovenian Basketball League and the ABA Le ...

(

Adriatic League The ABA League, renamed to the ABA League First Division in 2017, is the 1st-tier regional men's professional basketball league that originally featured clubs from the former Yugoslavia (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Mace ...

/ Euroleague),

(NBA - preseason only),

Asheville Altitude Asheville ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Buncombe County, North Carolina. Located at the confluence of the French Broad River, French Broad and Swannanoa River, Swannanoa rivers, it is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and ...

(

D-League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) from 2001 to 2005, and the NBA De ...

), Panellinios B.C. Athens (

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

), Lleida Bàsquet ( Spain - 2nd Division),

Fayetteville Patriots The Fayetteville Patriots were an NBA Development League team based in Fayetteville, North Carolina, United States. Its logo design features a bald eagle's head and a basketball in the middle of a capital letter "P" with stars and stripes filling ...

(D-League),

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 ...

(NBA - preseason only),

Colorado 14ers Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of th ...

(D-League), the D-League All Star Team that traveled to China, representing the U.S. in the world tournament (D-League), and the

New Zealand Breakers The New Zealand Breakers (also known as the Sky Sport Breakers for sponsorship reasons) are a New Zealand professional basketball team based in Auckland. The Breakers compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at ...

( Australasian National Basketball League). Kevin Garnett punched Rickert during a 2004 pick-up game, leading to stitches and a chipped tooth. In 2007, Rickert signed to play with the

in the Australasian NBL. In June 2008, he re-signed with the New Zealand Breakers. In the 2008–09 season, he averaged 13.6 points and 8.1 rebounds. He played 73 game overall for the Breakers. Rick played for the

Harbour Heat The Harbour Heat were a New Zealand basketball team based in Auckland. The Heat competed in the National Basketball League (NBL) and played their home games at North Shore Events Centre. Team history The Harbour Heat, then known as North Shore, ...

during the

2010 New Zealand NBL season The 2010 NBL season was the 29th season of the National Basketball League. Foundation member and nine-time NBL champions the Auckland Stars withdrew from the league in 2010, while the Otago Nuggets returned after a one-year absence and the South ...

. After Rickert played in the Australian League with the NZ Breakers for 3 seasons, his career took him back to Europe playing for ENBW Ludwigsburg in Germany's BEKO BBL top league. During this season, Rickert broke his nose and cheek during a game going up for a rebound leading to months wearing a face mask during practice and games. In 2011, Rickert played in Puerto Rico for the Bayamon Vaqueros in the

Baloncesto Superior Nacional The Baloncesto Superior Nacional, abbreviated as BSN, is the first-tier-level professional men's basketball list of basketball leagues, league in Puerto Rico. It was founded in 1929 and is organized by the Puerto Rican Basketball Federation. T ...

(BSN). Rickert was a leading scorer and rebounder in this league. In 2011, Rickert signed with Kyoto, Hannaryz in Japan. His impact in Japan as a player and person was successful and welcomed leading to 7 seasons playing for top teams in Japan's professional leagues. Rickert is one of the few players who have played in all of the Japanese professional leagues. He played in both of the top leagues called The BJ League and The NBL League, as well as the recently developed professional league which combined both leagues, now named the B League. During Rickert's basketball career in Japan, he played for Kyoto Hannaryz, Osaka Evessa, Wakayama Trians, Chiba Jets, and Ibraki Robots. After Rickert finished his season with Osaka Evessa, he was signed to play for the Wellington Saints. On 6 June 2013, the Wellington Saints signed Rickert for the rest of the 2013 season. In 2018, Rickert retired after 15 professional basketball seasons.

References

External links

Profile
at Eurobasket.com
Profile
at andthefoul.net
Euroleague.net Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rickert, Rick 1983 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Germany American expatriate basketball people in Greece American expatriate basketball people in Japan American expatriate basketball people in New Zealand American expatriate basketball people in Slovenia American expatriate basketball people in Spain American men's basketball players Asheville Altitude players Basketball players from Minnesota Centers (basketball) Chiba Jets Funabashi players Colorado 14ers players Cyberdyne Ibaraki Robots players Fayetteville Patriots players Greek Basket League players Harbour Heat players KK Krka players Kyoto Hannaryz players McDonald's High School All-Americans Riesen Ludwigsburg players Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball players Minnesota Timberwolves draft picks New Zealand Breakers players Osaka Evessa players Panellinios B.C. players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Power forwards (basketball) Sportspeople from Duluth, Minnesota Wakayama Trians players Wellington Saints players Vaqueros de Bayamón basketball players