Serge Zwikker (born April 28, 1973) is a Dutch former

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.

High School career

Zwikker, the son of a

police officer A police officer (also called a policeman and, less commonly, a policewoman) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, "police officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of the ...

and a mother who worked in the flower business, first came to the United States in 1988, playing for Don Kent at Monsignor Clancy Memorial High School in

Queens, New York Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long I ...

. He then transferred to Flint Hill Preparatory School, and then finished his prep career at Harker Prep in

Potomac, Maryland Potomac () is a census-designated place (CDP) in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, named after the nearby Potomac River. Potomac is the seventh most educated small town in America, based on percentage of residents with postsecondary deg ...

. Zwikker was a 1992

McDonald's All-American McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hamburger ...

College career

After redshirting one year, he played four years of college basketball for the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

under coach

Dean Smith Dean Edwards Smith (February 28, 1931 – February 7, 2015) was an American men's college basketball head coach. Called a "coaching legend" by the Basketball Hall of Fame, he coached for 36 years at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hi ...

. He saw limited playing time his first two years, usually coming off the bench for

Rasheed Wallace Rasheed Abdul Wallace (born September 17, 1974) is an American basketball coach and former professional player. A native of Philadelphia, Wallace played college basketball at the University of North Carolina before declaring for the draft in 199 ...

. Zwikker's college career breakthrough came March 17, 1995 against

Murray State University Murray State University (MSU) is a public university in Murray, Kentucky. In addition to the main campus in Calloway County in southwestern Kentucky, Murray State operates extended campuses offering upper level and graduate courses in Paducah, H ...

. Plagued by an ankle injury, Wallace scored only six points before Smith went to the uninjured Zwikker in relief. Zwikker went on to score 19 points as he and

Jerry Stackhouse Jerry Darnell Stackhouse (born November 5, 1974) is an American basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach of the Vanderbilt Commodores men's team. He played 18 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and ...

led the Tar Heels to an 80–70 win. Zwikker became the Tar Heels' starting center following Wallace's departure in the

1995 NBA Draft The 1995 NBA draft took place on June 28, 1995, at SkyDome in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It marked the first NBA draft to be held outside the United States and was the first draft for the two Canadian expansion teams, Toronto Raptors and Vancouve ...

. As a senior, he averaged 11.5 points and 8.1 rebounds per game, while serving as a team captain with

Shammond Williams Shammond Omar Williams (born April 5, 1975) is a retired American-born naturalized Georgian professional basketball player. Standing at , he played at both point guard and shooting guard positions. During his career he played in the NBA and in ...

Professional career

Houston Rockets (1997–1998)

Zwikker was selected by the

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member team of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its ho ...

with the first pick of the second round (29th overall) in the

1997 NBA Draft The 1997 NBA draft took place on June 25, 1997, at Charlotte Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Vancouver Grizzlies had the highest probability to win the NBA draft lottery, but since they were an expansion team along with the Toronto ...

, and spent one season on the Rockets' bench. However, he did not record any playing time. Due to the 1998 NBA lockout, he signed a three-year contract with

TAU Cerámica Club Deportivo Saski-Baskonia, S.A.D., commonly known as Saski Baskonia (), also known as Cazoo Baskonia for sponsorship reasons, is a professional basketball team that is based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain. The team plays in the Liga ACB and the ...

Vitoria-Gasteiz es, vitoriano, vitoriana, , population_density_km2 = auto , blank_name_sec1 = Official language(s) , blank_info_sec1 = Spanish, Basque , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. On January 22, 1999, the Rockets renounced the rights to Zwikker.

Return to Europe (1998–2000)

Zwikker played Euroleague basketball in 1998–99, first playing for

, and then for

Gorizia Gorizia (; sl, Gorica , colloquially 'old Gorizia' to distinguish it from Nova Gorica; fur, label= Standard Friulian, Gurize, fur, label= Southeastern Friulian, Guriza; vec, label= Bisiacco, Gorisia; german: Görz ; obsolete English ''Gorit ...

in Italy. After only ten games with

, his season ended due to a back injury. At the beginning of the 2000-01 season, he played three games for Conesco Den Helder in his native Netherlands.

National team

Zwikker played in the 1990 European Championship for Junior Men and later also represented the Dutch men's national team.

Personal life

After his basketball career ended, Zwikker, who had earned a degree in

communication Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inquir ...

, started a career in IT in the United States. Zwikker has two daughters, Courtney (2001) and Ellen (2003). They both play college volleyball; Courtney plays for

Barry University Barry University is a private Catholic university in Miami Shores, Florida. Founded in 1940 by the Adrian Dominican Sisters, it is one of the largest Catholic universities in the Southeast and is within the territory of the Archdiocese of Miami ...

and Ellen plays for

Eckerd College Eckerd College is a private liberal arts college in St. Petersburg, Florida. Founded in 1958, part of the campus is waterfront and beach on Boca Ciega Bay. Because of its location, Eckerd is considered a "beach school" and has its own student ...

. These schools are both a part of the NCAA Division II's Sunshine State Conference, so the sisters will be competing against each other.

Notes

External links

Zwikker's player page on basketball-reference.com
1973 births Living people American men's basketball players CB Breogán players Centers (basketball) Den Helder Kings players Dutch expatriate basketball people in Spain Dutch expatriate basketball people in the United States Dutch men's basketball players Houston Rockets draft picks Liga ACB players McDonald's High School All-Americans North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Saski Baskonia players Sportspeople from Maassluis {{Netherlands-basketball-bio-stub