Sandro França Varejão (born April 9, 1972) is a Brazilian former professional basketball player. A 6'11" (2.10 m) center, he is the older brother of

Anderson Varejão Anderson França Varejão (; born September 28, 1982) is a Brazilian former professional basketball player who played 14 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), 13 of those with the Cleveland Cavaliers. With a career that spanned ...

and 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 ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

from 1993 to 1997, initially with Southern Idaho in the

NJCAA The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), founded in 1938, is the governing association of community college, state college and junior college athletics throughout the United States. Currently the NJCAA holds 24 separate regions ...

and then with

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the B ...

in the

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athletic ...

. After going undrafted 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 ...

he started his professional career in

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, where he won several titles, among them 4 national championships and a

Liga Sudamericana Liga or LIGA may refer to: People * Līga (name), a Latvian female given name * Luciano Ligabue, more commonly known as Ligabue or ''Liga'', Italian rock singer-songwriter Sports * Liga ACB, men's professional basketball league in Spain * Liga ...

. He is a 6-time medalist with the Brazilian national team and participated in two

FIBA World Championship The FIBA Basketball World Cup, also known as the FIBA World Cup of Basketball or simply the FIBA World Cup, between 1950 and 2010 known as the FIBA World Championship, is an international basketball competition contested by the senior men's nat ...

s in 1998 and 2002.

College career

Born in Vitória, in the

Espírito Santo Espírito Santo (, , ; ) is a state in southeastern Brazil. Its capital is Vitória, and its largest city is Serra. With an extensive coastline, the state hosts some of the country's main ports, and its beaches are significant tourist attra ...

state of Brazil, Varejão played basketball in high school at Colégio Salesiano Nossa Senhora da Vitória, where he also played

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

: he won a volleyball national title during his last year of high school. In 1991 he moved to the

, and joined the

College of Southern Idaho College of Southern Idaho (CSI) is a public community college in Twin Falls, Idaho. It also has off-campus programs in Jerome, Hailey, Burley and Gooding. Until the foundation of the College of Western Idaho in 2007, CSI was one of only two ...

Golden Eagles, playing in the

. In his first season with the team he averaged 8.3 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game, and was named in the All-Region 18 Second Team. In his sophomore year at Southern Idaho he improved his averages to 17.8 points and 11 rebounds, and after the 1994–95 season he decided to transfer to

, in the

. In his first year with the Mountaineers Varejão wore jersey number 40. He started all of his 27 games, averaging 6.5 points and 3.7 rebounds and 0.03 blocks in 23 minutes per game. He recorded a career-high 18 points (and added 10 rebounds) against

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

on December 16, 1995. Varejão was 7th in the team in scoring and 3rd in rebounding. In his senior year of college he started 17 of 29 games, averaging 6.1 points, 4.7 rebounds and 0.3 blocks in 20.2 minutes per game; he recorded a season-high 14 points against Providence on February 8, 1997. At the end of the season he ranked 7th in the team in scoring and 3rd in rebounding (behind Gordon Malone and Damian Owens). He ended his career at West Virginia with totals of 353 points and 234 rebounds.

College statistics

, - , align="left" , 1995–96 , align="left" ,

, 27 , , 27 , , 23.0 , , .511 , , .000 , , .493 , , 3.7 , , 0.6 , , 0.5 , , 0.3 , , 6.5 , - , align="left" , 1996–97 , align="left" ,

, 29 , , 17 , , 20.2 , , .514 , , .000 , , .545 , , 4.7 , , 0.8 , , 0.5 , , 0.3 , , 6.1 , - , align="left" , Career , align="left" , , 56 , , 44 , , 21.6 , , .513 , , .000 , , .515 , , 4.2 , , 0.7 , , 0.5 , , 0.3 , , 6.3 , -

Professional career

After his senior year in college Varejão was automatically eligible for the NBA draft: during the 1997 draft he was not selected by an NBA franchise. He then moved back to his native Brazil and started a professional career: in 1998 he joined

Franca Franca is a municipality in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. The city is located in the northeastern portion of the state, distant 401 km (249 mi) from the state capital (São Paulo), and 676 km (420 mi) from Brasilia. It covers a total area of ...

, and he was selected as an All-Star in 1999 and played the All-Star Game in

Mogi das Cruzes Mogi das Cruzes ( or ) is a municipality in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, located within the metropolitan region of the state capital of the city of São Paulo. The population is 450,785 (2020 est.) in an area of 713 km2. It is located 40&n ...

in March 1999. For the 1999 season he averaged 16.6 points, 6.4 rebounds and 0.7 assists over 37 games while shooting 62.3% from the field. In the final game of the title series of the 1999 Brazilian Championship against Vasco da Gama, Varejão scored 14 points and recorded 2 rebounds in 31 minutes of play, winning the game and the national title. He then joined Vasco da Gama for the 1999 McDonald's Championship, reaching the tournament finals where they lost to the

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

. He was then part of the Vasco team that won the Campeonato Carioca, the Brazilian league and the

in 2000. In 2001 he won the Brazilian league (his third consecutive title) and the Carioca league with Vasco. He then played the 2002–03 season with Universo/Ajax, a team based in

Goiânia Goiânia (; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Goiás. With a population of 1,536,097, it is the second-largest city in the Central-West Region and the 10th-largest in the country. Its metropolitan area has a population ...

, reaching the league semifinals where they were eliminated by Unitri/Uberlândia. He then played for Brasília in 2003 before going back to Universo/Ajax for the 2004 season. In 2004 Universo/Ajax again reached the league semifinals, and they were eliminated by

Flamengo Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (; English: ''Flamengo Rowing Club''), more commonly referred to as simply Flamengo, is a Brazilian sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, in the neighborhood of Gávea, best known for their professional football ...

. In 2004 he joined Telemar Rio de Janeiro, and in 2005 he won the national league title (his 4th personal), beating Unitri/Uberlândia in the finals. He then played the 2006–07 season with Saldanha da Gama.

National team career

Varejão was first called up to the Brazilian national team in 1997, and in the

1997 Tournament of the Americas The 1997 Tournament of the Americas, later known as the FIBA Americas Championship and the FIBA AmeriCup, was a basketball championship hosted by Uruguay from 21 to 31, August 1997. The games were played in Montevideo. This FIBA AmeriCup was to ea ...

he won the bronze medal. In 1998 he participated in the

1998 FIBA World Championship The 1998 FIBA World Championship was the 13th FIBA World Championship, an international basketball tournament held by the International Basketball Federation and hosted in Greece from 29 July to 9 August 1998. The tournament was contested by 16 n ...

, averaging 2.9 points and 2.9 rebounds per game over 7 appearances. In 1999 he won two gold medals, one in the

FIBA South American Championship The South American Basketball Championship, or FIBA South American Championship, is the main FIBA tournament for men's national teams from South America's region of FIBA Americas. The tournament was first played in 1930. The tournament often has ...

and one in the Pan American Games. In 2001 he took part in the South American Championship, winning the silver medal, and in the

2001 Tournament of the Americas The 2001 COPABA Tournament of the Americas, later known as the FIBA Americas Championship and the FIBA AmeriCup (also as the Championship of the Americas for Men), was hosted by Argentina, from 16 August, to 26 August 2001. The games were played at ...

, where he also won silver. He won the bronze at the

2001 Goodwill Games The 2001 Goodwill Games was the fifth and final edition of the international multi-sport event. The competition was held in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia from 29 August to 9 September 2001. A total around 1300 athletes took part in 14 sporti ...

, his third medal of the year. In 2002 he played in the

2002 FIBA World Championship The 2002 FIBA World Championship was the 14th edition of the competition now known as the FIBA Basketball World Cup, the international world championship for men's basketball teams. The tournament held by the International Basketball Federation i ...

, averaging 7.3 points and 4.8 rebounds over 9 games played.

References

External links

Career stats at ProBallers.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Varejao, Sandro 1972 births Living people 1998 FIBA World Championship players 2002 FIBA World Championship players Basketball players at the 1999 Pan American Games Brazilian expatriate basketball people in the United States Brazilian men's basketball players Centers (basketball) CR Vasco da Gama basketball players Franca Basquetebol Clube players Novo Basquete Brasil players Pan American Games gold medalists for Brazil Pan American Games medalists in basketball Southern Idaho Golden Eagles men's basketball players West Virginia Mountaineers men's basketball players Goodwill Games medalists in basketball Competitors at the 2001 Goodwill Games Medalists at the 1999 Pan American Games People from Mogi das Cruzes Sportspeople from São Paulo (state) People from Vitória, Espírito Santo