Adonal David Foyle (born March 9, 1975) is a Vincentian-American former professional basketball

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 ...

. He was selected by the Golden State Warriors with the eighth overall selection of 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 ...

. Foyle played ten seasons with the Warriors until the team bought out his contract on August 13, 2007. At the time, he had been Golden State's longest-tenured player.Warriors place Foyle on waivers; Center eyes Magic
updated August 13, 2007 He then played two seasons with the Orlando Magic and part of the season with the

Memphis Grizzlies The Memphis Grizzlies (referred to locally as the Grizz) are an American professional basketball team based in Memphis, Tennessee. The Grizzlies compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference ...

, sat out the next season due to knee surgery, and retired. , Foyle does Warriors post-game commentary for ABC 7 in San Francisco.

Early life and college career

Foyle was born in

Canouan Canouan (pronounced "can - ah - wan") is an island in the Grenadines belonging to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. It is a small island, measuring only 5.6 km (3.5 miles) by 2 km (1.25 miles) and has a surface of 7.6 km². It lies ...

, St. Vincent and the Grenadines. At the age of 15, Foyle was adopted by Joan and Jay Mandle, professors at Colgate University.Citizen Foyle: a New Status for Center
, March 12, 2007. He first attended high school at Cardinal O'Hara Catholic High in Springfield, Pennsylvania. He transferred after sophomore year and attended high school at Hamilton Central School (

Hamilton, New York Hamilton is a town in Madison County, New York, United States. The population was 6,690 at the 2010 census. The town is named after American Founding Father Alexander Hamilton. The Town of Hamilton contains a village also named Hamilton, the s ...

), where he helped the HCS Emerald Knights gain their first two state championships. , his 47 points and 25 rebounds in the

NYSPHSAA The New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) is the governing body of interscholastic sports for most public schools in New York outside New York City.http://www.nysphsaa.org/ ''nysphsaa.org'', accessed 15-JAN-2008. Th ...

Class D semifinals in 1994 are tied for the most in either statistical category in a state tournament game. In his official biography, Foyle explained that he enrolled at Colgate University because "he wanted the opportunity to learn the principles of the game in a slower-paced setting, where the coach would be able to give him the attention he desired." With the

Colgate Raiders The Colgate Raiders are the athletic teams that represent Colgate University. The teams include men and women's basketball, cross country, ice hockey, lacrosse, rowing, soccer, swimming & diving, track and field and tennis. Men's sports include ...

, he was the school's all-time-leading rebounder and 2nd-all-time-leading scorer. He led the Raiders to their first two NCAA tournament appearances in school history. He left as the NCAA's all-time leader in blocked shots with 492, despite playing only three college seasons (his record was broken by Wojciech Myrda in 2002). He now ranks third all-time, behind Myrda and

Jarvis Varnado Jarvis Lamar Varnado (born March 1, 1988) is an American professional basketball player for Club Atlético Aguada of the Liga Uruguaya de Básquetbol. Varnado is known as a defensive specialist and is especially adept at shot blocking where he's ...

. In 1999, Foyle graduated from Colgate magna cum laude with a history degree. Politically motivated, he founded the organization Democracy Matters, which tries to curb the effects of money on politics.

NBA career

In his NBA career, Foyle averaged 4.1 points and 1.6 blocks per game. He was among the top 10 in blocks per game three times during his career. In July 2004, during the offseason, the Golden State Warriors re-signed Foyle to a six-year, $42 million contract. Foyle played sparingly during the 2006–07 season under head coach Don Nelson, and was waived by the Warriors on August 13, 2007, with three years and $29.2 million remaining on his contract. On August 23, 2007, Foyle signed with the Orlando Magic for the veteran's minimum of $1.3 million. On August 2, 2008, he re-signed with the Magic for another year, also at the veteran's minimum. He was traded to the

on February 19, 2009. On March 1, 2009 the Grizzlies waived Foyle. He signed with the Orlando Magic on March 23, 2009 for the rest of the season. Later that year, in August, Foyle re-signed with the Magic. However, he underwent arthroscopic knee surgery before the season began, and did not play that season. On August 17, 2010, Foyle announced his retirement. On September 7, 2010, the Magic named Foyle the team's director of player development, which he held until 2012.

Off the court

In his spare time, Foyle writes poems and is a

political activist A political movement is a collective attempt by a group of people to change government policy or social values. Political movements are usually in opposition to an element of the status quo, and are often associated with a certain ideology. Some ...

. He has reviewed books for ''Hoop'' magazine. In 2001, he founded Democracy Matters, a non-partisan student organization, as an effort to counteract political apathy on college campuses. The organization's signature issue is campaign finance reform, particularly Clean Elections. Active on over 50 college campuses, Democracy Matters involves hundreds of students and faculty nationwide through teach-ins, letter writing and petition campaigns, educational seminars, and voter registration drives. In 2005, Foyle founded the Kerosene Lamp Foundation, which serves children in St. Vincent & the Grenadines. He played a cameo role of "detective" in the 2006 movie '' The Darwin Awards''. Foyle became an American citizen on March 13, 2007, after being in the U.S. for almost 18 years. He also became a member of the

National Basketball Players Association The National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) is a labor union that represents National Basketball Association (NBA) players. It was founded in 1954, making it the oldest trade union of the four major professional sports leagues in the Unit ...

executive committee. He was elected to the Common Cause National Governing Board in 2008. On September 24, 2009, Foyle was inducted into the World Sports Humanitarian Hall of Fame. Only eight other NBA players have been inducted into the World Sports Humanitarian Hall of Fame ( Nate "Tiny" Archibald,

Vlade Divac Vlade Divac ( sr-Cyrl, Владе Дивац, ; born February 3, 1968) is a Serbian professional basketball executive and former player who was most recently the vice president of basketball operations and general manager of the Sacramento Kings ...

Julius Erving Julius Winfield Erving II (born February 22, 1950), commonly known by the nickname Dr. J, is an American former professional basketball player. Erving helped legitimize the American Basketball Association (ABA), and he was the best-known player ...

, AC Green, Kevin Johnson, Dikembe Mutombo,

David Robinson David Maurice Robinson (born August 6, 1965) is an American former professional basketball player who played for the San Antonio Spurs in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1989 to 2003, and minority owner of the Spurs. Nicknamed ...

and

Steve Smith Stephen, Steve, Stevie, or Steven Smith may refer to: Academics * Steve Smith (political scientist) (born 1952), British international relations theorist and senior university manager * Stephen Smith (journalist) (born 1956), American journalist, ...

). In 2013, Foyle released his first children's book, called ''Too Tall Foyle Finds His Game''. In January 2014, Foyle traveled to Spain and Morocco as a

Sports Diplomacy Politics and sports or sports diplomacy describes the use of sport as a means to influence diplomatic, social, and political International relations, relations. Sports diplomacy may transcend cultural differences and bring people together. The us ...

Sports Envoy for the

U.S. Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other ...

. In this function, he worked with

Ruth Riley Ruth Ellen Riley Hunter (born August 28, 1979) is a retired American professional basketball player (a center), playing most recently for the Atlanta Dream in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Her Notre Dame team won the NCAA ...

to conduct basketball clinics for more than 600 youth from under-served areas. In so doing, Foyle helped contribute to Sports Diplomacy's mission to promote conflict resolution, leadership, greater understanding and inclusion through sport. The Golden State Warriors appointed Foyle as the team's community ambassador in 2014.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Golden State , 55 , , 1 , , 11.9 , , .406 , , .000 , , .435 , , 3.3 , , .3 , , .2 , , .9 , , 3.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Golden State , 44 , , 0 , , 14.0 , , .430 , , .000 , , .490 , , 4.4 , , .4 , , .3 , , 1.0 , , 2.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Golden State , 76 , , 59 , , 21.8 , , .508 , , .000 , , .378 , , 5.6 , , .6 , , .3 , , 1.8 , , 5.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Golden State , 58 , , 37 , , 25.1 , , .416 , , .000 , , .441 , , 7.0 , , .8 , , .5 , , 2.7 , , 5.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Golden State , 79 , , 36 , , 18.8 , , .444 , , .000 , , .398 , , 4.9 , , .5 , , .5 , , 2.1 , , 4.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Golden State , 82 , , 0 , , 21.8 , , .536 , , .000 , , .673 , , 6.0 , , .5 , , .5 , , 2.5 , , 5.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Golden State , 44 , , 8 , , 13.0 , , .454 , , .000 , , .543 , , 3.8 , , .4 , , .1 , , 1.0 , , 3.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Golden State , 78 , , 50 , , 21.8 , , .502 , , .000 , , .556 , , 5.5 , , .7 , , .3 , , 2.0 , , 4.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Golden State , 77 , , 72 , , 23.7 , , .507 , , .000 , , .612 , , 5.5 , , .4 , , .6 , , 1.6 , , 4.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Golden State , 48 , , 6 , , 9.9 , , .565 , , .000 , , .440 , , 2.6 , , .4 , , .2 , , 1.0 , , 2.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures re ...

, 82 , , 0 , , 9.4 , , .458 , , .000 , , .471 , , 2.5 , , .2 , , .2 , , .5 , , 1.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 9 , , 0 , , 6.6 , , .636 , , .000 , , .500 , , 2.9 , , .1 , , .0 , , .9 , , 1.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

, 1 , , 0 , , 3.0 , , .000 , , .000 , , .000 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 733 , , 269 , , 17.8 , , .476 , , .000 , , .499 , , 4.7 , , .5 , , .4 , , 1.6 , , 4.1

Playoffs

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2007 , style="text-align:left;", Golden State , 3 , , 0 , , 2.0 , , 1.000 , , .000 , , .000 , , .7 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .7 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

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

, 3 , , 0 , , 3.7 , , .333 , , .000 , , .000 , , 1.0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .7 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2009 , style="text-align:left;",

, 2 , , 0 , , 2.0 , , .000 , , .000 , , .000 , , .5 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 8 , , 0 , , 2.5 , , .400 , , .000 , , .000 , , .8 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .5

References

External links

Adonal Foyle's homepage
* * at NBA.com
Kerosene Lamp FoundationDemocracy MattersC-SPAN ''Q&A'' interview with Foyle, March 5, 2006
{{DEFAULTSORT:Foyle, Adonal 1975 births Living people African-American basketball players All-American college men's basketball players American adoptees American men's basketball players Centers (basketball) Colgate Raiders men's basketball players Expatriate basketball people in the United States Golden State Warriors draft picks Golden State Warriors players McDonald's High School All-Americans Memphis Grizzlies players Orlando Magic players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) People from Canouan Saint Vincent and the Grenadines men's basketball players Saint Vincent and the Grenadines emigrants to the United States 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American sportspeople African American adoptees