Sophaur OneFormer UCLA basketball player Reeves Nelson changes his name
- Los Angeles Daily News / City News Service, April 12, 2016 (born Reeves Bruce Nelson; September 18, 1991) is an American former professional

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. He 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

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pac-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) ...

from 2009 until 2011, when he was dismissed from the team. He has also played in Mexico and Belgium. Nelson played professionally for Žalgiris Kaunas in the

Lithuanian Basketball League Lithuanian may refer to: * Lithuanians * Lithuanian language * The country of Lithuania * Grand Duchy of Lithuania * Culture of Lithuania * Lithuanian cuisine * Lithuanian Jews as often called "Lithuanians" (''Lita'im'' or ''Litvaks'') by other Jew ...

for five weeks before being released. He then declared for the

2012 NBA draft The 2012 NBA draft was held on June 28, 2012, at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The draft started at 7:00 pm Eastern Daylight Time (2300 UTC), and was broadcast in the United States on ESPN. In this draft, National Basketball Asso ...

, but was not selected. Nelson then spent a pre-season with the Los Angeles Lakers before playing with the Los Angeles D-Fenders and

Delaware 87ers Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

in the NBA Development League (D-League).

College career

Nelson signed to attend the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California S ...

(UCLA) after graduating from

Modesto Christian High School Modesto Christian School is a private Christian school in Salida, California, on the outskirts of Modesto. It was formerly affiliated with the Assemblies of God;Private school directory, 2013–14, updated August 6, 2014, downloadable aPri ...

in Modesto, California. He was called "the prototypical CLA coachBen Howland player" by ESPN.com. He joined the Bruins in 2009 as part of a five-player freshmen class that also included Tyler Honeycutt. Nelson finished his sophomore season as the Bruins' top scorer (13.9) and rebounder (9.1) in

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

, and he was named first team All-Pac-10. In his junior year, he played six games of the 2011–12 season before he was suspended by coach Ben Howland for being late to a team meeting and behavior that was considered insubordinate. Howland reinstated him two days later, but Nelson later missed a team flight on November 19, 2011. He was suspended again on December 6, and finally dismissed from the team three days later. In February 2012, a ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twi ...

'' article portrayed Nelson as a bully on and off the court, who at times intentionally tried to injure his teammates. According to the article, Howland looked the other way and did not discipline Nelson for over two years. In May 2012, Nelson filed a defamation lawsuit against

Time Inc. Time Inc. was an American worldwide mass media corporation founded on November 28, 1922, by Henry Luce and Briton Hadden and based in New York City. It owned and published over 100 magazine brands, including its namesake ''Time'', ''Sports Illu ...

, the parent company of ''Sports Illustrated'', seeking $10 million in

compensatory damages At common law, damages are a remedy in the form of a monetary award to be paid to a claimant as compensation for loss or injury. To warrant the award, the claimant must show that a breach of duty has caused foreseeable loss. To be recognised at ...

and $10 million in

punitive damages Punitive damages, or exemplary damages, are damages assessed in order to punish the defendant for outrageous conduct and/or to reform or deter the defendant and others from engaging in conduct similar to that which formed the basis of the lawsuit. ...

, but it was thrown out of court in October 2012. The judge ruled that the suit interfered with freedom of speech rights of the magazine and writer, and the writer had a number of sources to corroborate the article.

Professional career

On December 23, 2011, Nelson signed with Žalgiris Kaunas of Lithuania on a one-year deal (with the option of a second). On January 31, 2012, he was released by Zalgiris after just six games. In May 2012, he declared for the

. After going undrafted in the 2012 NBA draft, Nelson joined the Los Angeles Lakers for the 2012 NBA Summer League. On September 5, 2012, he signed with the Lakers. However, he was later waived by the Lakers on October 20, 2012. On March 29, 2013, Nelson was acquired by the Los Angeles D-Fenders. On August 29, 2013, Nelson's rights were acquired by the

in the 2013 NBA Development League Expansion Draft. On December 1, 2013, he officially joined the 87ers. On January 10, 2014, he was waived by the 87ers. In April 2014, he joined Fuerza Guinda de Nogales of Mexico for the rest of the 2014 CIBACOPA season. He left next month after 15 games. On June 24, 2014, he signed with Kangoeroes Basket Willebroek of Belgium for the 2014–15 season. On November 14, 2014, he was waived by the Kangoeroes after averaging 15.0 points and 6.3 rebounds in four games. On January 14, 2015, he signed with

Maccabi Raanana Maccabi Ra'anana () is a professional basketball club that is based in Ra'anana, Israel. The club plays in the Israeli National League, the second-tier division league of Israel. History Maccabi Ra'anana was founded in 1980. The team won the Isr ...

in Israel, where he had a brief two-game stint. On February 24, he joined Panelefsiniakos B.C. in Greece. He was released from the team, without appearing in any games, after failing to perform adequately in training.

Career statistics

;College statistics , - , style="text-align:left;", 2009–10 , style="text-align:left;",

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

, 28 , , 14 , , 23.4 , , .647 , , — , , .521 , , 5.7 , , .4 , , .7 , , .7 , , 11.1 , - , style="text-align:left;",

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

, 34 , , 33 , , 31.4 , , .567 , , .190 , , .620 , , 9.1 , , 1.6 , , .4 , , .4 , , 13.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2011–12 , style="text-align:left;",

, 6 , , 1 , , 19.3 , , .400 , , .429 , , .429 , , 4.5 , , 1.3 , , .5 , , .7 , , 5.7 , -class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan=2, Career , 68 , , 48 , , 26.7 , , .584 , , .250 , , .574 , , 7.3 , , 1.1 , , .5 , , .6 , , 12.1

Personal life

Reeves filed a motion with Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mark Borenstein on January 25, 2016 to change his name to Sophaur One. On April 12, 2016, his request was approved.

References

External links

NBA D-League ProfileUCLA bio
at UCLABruins.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Nelson, Reeves 1991 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Belgium American expatriate basketball people in Lithuania American expatriate basketball people in Mexico American men's basketball players Basketball players from California BC Žalgiris players Delaware 87ers players Fuerza Guinda de Nogales players Kangoeroes Basket Mechelen players Los Angeles D-Fenders players Maccabi Ra'anana players Power forwards (basketball) Sportspeople from Modesto, California UCLA Bruins men's basketball players Modesto Christian School alumni