Scott David Burrell (born January 12, 1971) is an American

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 (appro ...

coach and former player who is currently the men's basketball head coach at Southern Connecticut State University. He has played internationally and was also a

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Moder ...

player, being the first athlete to ever be drafted in the 1st round of two professional leagues (MLB, NBA). In 1990, Burrell was drafted by the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...

of MLB. He played in

Minor League Baseball Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...

during the 1990 and 1991 seasons. After ending his baseball career, he was drafted in 1993 by the

Charlotte Hornets The Charlotte Hornets are an American professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Hornets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team ...

of the NBA. He was later traded to the

Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. Founded in 1946 i ...

and then the

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded on January 16 ...

, where he won a championship ring. He next played with the New Jersey Nets and then finished his NBA career with the Hornets in 2000–01. He played in other professional basketball leagues through the 2005–06 season.

Early life

Born in

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is List ...

, Burrell was raised in nearby Hamden and attended Hamden High School. At Hamden High, in addition to basketball, Burrell was a quarterback on the football team and

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

on the baseball team. Burrell was named to the ABCA/Rawlings High School All-America Second Team as a senior in 1989. He was drafted by the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. The Mariners compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. The team joined the American ...

in the first round of the 1989 Major League Baseball draft after graduating from high school. Burrell initially planned on attending the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...

to play baseball, before University of Connecticut assistant basketball coach Howie Dickenman convinced Burrell to commit to Connecticut.

College career

From 1989 to 1993, Burrell played at guard and forward for the Connecticut Huskies under Jim Calhoun. As a

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or colloquially frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational in ...

in 1989–90, Burrell averaged 8.2 points and 5.5 rebounds. In 1990, Burrell was drafted by another baseball team, the

, and Burrell spent the next two summers playing

minor league baseball Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...

. As a junior in 1991–92, Burrell averaged a career high 16.3 points, and he had a career high 7.5 rebounds in 1990–91. Burrell became the first player in

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

basketball history to compile over 1,500 points, 750 rebounds, 275 assists and 300 steals. Burrell is known for his full-court pass with one second on the clock to Tate George, who hit a shot as time expired to beat Clemson in the East Regional semi-final of the 1990 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. Burrell went back to school and received his bachelor's degree in general studies from the University of Connecticut on May 8, 2010.

Professional career

Minor league baseball (1990–1991)

After being drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the fifth round of the 1990 Major League Baseball draft, Burrell was a minor league baseball pitcher from 1990 to 1991, first with the St. Catharines Blue Jays in 1990 and splitting the 1991 season between the Myrtle Beach Hurricanes and St. Catharines Blue Jays. Burrell had a 3.71 ERA and 2–6 record as a minor league pitcher.

Charlotte Hornets (1993–1997)

Burrell was selected by the

with the 20th overall pick in the 1993 NBA draft. He averaged 4.8 points per game during his rookie season, during which he missed 31 games due to knee, ankle, and Achilles tendon injuries. In the 1994–95 season, Burrell played in 65 games with 62 starts and averaged 11.5 points and 5.7 rebounds. Despite a season ending injury on April 1, 1995, Burrell finished third in NBA Most Improved Player Award votes. On February 11, he also finished third at the AT&T Long-Distance Shootout. During the 1995–96 NBA season, Burrell was limited to 20 games due to injuries, including Achilles tendon surgery. After that season, Burrell would play mostly off the bench.

Later NBA career (1997–2001)

On February 20, 1997, the Hornets traded Burrell to the

for Donald Royal. Burrell averaged 5.9 points overall in 1996–97. On September 22, 1997, the Warriors traded Burrell to the

for Dickey Simpkins. Bulls general manager Jerry Krause sought Burrell for his ability to play both forward spots. During the season, in which the Bulls won the NBA championship, Burrell played 80 games with three starts and averaged 5.2 points and 2.5 rebounds. On February 2, 1998, Burrell scored a season high 24 points in 18 minutes in a 111–72 victory over the

Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (NBA), Northwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA), W ...

. '' The Last Dance'', a 2020

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

and

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

documentary series on Burrell's Bulls teammate

Michael Jordan Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player, who is currently a minority owner of the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Ass ...

, depicts Burrell as a common target of Jordan's competitive banter. Burrell contributed to the Bulls’ success that season by guarding Jordan in practice. His athleticism made him a good match for Jordan. Shortly after the 1998–99 NBA lockout ended, the Bulls released Burrell on January 25, 1999. Burrell signed as a free agent with the New Jersey Nets nearly a week later on February 3; he would average 6.6 points in 1999 and 6.1 points in 1999–2000 with the Nets. Burrell had successful hand and knee surgery on April 27, 2000. On April 10, 2001, Burrell returned to the

, where he played four games off the bench in what would be his final NBA season.

NBDL and overseas career (2001–2006)

Burrell signed with National Basketball Development League (NBDL, now

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is a professional basketball league in North America that serves as the Minor league#Basketball, developmental league of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league comprises 31 teams; as of ...

) team Fayetteville Patriots on March 8, 2002. In six games with five starts, Burrell averaged 5.5 points and 3.7 rebounds in his only NBDL season. After leaving the NBDL, Burrell finished much of his professional basketball career internationally, starting with the Shaanxi Kylins of the

Chinese Basketball Association The Chinese Basketball Association (), often abbreviated as the CBA, is the first-tier men's professional basketball league in China. The league is commonly known by fans as the CBA, and this acronym is even used in Chinese on a regular basis ...

where he averaged 18.0 points and 6.2 rebounds in 2002–03. In 2003–04, Burrell played for the Batang Thunder of the

Philippine Basketball Association The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is a men's professional basketball league in the Philippines, composed of twelve company-branded Franchising, franchise teams. Founded in 1975, it is the first professional basketball league in Asia ...

, averaging 25.1 points and 5.0 rebounds. Burrell returned to the U.S. signing with the Idaho Stampede of the

Continental Basketball Association The Continental Basketball Association (CBA), originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, and later as the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association, was a men's professional basketball m ...

on November 30, 2004. Burrell played 14 games for the Stampede, averaging 6.9 points and 3.9 rebounds. In 2005, Burrell signed with

Bilbao Basket Club Basket Bilbao Berri Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D., commonly known as Bilbao Basket (), also known as Surne Bilbao Basket for sponsorship reasons, is a professional basketball club based in Bilbao, Spain. The team plays in the Liga ACB. T ...

of the Spanish

Liga ACB The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administered by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, w ...

, where he played eight games and averaged 5.0 points. On January 24, 2005, Burrell signed with the Hitachi Sunrockers of the Japanese JBL Super League. Burrell averaged 6.2 points in his final pro basketball season with Hitachi in 2005–06.

Coaching career

In the 2006–07 season, Burrell was an assistant coach for the Colorado 14ers of the NBA D-League (now G League). On August 17, 2007, Burrell became an assistant coach for the Quinnipiac Bobcats men's basketball team at Quinnipiac University in his hometown of Hamden, Connecticut, under former UConn assistant coach Tom Moore. Burrell helped Quinnipiac win the regular season

Northeast Conference The Northeast Conference (NEC) is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools are members of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Teams in the NEC compete in Division I for all sports; football competes in the Division I Foo ...

title and qualify for the NIT in the 2009–10 season. On July 13, 2015, Burrell was hired as head men's basketball coach at Southern Connecticut State University, a Division II school in New Haven. Inheriting a 24–8 team from former head coach Mike Donnelly, Burrell led the Southern Connecticut Fighting Owls to a 22–8 (17–3 conference) record, Northeast-10 Conference Southwest Division title, and NCAA tournament appearance in his first season; as a result of this success, Burrell earned Eastern College Athletic Conference Coach of the Year honors. Burrell followed up with an 18–13 record and second straight NCAA tournament under his tenure (fourth overall for the program) in 2016–17. As of the 2019–20 season, Burrell has a 91–56 cumulative record at Southern Connecticut .

Head coaching record

Personal life

Following the Chicago Bulls' 1998 championship, Connecticut Governor John G. Rowland issued a proclamation of October 20, 1998 as "Scott Burrell Day," after the town of Hamden presented Burrell with a " key to the city." Burrell is married to SportsNet New York reporter Jeané Coakley. They have two children. His niece is the USA Eagles women's Rugby Union Lock Alycia Washington.

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

, - , align="left" , , align="left" , Charlotte , 51 , , 16 , , 15.0 , , .419 , , .333 , , .657 , , 2.6 , , 1.2 , , .7 , , .3 , , 4.8 , - , align="left" , , align="left" , Charlotte , 65 , , 62 , , 31.0 , , .467 , , .409 , , .694 , , 5.7 , , 2.5 , , 1.2 , , .6 , , 11.5 , - , align="left" , , align="left" , Charlotte , 20 , , 20 , , 34.7 , , .447 , , .378 , , .750 , , 4.9 , , 2.4 , , 1.4 , , .7 , , 13.2 , - , align="left" , , align="left" , Charlotte , 28 , , 2 , , 17.2 , , .344 , , .345 , , .792 , , 2.8 , , 1.4 , , .5 , , .4 , , 5.4 , - , align="left" , , align="left" , Golden State , 29 , , 0 , , 15.8 , , .379 , , .361, , .652 , , 2.7 , , 1.2 , , .5 , , .3 , , 4.9 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;", † , align="left" ,

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, 80 , , 3 , , 13.7 , , .424 , , .354 , , .734 , , 2.5 , , .8 , , .8 , , .5 , , 5.2 , - , align="left" , , align="left" ,

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

, 32 , , 0 , , 22.1 , , .361 , , .389 , , .810 , , 3.7 , , 1.4 , , 1.3 , , .3 , , 6.6 , - , align="left" , , align="left" ,

, 74 , , 9 , , 18.1 , , .394 , , .353 , , .780 , , 3.5 , , 1.0 , , .9 , , .6 , , 6.1 , - , align="left" , , align="left" , Charlotte , 4 , , 0 , , 10.3 , , .467 , , .333 , , .250 , , .8 , , .3 , , .8 , , .0 , , 4.3 , -class="sortbottom" , align="center" colspan=2, Career , 383 , , 122 , , 19.8 , , .418 , , .373 , , .723 , , 3.5 , , 1.4 , , .9 , , .5 , , 6.9

Playoffs

, - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;",

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

† , align="left" ,

, 21 , , 0 , , 12.4 , , .438 , , .300 , , .909 , , 2.0 , , .5 , , .9 , , .1 , , 3.8 , - , align="left" ,

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

, align="left" , Charlotte , 2 , , 0 , , 6.0 , , .667 , , 0 , , .500 , , 1.5 , , .5 , , 1.0 , , .0 , , 2.5 , -class="sortbottom" , align="center" colspan=2, Career , 23 , , 0 , , 11.9 , , .447 , , .286 , , .846 , , 2.0 , , .5 , , .9 , , .1 , , 3.7

College

, - , 1989–90 ,

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

, 32 , , 20 , , 25.8 , , .386 , , .313 , , .623 , , 5.5 , , 1.8 , , 1.9 , , .9 , , 8.2 , - , 1990–91 ,

, 31 , , – , , 34.7 , , .440 , , .343 , , .592 , , 7.5 , , 3.1 , , 3.6 , , 1.3 , , 12.7 , - , 1991–92 ,

, 30 , , 30 , , 35.3 , , .453 , , .396 , , .611 , , 6.1 , , 2.9 , , 2.5 , , 1.0 , , 16.3 , - , 1992–93 ,

, 26 , , –, , 33.1 , , .411 , , .345 , , .760 , , 6.0 , , 2.1 , , 2.4 , , 1.1 , , 16.1 , -class="sortbottom" , align="center" colspan=2, Career , 119 , , 50+ , , 32.1 , , .426, , .357 , , .640 , , 6.3 , , 2.5 , , 2.6 , , 1.1 , , 13.1

References

External links

*
Scott Burrell player profile
at NBA.com via

Wayback Machine The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web founded by Internet Archive, an American nonprofit organization based in San Francisco, California. Launched for public access in 2001, the service allows users to go "back in ...

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Burrell, Scott 1971 births Living people 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century American sportsmen African-American baseball players American expatriate baseball players in Canada American expatriate basketball people in China American expatriate basketball people in Japan American expatriate basketball people in Spain American expatriate basketball people in the Philippines American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Barako Bull Energy Boosters players Baseball players from New Haven, Connecticut Basketball coaches from Connecticut Basketball players from New Haven, Connecticut Bilbao Basket players Charlotte Hornets draft picks Charlotte Hornets players Chicago Bulls players College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Colorado 14ers coaches Fayetteville Patriots players Golden State Warriors players Guangzhou Loong Lions players Idaho Stampede (CBA) players Liga ACB players Myrtle Beach Hurricanes players New Jersey Nets players Sportspeople from Hamden, Connecticut Basketball players from New Haven County, Connecticut Philippine Basketball Association imports Quinnipiac Bobcats men's basketball coaches Shooting guards Small forwards Southern Connecticut Owls coaches St. Catharines Blue Jays players Sun Rockers Shibuya players UConn Huskies men's basketball players