Darren Collison

Darren Collison

Collison in December 2008
No. 2   Indiana Pacers
Point guard
Personal information
Date of birth	August 23, 1987 (1987-08-23) (age 24)
Place of birth	Rancho Cucamonga, California
Nationality	American
High school	Etiwanda HS, Rancho Cucamonga, California
Listed height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Listed weight	160 lb (73 kg)
Career information
College	UCLA (2005–2009)
NBA Draft	2009 / Round: 1 / Pick: 21st overall
Selected by the New Orleans Hornets
Pro career	2009–present
Career history
2009–10	New Orleans Hornets
2010–present	Indiana Pacers
Career highlights and awards
NBA All-Rookie First Team (2010) 2009 Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award
Stats at NBA.com

Darren Michael Collison (born August 23, 1987) is an American professional basketball point guard for the Indiana Pacers. He was drafted 21st overall in the 2009 NBA Draft by New Orleans. He is a right-hander and a native of Rancho Cucamonga, California. Collison was widely considered to be one of the top point guard prospects in the 2009 NBA Draft coming out of UCLA.^[1]

He was awarded the MVP of the Maui Invitational Tournament in December 2006 and was named the Pacific 10 Conference Player of the Week on December 4, 2006, and again on February 18, 2007. His parents Dennis and June (Griffith) were both elite track and field athletes for Guyana.^[2]

Collison grew up as a fan of the University of Arizona, but was not recruited by Arizona. He chose UCLA over San Diego State University^[3] to serve as a backup to Jordan Farmar in the 2005–06 season. Collison became the starting point guard the following season.

College career

Collison at the 2008 Pac-10 Championship game

During the 2006–07 season, Collison averaged 2.2 steals per game—the most in the Pacific 10 Conference.^[2] He also averaged 5.7 assists (2nd in the Pac 10), as well as a three-point shooting percentage of 44.7 percent.^[4] Collison returned to UCLA for his junior and senior years and ended up playing in a total of 142 games at UCLA, tied for the most ever. In his senior year in 2009, he was named to the All-Pac-10 team after averaging 14.4 points, 4.7 assists, and 1.6 steals per game. He led the conference in free throw percentage, and was third in assists, steals, and assists-to-turnover ratio. Collison won the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award that year, awarded to the best college player 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) or shorter.^[5] He was also named the Bruins' co-Most Valuable Player (MVP) along with Josh Shipp.^[6]

NBA Career

Collison declared himself eligible for the 2009 NBA Draft and was selected 21st overall by the New Orleans Hornets.

With Chris Paul out for months at two separate times during the 2009-2010 season, Collison became the starting point guard. Collison handed out a Hornets rookie-record 18 assists and scored 17 points on January 30, 2010 when New Orleans ended Memphis's 11-game home winning streak with a 113–111 overtime victory. Later on March 8, 2010, Collison broke his own record with a Hornets rookie-record 20 assists (along with 16 points) in a 135–131 victory over the Golden State Warriors. In a game against the Indiana Pacers on February 19, 2010, Collison became only the second rookie of the 2009-2010 season to get a triple-double with 18 points, 13 rebounds, and 12 assists. He finished 4th in the NBA Rookie of the Year voting and averaged 18.8 points and 9.1 assists, but had four turnovers a contest as a starter in his first NBA season. On August 11, 2010, the Hornets traded Collison and James Posey to the Indiana Pacers in a four-team, five-player deal.^[7]

NBA Statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2009–10	New Orleans	76	37	27.8	.477	.400	.851	2.5	5.7	1.0	.0	12.4
2010–11	Indiana	79	79	29.9	.457	.331	.871	2.8	5.1	1.1	.2	13.2
Career		155	116	28.8	.467	.364	.862	2.7	5.4	1.1	.1	12.8

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2010–11	Indiana	5	5	29.2	.391	.667	.636	2.6	4.0	1.0	.4	9.4
Career		5	5	29.2	.391	.667	.636	2.6	4.0	1.0	.4	9.4

Awards and recognition

• 2004 CIF Southern Section I-AA Player of the Year^[2]
• 2005 CIF Southern Section I-AA Player of the Year^[2]
• 2007 All-Pac-10 First Team^[8]
• 2008 All-Pac-10 Second Team^[9]
• 2008 Pac-10 Conference Tournament Most Valuable Player^[10]
• 2008 Associated Press Third Team All-American^[2]
• 2008 Collegeinsider.com All-Defensive Team (along with teammate Russell Westbrook)^[11]
• 2009 All-Pac-10 First Team^[8]
• 2009 honorable mention in the AP All-America basketball teams.^[12]
• 2009 UCLA Bruins co-MVP (along with Josh Shipp)^[6]
• February Western Conference Rookie of the Month 2010

See also

• List of National Basketball Association players with most assists in a game
• 2009 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans
• 2009 UCLA Basketball team
• 2008 UCLA Basketball team
• 2007 UCLA Basketball team
• 2006 UCLA Basketball team

References

General

• Finney, Ryan (2010). "2010–11 UCLA Men's Basketball Media Guide". UCLA Athletic Department. Archived from the original on March 10, 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/5x5aLpTmX. 

Specific

1. ^ "Draft Watch: Getting to the point - ESPN". ESPN. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/draft2009/columns/story?columnist=ford_chad&page=FordDraftWatch-090115. Retrieved 2009-02-20. 
2. ^ ^{a b c d e} "Player Bio: Darren Collison - Men's Basketball". UCLA. http://uclabruins.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/collison_darren00.html. Retrieved 2009-02-20. 
3. ^ "Darren Collison - Basketball Recruiting". Basketball Recruiting. http://basketballrecruiting.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?Sport=2&pr_key=29729. Retrieved 2009-02-20. 
4. ^ UCLA Official Athletic Site - Men's Basketball
5. ^ Rose, Adam (April 1, 2009). "UCLA's Darren Collison receives Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on May 31, 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/5z6XbFIVb. 
6. ^ ^{a b} Finney 2010, p.110
7. ^ "Pacers get Collison from Hornets in 4-team trade". NBA.com. August 11, 2010. http://www.nba.com/2010/news/08/11/four.team.trade.ap/index.html?ls=iref:nbahpt1. Retrieved August 11, 2010. 
8. ^ ^{a b} Finney 2010, p.105
9. ^ [1]^{[dead link]}
10. ^ [2]^{[dead link]}
11. ^ "2008 CollegeInsider.com Defensive All-America Team". College Insider. http://www.collegeinsider.com/awards/defense_08.html. Retrieved 2009-02-20. 
12. ^ 2008-09 AP All-America Basketball Teams

External links

• Official UCLA bio

Persondata
Name	Collison, Darren
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	August 23, 1987
Place of birth	Rancho Cucamonga, California
Date of death
Place of death