Ivan Chiriaev

Ivan Chiriaev (born August 25, 1984 in St. Petersburg, Russia) is a Russian born basketball player.

Chiriaev had a lot of hype surrounding him going into the 2004 NBA Draft, but was not drafted. He felt that if he was not a guaranteed top 3 pick he would go into college (NCAA) basketball. Where he verbally commited to Iowa State.University. Ivan played High School basketball at St. Thomas Aquinas in Oakville, Canada. He was famously quoted as saying (on his NBA intentions) "the NBA wants Ivan Chiriaev. The NBA needs Ivan Chiriaev." His high school statistics are unclear, as stats apparently were not kept, but it was estimated that he scored 16 points per game. One source credited him with the lofty stats of 26.8 points per game, 17.3 rebounds and over 9000 assists, though these are likely made up.

Chiriaev was a bench player for MBC Dynamo Moscow in 2004-5 and 2005-6. He then played 2006-7 for MyGuide Amsterdam.

ources

* http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Basketball/NBA/2004/05/09/453205.html
* http://nbadraft.net/chiriaevstory.asp
* http://www.hoopshype.com/interviews/chiriaev_sierra.htm
* http://www.nba.com/draft2006/profiles/IvanChiriaev.html