Nick Collison

Nick Collison

Collison with the Thunder
No. 4   Oklahoma City Thunder
Power forward/Center
Personal information
Date of birth	October 26, 1980 (1980-10-26) (age 31)
Place of birth	Orange City, Iowa
Nationality	American
High school	Iowa Falls High School
Listed height	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)
Listed weight	255 lb (116 kg)
Career information
College	Kansas
NBA Draft	2003 / Round: 1 / Pick: 12th overall
Selected by the Seattle SuperSonics
Pro career	2004–present
Stats at NBA.com

Medal record
Men’s basketball
Competitor for  United States
FIBA Americas Championship
Gold	2003 San Juan	Team competition
FIBA Americas U18 Championship
Gold	1998 Puerto Plata	Team competition
FIBA U19 World Championship
Silver	1999 Lisbon	Team competition
FIBA U21 World Championship
Gold	2001 Saitama	Team competition

Nicholas John Collison (born October 26, 1980) is an American professional basketball player, currently a power forward for the Oklahoma City Thunder of the NBA, and well known in basketball circles for his accomplishments at the University of Kansas.

Early life and high school career

Nick Collison was born in Orange City, Iowa, and grew up in Fort Dodge, Iowa and transferred to Iowa Falls High School.

Nick Collison was a 1999 McDonald's All-American in high school while attending Iowa Falls, Iowa.

From 3rd grade to his Senior year in high school, the Iowa Falls Cadets only lost one game. That game was lost in the state quarterfinals after Iowa Falls went from 2A to 3A and had almost no competition until the state quarterfinals.

College career

Teaming with fellow Iowan Kirk Hinrich to form one of the best duos in college basketball, Collison helped KU reach two consecutive Final Fours (2002, 2003). Collison finished his college career as the leading scorer in the history of the Big 12 Conference (since passed by Andre Emmett). In 2003, his Jayhawks lost to the Carmelo Anthony led Syracuse University Orangemen in the National Championship game, 81–78. He played for the US national team in the 2002 FIBA World Championship.^[1]

Collison's #4 jersey was retired by the Kansas Jayhawks at halftime of a 2004 game between Kansas and Michigan State University,^[2] in recognition of his achievements (2002–03 Player of the Year, consensus First-Team All-America, Big 12 Player of the Year).^[3] Like Hinrich, Collison played all four years in college.

NBA career

Collison was selected by the Seattle SuperSonics with the 12th pick of the 2003 NBA Draft but missed the 2003–04 season with injuries to both shoulders. He made his regular season NBA debut on November 3, 2004 against the Los Angeles Clippers, scoring 3 points in a 114–84 loss. He still plays for the same franchise, now the Oklahoma City Thunder since relocating in 2008. He and Kevin Durant are the only two players remaining from the Seattle SuperSonics era (Russell Westbrook and Serge Ibaka were drafted by the Sonics but the team relocated before their rookie seasons).

Since his rookie season, Collison made the power forward position his own, emerging as a valuable and solid player during 2006–07, averaging nearly double figures in points (9.6) and adding 8 rebounds per game, while displaying great hustle. The following season, with slightly fewer minutes, Collison pulled down more rebounds (9.4) and points (9.8) per game.

Collison is well known for his savvy and quick defense, most notably having been among the league leaders in charges drawn several seasons in a row.

Personal life

After the decision by the owners of the team to relocate to Oklahoma City Collison decided to continue making his home in Seattle.^[4]

Nick is married to Robbie Harriford. They have a daughter, Emma Collison.

Nick Collison's younger brother Michael plays at Briar Cliff University in Sioux City, Iowa, their father's alma mater.

NBA career 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
2004–05	Seattle	82	4	17.0	.537	.000	.703	4.6	.4	.4	.6	5.6
2005–06	Seattle	66	27	21.9	.525	.000	.699	5.6	1.1	.3	.5	7.5
2006–07	Seattle	82	56	29.0	.500	.000	.774	8.1	1.0	.6	.8	9.6
2007–08	Seattle	78	35	28.5	.502	.000	.737	9.4	1.4	.6	.8	9.8
2008–09	Oklahoma City	71	40	25.8	.568	.000	.721	6.9	.9	.7	.7	8.2
2009–10	Oklahoma City	75	5	20.8	.589	.250	.692	5.1	.5	.5	.6	5.9
2010–11	Oklahoma City	71	2	21.5	.566	.000	.753	4.5	1.0	.6	.4	4.6
Career		525	169	23.5	.532	.063	.729	6.3	.9	.5	.6	7.4

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2005	Seattle	11	0	19.8	.607	1.000	.630	5.0	.5	.3	.4	8.4
2010	Oklahoma City	6	0	21.5	.333	.000	.429	4.7	.3	.8	.2	3.2
2011	Oklahoma City	17	0	24.3	.632	.000	.783	5.8	.9	.9	.9	6.7
Career		34	0	22.4	.578	.500	.667	5.3	.6	.7	.6	6.6

See also

• List of NCAA Division I men's basketball players with 2000 points and 1000 rebounds

References

1. ^ 2002 USA Basketball
2. ^ KU to retire Collison's jersey
3. ^ NABC, Player of the Year, Retrieved on March 12, 2008
4. ^ Gary Washburn, Collison reflects on Sonics' relocation, August 26, 2008

External links

• NBA.com profile - Nick Collison
• University of Kansas Men's Basketball
• College stats at sportsstats.com
• ESPN Profile
• Basketball Reference Profile

Persondata
Name	Collison, Nick
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	October 26, 1980
Place of birth	Orange City, Iowa
Date of death
Place of death