Cole Aldrich

Cole Aldrich

Aldrich with the Thunder
No. 45   Oklahoma City Thunder
Center
Personal information
Date of birth	October 31, 1988 (1988-10-31) (age 23)
Place of birth	Burnsville, Minnesota, United States
Nationality	American
High school	Bloomington Jefferson HS (Minneapolis, Minnesota)
Listed height	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)
Listed weight	245 lb (111 kg)
Career information
College	Kansas
NBA Draft	2010 / Round: 1 / Pick: 11th overall
Selected by the New Orleans Hornets
Pro career	2010–present
Career history
2010–present	Oklahoma City Thunder
2010–2011	→Tulsa 66ers (D-League)
Career highlights and awards
NCAA Champion (2008) Consensus NCAA All-American Second Team (2010)
Stats at NBA.com

Cole David Aldrich (born October 31, 1988) is an American basketball player who is currently playing for the Oklahoma City Thunder in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He completed his junior year at the University of Kansas in March 2010. Aldrich was selected as a McDonald's All American in 2006.^[1] He attended Bloomington Jefferson High School. The New Orleans Hornets selected Aldrich eleventh overall in the first round of the 2010 NBA Draft.^[2]

High school career

Aldrich attended Bloomington Jefferson High School in Minneapolis, Minnesota. As a senior, he was named state player of the year by the St. Paul Pioneer Press and Minneapolis Star-Tribune.^[3]

Collegiate career

Freshman season

During the 2007–08 season at Kansas, Aldrich's freshman season, his playing time was limited due to playing behind future NBA draft picks Darrell Arthur, Sasha Kaun, and Darnell Jackson. He averaged three rebounds and 2.8 points a game on 8.3 minutes a game during the regular season. Statistically, Aldrich's best performance was an 11-point, 11-rebound outing in a win over Texas Tech on March 3, 2008.^[4] Probably the most crucial game for Aldrich was during the Final Four game between Kansas and North Carolina on April 5, 2008, when he played only 16 minutes but managed to grab 8 rebounds and score 7 points along with blocking 4 shots while also playing effective defense against National Player of the Year Tyler Hansbrough, helping lead Kansas into the NCAA national championship game. They then defeated the Memphis Tigers to win their first Championship since 1988.^[5]

Sophomore season

With the departure of the other Jayhawk big men to the NBA draft, Aldrich became the premier big-man going into his sophomore season. Through the first 29 games, he averaged a double-double with 15.1 points and 10.8 rebounds in 29.7 minutes of play. He grabbed a career-high 20 rebounds in an 87–78 win over Oklahoma on February 23, 2009,.^[6] On March 8, 2009, Aldrich was named to the 2008–09 Big 12 All-conference first team.^[7] On March 22, 2009 Aldrich recorded the first official triple-double in the history of Kansas basketball against Dayton in the second round of the NCAA tournament. Aldrich accumulated 13 points, 20 rebounds, and 10 blocks in a 60–43 victory.^[8] On Monday, April 13, Aldrich announced that he would return to KU for his Junior season.

Junior season

He won the 2009–10 men's college basketball Academic All-American of the Year as selected by CoSIDA and presented by ESPN the Magazine.^[9] He ended his college career a perfect 55-0 at Allen Fieldhouse.

Professional career

On March 29, 2010, Aldrich announced that he would forego his final season of collegiate eligibility and enter the 2010 NBA Draft. He was the 11th pick at the 2010 NBA Draft, selected by the New Orleans Hornets, who traded his rights on draft day to the Oklahoma City Thunder. On August 6, 2010, Aldrich signed a 2-year contract with the Thunder with a two year option.^[10]

On November 24, 2010, the Thunder assigned Aldrich to the Tulsa 66ers of the NBA D-League.^[11] He was recalled on December 6, 2010,^[12] but sent back to Tulsa on December 30, 2010.^[13] He was again recalled on February 2, 2011, and assigned for a third time on March 30, 2011.^[14]

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

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2010-11	Tulsa 66ers	21	21	29.3	.544	.000	.804	8.6	1.3	.5	2.6	10.3

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
2010–11	Oklahoma City	18	0	7.9	.533	.000	.500	1.9	.2	.3	.4	1.0
Career		18	0	7.9	.533	.000	.500	1.9	.2	.3	.4	1.0

See also

• 2010 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans

References

1. ^ Rivals.com
2. ^ 2010 Draft Coverage Archived 9 December 2010 at WebCite
3. ^ "Online Home of Cole Aldrich" (English). http://www.colealdrich.com/. Retrieved 2011-02-01. 
4. ^ Cole Aldrich Kansas Jayhawks Game Log (2007–08)
5. ^ North Carolina battles back, but Rush, Kansas close out Tar Heels.
6. ^ Taylor, Collins score 26 each as Jayhawks hand Sooners second straight loss
7. ^ [|Bedore, Gary] (March 8, 2009). "Jayhawks well-represented on coaches’ Big 12 teams". Lawrence Journal-World. The World Company. http://www2.kusports.com/news/2009/mar/08/jayhawks-well-represented-coaches-big-12-teams/. Retrieved March 9, 2009. 
8. ^ Aldrich's 13 points, 20 boards, 10 blocked shots lead KU to Sweet 16
9. ^ "Junior center Cole Aldrich of Kansas, Thomas More senior guard Daniel McKeehan lead ESPN the Magazine's Academic All-America Men's Basketball Teams". CoSIDA. 2010-02-22. http://www.cosida.com/news/2010/2/22/0222105849_4996.aspx. Retrieved 2010-02-23. ^{[dead link]}
10. ^ Cole Aldrich signs with Thunder
11. ^ Thunder Assign Aldrich To Tulsa 66ers
12. ^ Thunder Recall Aldrich From D-League
13. ^ Thunder Assign Aldrich To D-League
14. ^ http://www.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/nba/2011-03-30-3020320363_x.htm

External links

• Yahoo Sports Profile
• ESPN Profile

Persondata
Name	Aldrich, Cole
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	October 31, 1988
Place of birth	Burnsville, Minnesota
Date of death
Place of death