Larry Drew II

Larry Donelle Drew II (born March 5, 1990) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the New Orleans Pelicans of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He won the John R. Wooden High School Player of the Year Award in 2008 before starting his college basketball career with the North Carolina Tar Heels. He went on to win a national championship in 2009 with the Tar Heels before deciding to leave the program in 2011. He transferred to the UCLA Bruins' program, where he played one season and broke the single-season school record for assists. Drew was named to the All-Pac-12 first team. He won a gold medal with the United States national team at the FIBA AmeriCup in 2017.

Larry Drew II
Drew (right) defending in 2009
Personal information
Born (1990-03-05) March 5, 1990
Encino, California
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Listed weight180 lb (82 kg)
Career information
High schoolTaft (Woodland Hills, California)
College
NBA draft2013 / Undrafted
Playing career2013–2018
PositionPoint guard
Career history
2013–2015Sioux Falls Skyforce
2015Philadelphia 76ers
2015Sioux Falls Skyforce
2015–2016AS Monaco
2016Sioux Falls Skyforce
2016–2017Neptūnas Klaipėda
2017–2018Sioux Falls Skyforce
2018Philadelphia 76ers
2018Sioux Falls Skyforce
2018New Orleans Pelicans
Career highlights and awards
Stats  at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Medals
Men's basketball
Representing  United States
FIBA AmeriCup
2017 Argentina

Early life

Drew is the son of Larry Drew,[1] who was a first-round draft pick in the 1980 NBA draft before becoming a head coach in the league. At William Howard Taft High School, Drew won the John R. Wooden High School Player of the Year Award as the 2008 Los Angeles City Section Player of the year[2] and was also a third-team Parade All-American that year.[3] He participated in the 2008 McDonald's All-American Game, where he won the 3-point shooting contest.[4]

College career

North Carolina

Drew started his collegiate career at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In his freshman year, he averaged 1.4 points, 1.9 assists, 1.2 turnovers, and 1.1 rebounds in 9.6 minutes per game as the Tar Heels won the 2009 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I championship.[4] He became the starting point guard as a sophomore, replacing Ty Lawson who departed for the NBA. Drew had an up and down season as the Tar Heels struggled to a 20-17 overall record and failed to qualify for the NCAA tournament. However, they did advance to the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) championship game.[5][6] For the season, Drew averaged 8.5 points per game on 40.2% shooting from the field, with six assists and 2.1 turnovers per game.[7]

On February 3, 2011, Drew left the University of North Carolina's basketball program in the middle of the season. In his last game with the Tar Heels, he had nine assists in 19 minutes in a 106–74 victory over Boston College. He did not cite any reasons, but his playing time, scoring, and assist numbers were all down from the prior season, and freshman Kendall Marshall had supplanted him as starting point guard in mid-January.[8] However, in a freestyle rap in March on his 21st birthday, Drew rapped, "The past three years I can't undo, so now I'm making all the moves that I want to ... They tried to tell me just to play my role, but who's really trying to stick to a script that's full of typos?"[9]

UCLA

Drew started attending classes at UCLA on March 28, and had to sit out the 2011–12 season before using his final season of eligibility. Drew joined former Tar Heel twins, David and Travis Wear, who also transferred to UCLA.[9]

Drew began the 2012–13 season as the Bruins lone senior player. He was also their only true point guard, a position he shared with freshman Kyle Anderson.[10][11] In the final game of the regular season, Drew broke Pooh Richardson's school record for most assists in a season.[12][lower-alpha 1] Drew was named to the All-Pac-12 first team.[13]

Professional career

2013–14 season

After going undrafted in the 2013 NBA draft, Drew joined the Miami Heat for the 2013 NBA Summer League. On September 23, 2013, he signed with the Heat.[14] However, he was later waived by the Heat on October 21.[15] On October 31, he was acquired by the Sioux Falls Skyforce.[16] On November 23, he made his professional debut in a 103–73 win over the Reno Bighorns, recording nine points, three rebounds and six assists in 32 minutes.[17]

2014–15 season

In July 2014, Drew re-joined the Heat for the 2014 NBA Summer League. On October 20, he re-signed with the Heat,[18] however they waived him on October 25,[19] when he accepted their assignment back to Sioux Falls.[20] He was officially reacquired by the Skyforce on November 3.[21] He went on to deliver a D-League record 23 assists on December 25 in the 135-129 win over the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.[22]

On January 16, 2015, Drew signed a 10-day contract with the Philadelphia 76ers.[23] On January 26, he signed a second 10-day contract with the 76ers.[24] Hours later, he made his first NBA start against the New Orleans Pelicans; Philadelphia was without starting point guard Michael Carter-Williams, who was out sick, and backup Tony Wroten had been sidelined with a knee injury.[25] League rules limited teams to signing a single player to a maximum of two 10-day deals. Needing to sign Drew to a fully guaranteed contract if they wished to retain him, the team instead signed Tim Frazier to a 10-day contract on February 5, citing the desire for roster "flexibility."[26] On February 6, he returned to the Skyforce.[27]

2015–16 season

During the offseason, Drew played for the New Orleans Pelicans during the 2015 NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, where he was named to the All-NBA Summer League Second Team.[28] Following the conclusion of the Summer League, he signed with AS Monaco Basket of the LNB Pro A in France for 2015–16.[29] On March 15, 2016, he parted ways with Monaco after averaging 4.1 points per contest in 18 games.[30]

On March 28, 2016, Drew was reacquired by the Sioux Falls Skyforce.[31] The next day, he made his season debut in a 125–107 win over the Iowa Energy, recording three points, one rebound and two assists in nine minutes off the bench.[32] He helped the Skyforce win the league championship with a 2–1 Finals series win over the Los Angeles D-Fenders.[33]

2016–17 season

On August 2, 2016, Drew signed a one-year contract with BC Neptūnas in Lithuania.[34] On February 10, 2017, he parted ways with Neptūnas due to disciplinary issues.[35][36] On March 2, 2017, Drew was acquired by the Sioux Falls Skyforce.[37]

2017—18 season

Drew Joined the Philadelphia 76ers for the 2017 NBA Summer League in Orlando. He later signed with Miami for his third training camp with the Heat.[38] On October 12, he was waived by the Heat.[39]

On January 23, 2018, Drew signed a 10-day contract with the Philadelphia 76ers.[40] In March, he signed two 10-day contracts with the New Orleans Pelicans, but was not re-signed after the team signed former Pelicans guard Jordan Crawford.[41][42][43]

National team career

Drew played for the United States national team at the 2017 FIBA AmeriCup, where he won a gold medal. He averaged 4.6 points, 5.0 assists and 1.0 steals per game in the tournament.[38]

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

NBA statistics
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2014–15 Philadelphia 12118.3.345.154.6671.33.8.5.03.8
2017–18 Philadelphia 305.0.143.000–.3.7.0.0.7
2017–18 New Orleans 707.9.353.500–.31.1.0.02.1
Career 22113.1.329.200.667.82.5.3.02.9

College statistics
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2008–09 North Carolina 3809.6.351.231.4121.11.9.4.01.4
2009–10 North Carolina 373628.8.405.352.6062.75.9.8.08.5
2010–11 North Carolina 211722.8.384.207.6772.33.91.1.04.4
2012–13 UCLA 353535.5.446.433.6092.47.31.4.27.5
Career 1318824.0.412.343.6012.14.8.9.15.5

See also

Notes
  1. Drew's record was broken by Lonzo Ball in 2016–17.

References
  1. Hummer, Steve (June 12, 2010). "Larry Drew's path to coach of Hawks". AJC.com. Archived from the original on April 24, 2012. Retrieved June 12, 2010.
  2. "John R. Wooden Award Committee Names 2008 Wooden High School Players Of The Year". WoodenAward.com. April 16, 2008. Archived from the original on May 21, 2011.
  3. "High School Boys Basketball Team". Parade. April 6, 2008. Archived from the original on May 22, 2011.
  4. Jordan, Jason (November 6, 2009). "UNC Point Guard Larry Drew II Is Ready To Show What He Can Do". Dime Magazine. Archived from the original on May 22, 2011.
  5. "Tar Heels struggle in 2009-2010 season". CarolinaUpdate.com. Retrieved January 6, 2011.
  6. Yoon, Peter (March 28, 2011). "Larry Drew II enrolls at UCLA". ESPNLosAngeles.com. Archived from the original on May 21, 2011.
  7. "Larry Drew II Career Stats". CarolinaUpdate.com. Retrieved January 6, 2011.
  8. Forde, Pat (February 4, 2011). "Larry Drew II leaves Tar Heels". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on May 22, 2011.
  9. Bolch, Ben (March 28, 2011). "UCLA basketball: Former North Carolina guard Larry Drew II joins Bruins". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on May 21, 2011.
  10. Hamilton, Brian (November 2, 2012). "UNC transfer Larry Drew II looking for redemption as senior at UCLA". SI.com. Archived from the original on November 21, 2012.
  11. Strong, Sam (November 13, 2012). "Howland turns to Larry Drew II at point guard". Post-Telegram. Long Beach. Archived from the original on November 21, 2012.
  12. Loumena, Dan (March 9, 2013). "UCLA clinches Pac-12 Conference regular-season title". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 10, 2013.
  13. Yoon, Peter (March 11, 2013). "Shabazz Muhammad, Larry Drew II named All-Pac-12". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on March 11, 2013.
  14. "Miami Heat sign guard Larry Drew II". InsideHoops.com. September 23, 2013. Archived from the original on October 20, 2014. Retrieved September 23, 2013.
  15. "HEAT Waive Varnado, Drew and Westbrook". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. October 21, 2013. Retrieved October 21, 2013.
  16. "Skyforce Announces Initial 2013-14 Training Camp Invitees". NBA.com. October 31, 2013. Archived from the original on November 7, 2015. Retrieved October 31, 2013.
  17. "Reno 73, Sioux Falls 103". RealGM.com. November 23, 2013. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
  18. "HEAT Signs Larry Drew II". NBA.com. October 20, 2014. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
  19. "HEAT Waive Birch, Drew, Johnson and Jones". NBA.com. October 25, 2014. Retrieved October 25, 2014.
  20. Winderman, Ira (October 23, 2014). "Heat release Tyler Johnson, Shawn Jones, Larry Drew". South Florida Sun Sentinel. Archived from the original on October 24, 2014.
  21. "Skyforce Announces Full Training Camp Roster". OurSportsCentral.com. November 3, 2014. Retrieved November 3, 2014.
  22. "Record Breaking Night from Drew II Leads Sioux Falls over Rio Grande Valley". OurSportsCentral.com. December 26, 2014. Retrieved December 26, 2014.
  23. "Sixers Sign Larry Drew II To 10-day Contract". NBA.com (Press release). Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. January 16, 2015. Retrieved January 16, 2015.
  24. "Sixers Sign Larry Drew II To Second 10-day Contract". NBA.com (Press release). Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. January 26, 2015. Retrieved January 26, 2015.
  25. Pompey, Keith (January 28, 2015). "Davis and Pelicans run over Sixers". Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived from the original on September 2, 2015.
  26. Rappaport, Max (February 5, 2015). "Frazier Joins Sixers After Call-up From Red Claws". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Retrieved February 5, 2015.
  27. "Larry Drew II Returns to Skyforce". NBA.com. February 6, 2015. Retrieved February 6, 2015.
  28. "Spurs forward Kyle Anderson named Summer League MVP". SI.com. July 19, 2015. Archived from the original on July 20, 2015.
  29. "LA ROCA TEAM VERSION PRO A 2015-2016". asmonacobasket.com (in French). Archived from the original on September 2, 2015.
  30. "Larry Drew II, AS Monaco part ways". Sportando.com. March 15, 2016. Retrieved March 16, 2016.
  31. "Skyforce Acquire Larry Drew II". OurSportsCentral.com. March 28, 2016. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
  32. "Skyforce Rout Energy, Set Single-Season Wins Mark". NBA.com. March 29, 2016. Retrieved March 29, 2016.
  33. "Sioux Falls Skyforce Cap Historic Season with First NBA D-League". NBA.com. April 27, 2016. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
  34. ""Neptūno" gretose - NBA duonos ragavęs žaidėjas (2 video)". KK Neptūnas (in Lithuanian). August 2, 2016. Retrieved August 5, 2016.
  35. "neptūną"-palieka-du-legionieriai "DĖL VIDAUS TAISYKLIŲ PAŽEIDIMŲ "NEPTŪNĄ" PALIEKA DU LEGIONIERIAI". bcneptunas.lt (in Lithuanian). February 10, 2017. Retrieved February 10, 2017.
  36. Miknevičiūtė, Gabrielė. "Iš "Neptūno" išmestas O.Kurauskas nesigaili priimtų sprendimų ir atskleidė D.Ewingo sugrįžimo istoriją | Krepsinis.net". Krepsinis.net (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 25 April 2017.
  37. "SKYFORCE ACQUIRE LARRY DREW II". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. March 2, 2017. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
  38. Wong, Jeff (September 15, 2017). "AmeriCup Experience Prepares Larry Drew For Camp". gleague.nba.com. Archived from the original on September 16, 2017.
  39. "HEAT Signs Tony Mitchell". NBA.com. October 12, 2017. Retrieved October 12, 2017.
  40. "Drew II Signed to 10-Day Contract". NBA.com. January 23, 2018. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
  41. "Pelicans sign Larry Drew II to 10-Day Contract". NBA.com. March 15, 2018. Retrieved March 15, 2018.
  42. Peter, Dan (April 10, 2018). "SKYFORCE'S DREW II CAPS SEASON TO REMEMBER AND PLAYED WITH TWO NBA CONTENDERS". ESPN991.com. Archived from the original on April 12, 2018.
  43. "Pelicans sign Jordan Crawford". WWL.com. April 6, 2018. Archived from the original on April 6, 2018.
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