Mario Little

Mario Deantwan Little (born December 29, 1987)[1] is an American professional basketball player for Aris of the Greek Basket League. He played college basketball for Chipola College and Kansas before beginning his professional career in Ukraine. After three years in the NBA Development League, Little began an overseas career that spanned Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and South America.

Mario Little
No. 23 – Aris Thessaloniki
PositionShooting guard / Small forward
LeagueGreek Basket League
Personal information
Born (1987-12-29) December 29, 1987
Chicago, Illinois
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Listed weight218 lb (99 kg)
Career information
High schoolGeorge Washington
(Chicago, Illinois)
College
NBA draft2011 / Undrafted
Playing career2011–present
Career history
2011–2012Dnipro-Azot Dniprodzerzhynsk
2012–2015Tulsa 66ers / Oklahoma City Blue
2015Manresa
2015–2016Anyang KGC
2016TNT KaTropa
2016Changwon LG Sakers
2016Seoul SK Knights
2016–2017Changwon LG Sakers
2017Maccabi Ashdod
2017Guaros de Lara
2017–2018VL Pesaro
2018Guaros de Lara
2018–2019Zadar
2019–2020Ifaistos Limnou
2020–presentAris Thessaloniki
Career highlights and awards

High school career

Little attended George Washington High School in Chicago, Illinois, where as a senior in 2005–06, he averaged 22 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists, three steals and three blocks per game.[2]

College career
Little guarding Melvin Ejim in January 2011

Little played his first two college seasons at Chipola College, where he was named Sixth Man of the Year as a freshman, before being named both Player of the Year in the Panhandle Conference and an NJCAA All-American as a sophomore.[2]

In 2008, Little joined the Kansas Jayhawks.[3] However, his first season as a Jayhawk resulted in him playing just 23 games due to injury.[2][4] Little decided to redshirt the 2009–10 season in order to give his surgically repaired lower left leg time to heal.[5] As a senior in 2010–11, Little served suspension between December 16 and January 12 after he was arrested on charges of battery, criminal damage and criminal trespassing following a pre-dawn fight with his girlfriend and others.[6][7] In 32 games as a senior, he averaged 5.1 points and 2.9 rebounds in 13.7 minutes per game.[2][4]

Professional career

Little's professional career began in December 2011 with Ukrainian team Dnipro-Azot Dniprodzerzhynsk.[8] In 20 games for Dnipro, he averaged 11.8 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game.

For the 2012–13 season, Little joined the Tulsa 66ers of the NBA Development League.[9] He saw limited action during the 2012–13 season, an experience he described as humbling.[10] He returned to Tulsa for the 2013–14 season and was one of the top scorers on the team.[10] After a Summer League stint with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Little returned to the Tulsa 66ers for the 2014–15 season, with the franchise now known as the Oklahoma City Blue.[11] However, his third season was cut short after being released in January 2015.[12]

In March 2015, Little had a four-game stint in Spain with Bàsquet Manresa, before an injury saw him be replaced in the line-up by D. J. Seeley.[13][14]

For the 2015–16 season, Little played in South Korea for Anyang KGC. He remained in the area during the off-season, as he had a four-game stint with Filipino team TNT KaTropa during the 2016 PBA Governors' Cup.[15][16] He then returned to Korea for the 2016–17 season, beginning with Changwon LG Sakers, then having a seven-game stint with Seoul SK Knights in December, and then returning to LG Sakers for the rest of the season.

In March 2017, Little moved to Israel and joined Maccabi Ashdod.[17]

In September 2017, Little played for Venezuelan team Guaros de Lara in the FIBA Intercontinental Cup,[18][19] a game Guaros de Lara lost 76–71 to Iberostar Tenerife.

For the 2017–18 season, Little played in Italy for VL Pesaro,[20] but he only managed eight games after missing a large chuck of the season with an injury.[21]

Between March and July 2018, Little played for Guaros de Lara in the Liga Americas and the LPB.[22]

On August 3, 2018, Little signed with Croatian team KK Zadar.[23]

On August 15, 2019, Little signed with Ifaistos Limnou of the Greek Basket League.[24] He left the team in January 2020 after averaging 9.9 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 14 games.[25]

On October 11, 2020, Little signed with Aris.[25]

NBA D-League 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
2012–13 Tulsa 66ers 15112.4.375.1671.0002.1.9.4.33.9
2013–14 Tulsa 66ers 504736.2.417.366.8494.22.61.1.218.8
2014–15 Oklahoma City Blue 221931.8.410.375.8463.83.0.9.213.4
Career 876731.0.413.356.8523.72.41.0.214.9

Playoffs
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2012–13 Tulsa 66ers 3121.5.500.286.3332.0.7.7.07.0
Career 3121.5.500.286.3332.0.7.7.07.0

References
  1. "DraftExpress NBA Draft Prospect Profile: Mario Little, Stats, Comparisons, and Outlook". DraftExpress.com. Retrieved March 23, 2014.
  2. "Mario Little - 2010-11 Men's Basketball". kuathletics.com. Retrieved January 8, 2016.
  3. Kansas Men’s Basketball Inks Philadelphia’s Morris Twins and Chicago’s Mario Little on First Day of Fall Signing Period
  4. Mario Little Stats
  5. Mario Little making strides in red-shirt campaign
  6. Kansas guard Mario Little suspended
  7. Mario Little Game-by-Game Stats – 2010–11
  8. DniproAzot release Rinalds Sirsnins, invite Mario Little
  9. "Meet the 66ers - Mario Little". NBA.com. January 7, 2014. Archived from the original on March 23, 2014.
  10. Mario Little shows big improvement for Tulsa 66ers
  11. "Oklahoma City Blue Announces Training Camp Roster". NBA.com. November 4, 2014. Archived from the original on November 6, 2014.
  12. Blue Acquires Rodney Williams
  13. Manresa adds Mario Little
  14. Manresa agreed to terms with DJ Seeley
  15. Badua, Snow (June 26, 2016). "TNT's Mario Little, Marcus Simmons of Phoenix complete 12-import cast for PBA Governors Cup". Spin.ph. Retrieved June 26, 2016.
  16. Dy, Richard (August 12, 2016). "Mychal Lemar Ammons replaces Mario Little as TNT braces for tough stretch". FoxSportsAsia.com. Retrieved August 13, 2016.
  17. מכבי אשדוד: מריו ליטל חתם עד תום העונה, יחליף את פרסטון נואלס. walla.co.il (in Hebrew). March 29, 2017. Retrieved April 1, 2017.
  18. Guaros sign Mario Little, ex Maccabi Ashdod, for FIBA Intercontinental Cup
  19. Guaros de Lara recibe a Mario Little para la Copa Intercontinental (in Spanish)
  20. "Mario Little signs with Vuelle Pesaro". Sportando.com. September 30, 2017. Retrieved November 11, 2017.
  21. Vl Pesaro, ancora vacante il posto in rosa lasciato da Mario Little: a Capo d'Orlando nessun rinforzo (in Italian)
  22. Mario Little Returns to Guaros de Lara
  23. "Mario Little signs with KK Zadar". sportando.basketball. August 3, 2018. Archived from the original on August 15, 2019. Retrieved August 5, 2018.
  24. "Στον Ήφαιστο Λήμνου ο Λιτλ". ifaistoslimnoubc.gr (in Greek). August 15, 2019. Retrieved August 15, 2019.
  25. Mammides, Chris (October 11, 2020). "Aris ink Mario Little". Eurobasket. Retrieved October 11, 2020.
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