Ariel McDonald

Ariel McDonald
Personal information
Born (1972-01-13) January 13, 1972
Harvey, Illinois
Nationality American / Slovenian
Listed height 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Listed weight 190 lb (86 kg)
Career information
High school Homewood-Flossmoor
(Flossmoor, Illinois)
College Minnesota (1990–1994)
NBA draft 1994 / Undrafted
Playing career 1994–2009
Position Point guard
Career history
1994–1995 Castors Braine
1995–1996 Interier Krško
1996–1999 Olimpija Ljubljana
1999–2002 Maccabi Tel Aviv
2002–2004 Panathinaikos
2004–2005 Dynamo Moscow
2005–2008 Akasvayu Girona
2008 Dynamo Moscow
2008–2009 Montepaschi Siena
Career highlights and awards

Ariel Rene McDonald (born January 13, 1972) is an American-Slovenian retired professional basketball player. He played at the point guard position. A high quality floor general, McDonald played for top European teams like Montepaschi Siena, Olimpija Ljubljana, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Panathinaikos, Akasvayu Girona, and Dynamo Moscow.

Early life

McDonald began his high school career at Homewood-Flossmoor High School outside of Chicago. He averaged 24 points on 63% field-goals, and 10 assists per game. After two years at Homewood-Flossmoor, McDonald's family moved to Raleigh, North Carolina. McDonald took his new high school, Athens Drive High School, to the final four in North Carolina.

In the fall of 1989, McDonald arrived at the University of Minnesota. In his first year of college, McDonald was red-shirted. He and the Gophers greatly improved over the next four years, winning the 1993 NIT and reaching the second round of the 1994 NCAA Tournament in McDonald's senior year.

European career

McDonald began his career in Europe playing for small teams like Castors Braine (Belgium) and Interier Krško (Slovenia). After his time in Interier Krsko he was taken to the top Slovenian basketball club: Olimpija Ljubljana. During his time in Slovenia he played in the top flight of international basketball, achieving great success in European tournaments. McDonald's next stop was Maccabi Tel Aviv. Soon McDonald became very famous in Israel, and together with Nate Huffman and Anthony Parker turned Maccabi into one of the best European basketball teams. In McDonald's three seasons with Maccabi the club won the FIBA SuproLeague title (2001) and twice reached the Euroleague Final Four (2000, 2002). One of McDonald's claims to fame in Israel was a Burger King commercial in which he said: "Listen to McDonald - only Burger King". McDonald played 139 games, scoring 1,606 points for Maccabi Tel Aviv in three years. Finally, he said goodbye and moved to one of Maccabi's biggest rivals: Panathinaikos. With Panathinaikos, McDonald put up solid numbers and also 19 points in the first game he played against his former team Maccabi Tel Aviv. McDonald played for Akasvayu Girona in the Spanish ACB League from season 2005-06 up until July 2008. Then he returned to Dynamo Moscow, for which he had previously played with in the 2004-05 season.[1]

Slovenian national team

McDonald was also a member of the senior men's Slovenian national basketball team. He played with Slovenia's senior national team at the FIBA EuroBasket 2001.[2]

Personal life

After playing for two years in Slovenia, McDonald became a Slovenian citizen in June 1997.[3]

Currently, McDonald is a high school basketball coach at Providence Academy in Plymouth, MN.

Honours

Slovenian League: 1997, 1998, 1999

Slovenian Cup: 1997, 1998, 1999

Israeli League: 2000, 2001, 2002

Israeli Cup: 2000, 2001, 2002

FIBA SuproLeague: 2001

Greek League: 2003, 2004

Greek Cup: 2003

FIBA Eurocup: 2007

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ariel McDonald.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, April 12, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.