Tom Copa

Last updated
Tom Copa
Personal information
Born (1964-10-30) October 30, 1964 (age 59)
Robbinsdale, Minnesota, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)
Listed weight275 lb (125 kg)
Career information
High school Coon Rapids
(Coon Rapids, Minnesota)
College Marquette (1983–1987)
NBA draft 1987: undrafted
Playing career1988–1993
Position Center
Number30
Career history
1988–1991 Maccabi Brussels
1991–1992 San Antonio Spurs
1992–1993 La Crosse Bobcats
1993 Saski Baskonia
1993 Libertas Livorno
Stats   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg at NBA.com
Stats   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg at Basketball-Reference.com
Medals
Men's basketball
Representing Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States
FIBA Americas Championship
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1993 San Juan Team competition

Thomas James Copa (born October 30, 1964) is an American former professional basketball player. After graduating from Marquette he went on to play professionally in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and in Europe. Born in Robbinsdale, Minnesota, he was named Minnesota Mr. Basketball in 1983. [1]

Contents

College career

Copa played college basketball for Marquette Warriors from 1983 to 1987. In 120 career games, he averaged 8.2 points and 4.7 rebounds per game.

Professional career

Although chosen with the 44th pick in the 1987 CBA draft, [2] Copa moved to Vail, Colorado after graduating where he worked as a shuttle-bus driver from the Stapleton Airport to Vail for the winter. The following summer, he attended a camp for European scouts where he had a good showing and was eventually signed by Belgian club Maccabi Brussels. He spent three seasons in Belgium, including the 1990–91 season where he averaged 21.2 points and 14.4 rebounds. During the summer of 1991, he attended a rookie free agent camp in Austin ran by the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs later signed him as a free agent. [3] During the 1991-92 NBA season, Copa averaged 1.5 points and 1.1 rebounds in 33 total games played. [4]

The following season, he signed with the Houston Rockets but was waived before the start of the season. [3] He later signed with the La Crosse Bobcats in the CBA where he went on to average 8.3 points and 6.7 rebounds in 20 games. [5] In January 1993, he signed with Saski Baskonia. [6] The following season he signed with Italian club Libertas Livorno but was waived after one game. Following his release and due to the toll his playing career had taken on his body, Copa retired from professional basketball. [7] [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jim Les</span> American basketball coach and former player

James Alan Les is an American basketball coach and former player who is the head coach of the UC Davis Aggies men's team. A former point guard, Les played seven seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) after his college career at Bradley University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Josh Powell</span> American basketball player

Joshua Dominique Powell is an American former professional basketball player and coach. Powell won two NBA championships with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2009 and 2010, and has also spent time with the Dallas Mavericks, Indiana Pacers, Atlanta Hawks, Los Angeles Clippers, Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets. In 2013, Powell was a member of the Olympiacos side that won the EuroLeague championship. He has also played in Russia, Italy, Argentina, Puerto Rico, China, the Philippines, Australia and Venezuela.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jackie Butler</span> American basketball player (born 1985)

Jackie Butler is an American former professional basketball player. He attended McComb High School in McComb, Mississippi, and transferred to Coastal Christian Academy in Virginia Beach for his final high school season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Singleton (basketball)</span> American basketball player and coach

James Alexander Singleton is an American former professional basketball player and former assistant coach of the Austin Spurs of the NBA G League. The 6'8" forward played two years of college basketball for Murray State.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pete Myers</span> American basketball player and coach

Peter Eddie Myers is an American former professional basketball player and a former assistant coach for the NBA team Chicago Bulls. He is most famous for having been Michael Jordan’s replacement player during Jordan’s stint in baseball.

Clarence "Chucky" Brown Jr. is an American men's college basketball coach and former professional basketball player.

Melvin Ray Sanders is an American former professional basketball player. He played for the National Basketball Association's San Antonio Spurs.

Mouhamed Saer Sene is a Senegalese former professional basketball player. He has a 7 ft 8½ in (2.35 m) wingspan.

Anthony Pelle is an American professional basketball player who was selected by the Denver Nuggets in the second round of the 1995 NBA draft. Pelle, who was born in the Bronx, New York and played collegiately at Villanova University and Fresno State University, did not appear in any NBA games but plied his trade several leagues in Europe, most notably in Greece, Spain and Italy as well as in second-tier leagues in the United States.

Osie Leon Wood III, is an American former professional basketball player. A college All-American, he was a first round NBA draft pick, and both an Olympic and Pan-Am Games gold-medalist. He subsequently has had a career as an NBA referee.

Kurt Nimphius is an American former National Basketball Association (NBA) player. Nimphius played nine seasons in the NBA after his collegiate career at Arizona State University.

Frederick Clark Roberts is an American former basketball player who played power forward in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 13 seasons, a career spanning from 1983 to 1997, becoming a successful journeymen in the league. He also played in FC Barcelona of the Liga ACB.

Michael Harris is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Magnolia Hotshots of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).

Cozell McQueen is an American former professional basketball player. He was part of the NC State side that surprisingly won the 1983 NCAA Tournament.

Andrew Kent Toolson is an American retired professional basketball player. A 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) shooting guard-small forward, he played college basketball at BYU

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brandon Paul</span> American basketball player

Brandon Stephan Paul is an American professional basketball player for Budućnost VOLI of the Prva A Liga and the Adriatic League. During his senior year at Warren Township High School, Paul was named Illinois Mr. Basketball for 2009. Paul played college basketball for the University of Illinois and became only the second player in program history to record 1,500 points, 500 rebounds, 300 assists and 100 steals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dwight Buycks</span> American basketball player

Dwight Buycks is an American professional basketball player for Trotamundos de Carabobo of the Superliga Profesional de Baloncesto (SPB) in Venezuela. He played college basketball for the Indian Hills Warriors and Marquette Golden Eagles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jamil Wilson</span> American basketball player

Jamil Dashan Wilson is an American professional basketball player for the Anyang Jung Kwan Jang Red Boosters of the Korean Basketball League. He played college basketball for the University of Oregon and Marquette University.

Brian Ralph Jackson is an American former professional basketball player. After playing high school basketball in Palos Verdes Estates, California, Jackson played college basketball at Utah State, and was an all-conference selection in three of his four seasons there. He was selected in the second round of the 1981 NBA draft by the Portland Trail Blazers but was waived before the start of the NBA season, and he moved to Europe where he played in Italy and most notably in Spain, where he was selected as an All-Star 4 times. While playing for Real Madrid he won 2 league titles, one Copa del Rey and one FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup, of which he also was the finals top scorer. He retired in 1995 after a 14-year career; in 2012 he was inducted in the Utah State Athletics Hall of Fame.

Walter Roderick Sellers is an American former professional basketball player. He played at Wilson High School in his native Florence, South Carolina, and played college basketball at UConn, where he was an all-conference performer in his senior year in 1992. After going undrafted in the 1992 NBA draft, Sellers opted not to sign for the Grand Rapids Hoops, which had selected him first overall in the CBA draft, and instead went to Europe, starting his professional career with Greek side AEK Athens. Sellers spent his whole career in Europe, playing in Greece, France, Italy, Spain and Turkey: he appeared in three Euroleague seasons and in 1999 he was the FIBA Saporta Cup Finals Top Scorer. In his 14-year career he has won 1 French league, 2 French cups, 1 Italian Supercup and 1 Semaine des As.

References

  1. ↑ "Wadkins Holds On To Win Golf Meet". The Milwaukee Journal . April 25, 1983. Retrieved August 19, 2010.
  2. ↑ "1987 CBA Draft". sportsstats.com. Archived from the original on 21 May 2006.
  3. 1 2 3 "Tom Copa Is Talkin' With TJ". San Antonio Spurs . 9 November 2011. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  4. ↑ "Spurs history" (PDF). NBA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 October 2012.
  5. ↑ "Tom Copa Statistics on JustSportsStats.com". JustSportsStats.com. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  6. ↑ "ACB - Tom Copa". acb.com (in Spanish). Liga ACB. Archived from the original on 13 February 2005.
  7. ↑ "Legabasket Serie A - Tom Copa" (in Italian). Retrieved 1 December 2020.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.