Travis Bader

Travis Bader

Bader playing defense against Bowling Green
Brooklyn Nets
Position	Player Development Coach
League	National Basketball Association
Personal information
Born	(1991-07-02) July 2, 1991 (age 32) Okemos, Michigan
Nationality	American
Listed height	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Listed weight	190 lb (86 kg)
Career information
High school	Okemos (Okemos, Michigan)
College	Oakland (2010–2014)
NBA draft	2014: undrafted
Playing career	2014–2020
Career history
2014	ASVEL Basket
2015	Rio Grande Valley Vipers
2015–2016	Neptūnas Klaipėda
2016–2017	Basket Recanati
2018	Faros Larissas
2019	Austin Spurs
2019	Rethymno Cretan Kings
2019–2020	Chocolates Trapa Palencia
Career highlights and awards
NCAA career leader 3-point FG attempts First-team All-Horizon League (2014) First-team All-Summit League (2013) Summit League All-Newcomers Team (2011)

Richard Travis Bader (born July 2, 1991) is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for Oakland University. Bader, a shooting guard, is third on the NCAA career leader for three-point field goals and field goal attempts. He led the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I in three-point field goals per game during his junior season, averaging 4.21 three-pointers made per game.

High school career

Bader attended Okemos High School in Okemos, Michigan. He was named the Lansing State Journal Player of the Year his senior year. ^[1]

College career

Recruiting

Bader's only Division I scholarship offer came from Oakland. ^[2] He received many NCAA Division II scholarship offers and was invited to walk-on at Central Michigan, Detroit and The Citadel. ^[3]

Freshman season

After sitting out his first year on campus, Bader came into his redshirt freshman season expecting to be a role player, ^[4] but started the first game of his college career against West Virginia after he replaced a starting player that violated team rules. ^[4] Bader finished that game 3–8 on three-point field goals. ^[4] He started 22 of the season's 35 games and averaged 10.5 points per game in 25.7 minutes per game and shot 44% from three-point range. The 44% was the fourth-highest single-season percentage in Oakland men's basketball history.

Sophomore season

Bader led the NCAA in three-point field goals attempted (314) and finished second in three-point field goals made, finishing 10 behind the NCAA leader. ^[5] Bader averaged 15.9 points per game in 36.2 minutes per game for the season. On January 26, 2012, he scored a then-career high 37 points on 10–14 3-pt FGs in a win against South Dakota State. ^[6]

Junior season

During Bader's junior season in 2012–13, Bader was named to The Summit League's preseason All-League First Team. ^[7] He was named The Summit League's Player of the Week once, on January 28, 2013. Bader scored 30 or more points four times throughout the season. ^[8]

On January 24, Bader scored 47 points vs IUPUI. In that game, he made 15–24 field goals and 11–18 three-pointers, playing all 40 minutes of the game. Bader scored 33 points in the second half, shooting 7–9 on three-pointers. ^[9] After this game and averaging 36.5 points per game the week of January 20, Bader was named National Player of the Week by ESPN's Dick Vitale, the Capital One Impact Performance of the Week and The Summit League's Player of the Week awards. ^[10] In the 47-point game, Bader set an Oakland single-game record for three-point field goals made (11), ^[10] scored the most points in a game in NCAA Division I that year to that point ^[10] and tied the league record for most three-pointers in a game. ^[10] The 47 points are the third-highest total in Oakland history. ^[10]

At the conclusion of the season, Bader was named All-League First Team ^[8] along with being named to the Lou Hension All-American team. ^[11] Bader was also named to the Academic All-League team. ^[8]

Bader led the NCAA Division I for three-point field goals per game, averaging 4.21 three-pointers made per game. ^[12] He also led the NCAA in total number of three-point field goals made (139) as well as percentage of team minutes played (94.8%). ^[13] Bader made at least one three-pointer in every game of the season. ^[14]

Bader graduated in 2012 with a degree in communications. Since he earned his undergraduate degree and had one more year of eligibility, he was eligible to transfer without sitting out a year but decided to stay at Oakland. ^{[15] [16]}

Senior season

Bader during warmups in a 2014 basketball game against Cleveland State University

Prior to the season, Bader participated in the Nike Skills Academy in Washington D.C. that featured the best college wing players in the nation. ^[17] He was named to the Lou Henson Award preseason All-America team ^[18] along with the Horizon League preseason first team ^[19] in Oakland's first season in the conference. Bader was also named 1 of 30 candidates for the 2014 Senior CLASS Award. The award recognizes NCAA Division I student athletes that excel in "community, classroom, character and competition". ^[20]

Between his sophomore, junior and senior seasons, Bader made a three-point field goal in 62 consecutive games, which was the active NCAA Division I record at that time. The streak ended December 10, 2013 against Indiana. ^[21] The last time prior to this Bader did not record a three-pointer was December 30, 2011, when he was 0–3 in three-point FGs against South Dakota State. ^[14]

Bader was named Horizon League co-Player of the Week for the week of December 16–22. Bader made 21 three-point field goals in three games. He recorded the first double-double of his career against Illinois State and made 10 of 15 three-pointers in a loss to Eastern Michigan. He averaged 26 points per game for the week and made 58.3% of this three-pointers while Oakland went 2–1. He shared the award with Green Bay's Alec Brown. ^[22] On December 27, Bader passed the 2,000 career point mark, scoring 34 points in a win over Defiance. ^[23]

On February 2, 2014, Bader passed JJ Redick for the career NCAA Division I record for three-point FGs made. Five games later, Bader broke the record for the most career three-point FGs attempted.

He finished second in all of NCAA Division I basketball for free throw percentage (94.3%) that season, behind only Johnny Dee of San Diego.

Statistics

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FGM	FGA	FG%	3PM	3PA	3P%	FTM	FTA	FT%	REB	RPG	AST	APG	STL	BLK	PTS	PPG
2009–10	Oakland	Did not play – redshirt
2010–11	Oakland	35	22	25.7	124	283	.438	94	212	.443	25	32	.781	76	2.2	49	1.4	16	5	367	10.5
2011–12	Oakland	36	24	36.2	188	441	.426	124	314	.395	73	94	.777	115	3.2	43	1.2	31	4	573	15.9
2012–13	Oakland	33	33	38.2	206	523	.394	139	360	.386	179	202	.886	95	2.9	32	1.0	30	2	730	22.1
2013–14	Oakland	33	33	37.6	185	479	.386	147	360	.408	164	174	.943	91	2.8	47	1.4	29	3	681	20.6
Career		137	113	34.3	703	1,726	.407	504	1,246	.405	441	502	.878	377	2.8	171	1.2	106	14	2,351	17.2

Bold italics indicates led NCAA Division I

Professional career

ASVEL Basket (2014)

After going undrafted in the 2014 NBA draft, Bader joined the Philadelphia 76ers for the 2014 NBA Summer League. ^[24] On July 8, 2014, he signed with ASVEL Basket of the French LNB Pro A for the 2014–15 season. ^[25] In December 2014, he parted ways with ASVEL after averaging just 2.2 points in 13 league games. ^[26]

Rio Grande Valley Vipers (2015)

On January 30, 2015, he was acquired by the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the NBA Development League. ^[27]

Neptūnas Klaipėda (2015–2016)

On September 18, 2015, he signed with Neptūnas Klaipėda of the Lithuanian Basketball League. ^[28]

Ambalt Recanati (2016–2017)

On October 10, 2016, Bader joined Ambalt Recanati. ^[29]

Faros Larissas (2018)

On January 6, 2018, Bader signed with Faros Larissas of the Greek Basket League. ^[30]

Austin Spurs (2019)

On February 4, 2019, the Austin Spurs announced that they had acquired Bader. ^[31]

Brooklyn Nets (2020–21)

On December 9, 2020, the Brooklyn Nets announced they had hired Bader as an Assistant Coach for Player Development, thus ending his playing career. ^[32]

Overseas Elite

In August 2015, Bader won the 2015 installment of The Basketball Tournament as part of team Overseas Elite. In August 2016, Bader again won The Basketball Tournament as part of Overseas Elite. On August 3, 2017, Bader's team, Overseas Elite won its third straight The Basketball Tournament championship with an 86–83 victory over Team Challenge ALS on ESPN.

Personal

Bader's father, Richard, was a swimmer at Clemson from 1976–1979, qualifying for the NCAA Men's Division I Swimming and Diving Championships each of his four years. ^[33] He is currently the assistant athletic director at Michigan State. ^[33] Bader has two sisters, Christine and Kimberly, the former women's tennis head coach at Ball State. ^[2]

References

1. Purcell, Jared (January 31, 2014). "Oakland basketball star Travis Bader on brink of NCAA career 3-point record". MLive.com. Retrieved January 31, 2014.
2. "Going above and beyond the arc". The Oakland Post. February 9, 2013. Retrieved April 12, 2013.
3. Braid, Steven (January 15, 2014). "Oakland's Travis Bader is the sharpest of sharpshooters". USAToday. Retrieved January 16, 2014.
4. Phillips, Scott (October 28, 2013). "Oakland's Travis Bader shoots for JJ Redick's NCAA career three-point record". NBC Sports. Retrieved December 12, 2013.
5. "Travis Bader Appearances on Leadeboards, Awards, and Honors". Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 27, 2013.
6. "South Dakota State 87, Oakland 92". Sports Reference LLC. January 26, 2012. Retrieved January 8, 2014.
7. "South Dakota State, Wolters Headline Preseason Poll Results". The Summit League. October 17, 2012. Retrieved April 16, 2013.
8. http://static.psbin.com/m/b/w69u1pcllvfgrv/weeklyrelease.pdf%5B%5D
9. Snyder, Mark (January 26, 2014). "After improbable start to career, Oakland's Travis Bader closing in on NCAA record for three-pointers made". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved January 30, 2014.
10. "Men's Basketball: Oakland's Travis Bader collects weekly honors after 47-point effort". The Oakland Press. January 28, 2013. Retrieved April 16, 2013.
11. "Men's Basketball: Oakland's Travis Bader named mid-major all-American". The Oakland Press. March 25, 2013. Retrieved March 28, 2013.
12. "Three-Point Field Goals Per Game". NCAA.com. February 25, 2011. Retrieved March 28, 2013.
13. "Player Minutes Leaders". Bbstate.com. Retrieved April 12, 2013.
14. "Travis Bader Career Game Log". Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 11, 2013.
15. Kampe, Paul (May 24, 2013). "Oakland's Travis Bader dismisses transfer talk". The Oakland Press. Retrieved December 12, 2013.
16. Angevine, Eric (June 1, 2013). "Bader will stay put, chase Redick's record at Oakland next season". NBC Sports. Retrieved December 12, 2013.
17. Kampe, Paul (June 27, 2013). "Men's Basketball: Oakland's Travis Bader sets sights on Nike camp". The Oakland Press. Retrieved July 1, 2013.
18. "The Lou Henson Award 2013-13 Preseason All-America Team". October 2, 2013. Retrieved December 12, 2013.
19. Potter, Bill (October 16, 2013). "Green Bay Tabbed Horizon League Favorite; YSU's Perry Voted Preseason Player of the Year". Horizon League. Archived from the original on April 1, 2015. Retrieved December 12, 2013.
20. "Men's and women's basketball candidates announced for the 2014 Senior CLASS Award". Premier Sports Management. October 30, 2013. Retrieved December 12, 2013.
21. "Bader's 3-point streak snapped in Oakland's 81–54 loss to Indiana". Associated Press. December 10, 2013. Retrieved December 11, 2013.
22. Potter, Bill (December 23, 2013). "Green Bay's Brown, Oakland's Bader and Felder Collect Men's Basketball Honors". Horizon League. Archived from the original on December 24, 2013. Retrieved December 23, 2013.
23. "Bader's 34 Carries Oakland Past Defiance, 87–66". Oakland Golden Grizzlies. December 27, 2013. Retrieved December 30, 2013.
24. "Sixers Announce Orlando Pro Summer League Camp Invitees". NBA.com. July 1, 2014. Retrieved July 1, 2014.
25. "L'ASVEL tient son shooteur !". asvelbasket.com (in French). July 8, 2014. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved July 8, 2014.
26. "ASVEL Villeurbanne waiving Travis Bader". Sportando.com. September 18, 2015. Retrieved December 21, 2014.
27. "RGV Vipers Acquire Travis Bader". OurSportsCentral.com. September 18, 2015. Retrieved January 30, 2015.
28. "Neptunas lands Travis Bader". Sportando.com. September 18, 2015. Retrieved September 18, 2015.
29. "Recanati inks Travis Bader, ex Neptunas". Eurobasket.com. October 10, 2016. Retrieved October 10, 2016.
30. "Travis Bader (ex Recanati) joins G.Larissa-Faros". Eurobasket.com. January 7, 2018. Retrieved January 7, 2018.
31. "Austin Spurs Acquire Travis Bader". NBA.com. February 4, 2019. Retrieved February 4, 2019.
32. "Nets add overseas vets to player development staff". December 9, 2020.
33. "3 Travis Bader". ougrizzlies.com. Archived from the original on July 20, 2014. Retrieved January 8, 2014.

Further reading

• "How Travis Bader Helped Overseas Elite Win $1,000,000". thetournament.com. August 2015. Retrieved August 4, 2018.

External links

• Oakland bio Archived July 20, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
• LNB.fr profile (in French)
• Travis Bader on Twitter