Clinton Wheeler

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Basketball player
Clinton Wheeler
Player information
birthday October 27, 1959
place of birth Neptune, New Jersey , USA
date of death February 14, 2019 at the age of 59
size 185 cm
position Point guard
college William Paterson
NBA draft 1981 , 150th Pick, Kansas City Kings
Clubs as active
1977–1981 WPU Pioneers 1984–1986 Albany Patroons 1985 Jersey Jammers 1986–1987 Rapid City Thrillers 1987 Miami Tropics 1987–1988 Indiana Pacers 1988 Miami Heat 1989 Portland Trail Blazers 1989 Rapid City Thrillers 1989–1993 TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen 1993–1994 Rochester Renegade 1994 Jacksonville Hooters 1994–1995 Rapid City Thrillers United StatesUnited States
United StatesUnited States
00 00United StatesUnited States
United StatesUnited States
00 00United StatesUnited States
United StatesUnited States
00 00United StatesUnited States
00 00United StatesUnited States
00 00United StatesUnited States
GermanyGermany
United StatesUnited States
00 00United StatesUnited States
United StatesUnited States

Clinton Wheeler (born October 27, 1959 in Neptune , New Jersey ; † February 14, 2019 ) was an American basketball player who, after a short career in the American professional league NBA, spent several years in the German basketball league for the record champions Bayer Leverkusen played. With the works team from Leverkusen , Wheeler was German champion in each of his four seasons in the BBL .

Career

Wheeler played in the insignificant Division III of the NCAA for the Pioneers at William Paterson University in Wayne in his home state during college . Nevertheless, he was considered in the NBA Draft by an NBA professional club, although there were ten rounds in the draft in the 80s , so that 223 players were selected in the 1981 draft. So Wheeler was released from the Kings before the start of the season . Wheeler then played for some seasons in the CBA , including in Albany under coach Phil Jackson and in the 1986/87 season for the Thrillers from Tampa Bay in Florida , which moved to Rapid City in South Dakota shortly before the play-offs . Wheeler was the third consecutive title win for the Thrillers MVP of the final series in 1987. In the summer months he also played mostly for clubs from the USBL and was able to win the championship of this league in 1987 with the Tropics from Miami . 1987 was Wheelers' most successful year so far, when it finally worked out with a long-term engagement in the NBA with the Pacers from Indianapolis . If he had previously signed contracts with the New York Knicks as a free agent in 1984 and 1985 , they were canceled after four weeks at the latest. For the Pacers, Wheeler made 59 games as a substitute in the 1987/88 season with an average of less than 10 minutes. In the Expansion Draft in 1988, the Charlotte Hornets got the rights to Wheeler, which released him a short time later before the start of the season. About an engagement with the Denver Nuggets without use Wheeler finally migrated to the Heat from Miami in December 1988. After eight appearances in four weeks this contract also ended. In March / April 1989 Wheeler finally had 20 missions for the Trail Blazers from Portland . At the age of just under 30, Wheeler's prospects for a longer-term NBA engagement were getting smaller, so that in 1989 he moved to Germany in the BBL. Under the new head coach Dirk Bauermann , who was comparatively young at 32 , Leverkusen became the dominant team in the BBL with Wheeler, his compatriot Kannard Johnson and the German national players Henning Harnisch and Gunther Behnke . From 1991 national players Christian Welp and Michael Koch joined the record champions. The double was won three times , only in 1992 the cup victory went to TTL Bamberg . Despite the dominance in Germany Leverkusen came in Europe Champions Cup on European never out level on the group stage. Wheeler was one of the top 12 in points and top 5 in assists and steals per game in the European Cup seasons. In 1993 Wheeler left the club as well as Kannard Johnson and returned to his home country, where he was active in other seasons in the CBA and USBL. With the Hooters from Jacksonville he was again master of the USBL in 1994.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/giantsleverkusen/posts/2405176039506490
  2. ↑ Basketball-Reference.com: 1981 NBA Draft , accessed April 13, 2010
  3. ^ Chuck Miller: Tampa Bay Thrillers. CBA 1984-1987. ( Memento of October 12, 2007 on the Internet Archive ) Archived from CBA Museum website; no location and no date before 2007. Retrieved March 11, 2019 (in English).
  4. ↑ APBR.org: EPBL / EBA / CBA Superlatives (English), CBA record lists on the website of the Association for Professional Basketball Research , accessed on April 13, 2010
  5. ^ A b Basketball-Reference.com: Clinton Wheeler NBA & ABA Statistics Transactions, accessed April 13, 2010
  6. ↑ FIBAEurope.com: Clinton Wheeler (TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen) (English), statistics from Wheeler in the national championship cup 1991/92, accessed on April 13, 2010
  7. ↑ FIBAEurope.com: Clinton Wheeler (TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen) (English), Statistics from Wheeler in the national championship cup 1992/93, accessed on April 13, 2010
personal data
SURNAME Wheeler, Clinton
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American basketball player
DATE OF BIRTH October 27, 1959
PLACE OF BIRTH Neptune (New Jersey)
DATE OF DEATH February 14, 2019