Greivis Vásquez

At 37 years old, Greivis Vásquez has this physical status:

Greivis Josué Vásquez Rodríguez (born January 16, 1987) is a Venezuelan basketball coach and former player.

He is currently an assistant coach for the Erie Bayhawks of the NBA G League.

He was drafted in 2010 after a U.S. college career with the University of Maryland men's basketball team.

Vásquez finished second on the Terrapins' all-time scoring list, with 2,171 career points.He was born in Caracas and moved to the United States to attend high school at Montrose Christian School in Rockville, Maryland in 2004.

During his senior year at Montrose he committed to the University of Maryland to play under head coach Gary Williams. In 2007, Vásquez played on the Venezuelan national basketball team in the FIBA America Championships.

In his final college season of 2009–10, he was one of three Venezuelans playing in NCAA Division I men's basketball, with the others being David Cubillan of the Marquette Golden Eagles and Gregory Echenique of the Creighton Bluejays.

Early life

Vásquez grew up in Caracas, Venezuela, where he lived with his parents, Ivis Rodriguez and Gregorio Vásquez, and brother, Ingerman Sanoya. His first name is a portmanteau of his parents' first names. After an impressive youth career in his country where he also led the Venezuelan U-15 National Team to the FIBA U-15 South American Championship title in 2003, he was selected to participate at the NBA Basketball Without Borders camp (2004) being a headliner at the event.

He started to garner international attention and accepted a scholarship to continue his development in Maryland. At Montrose Christian, Vásquez played under head coach Stu Vetter, and helped the Mustangs post a 43–5 record over his junior and senior seasons. While at Montrose Christian he played for coach Stu Vetter with future NBA star Kevin Durant.

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College career

Vásquez did not start for the Terps in his freshman season (2006–07), but he still played well. He began at the 2 guard position halfway through the season, alongside fellow freshman Eric Hayes at the starting point guard position. For the remainder of the season, he served as a starter. He played a large part in the Terrapins' six-game winning streak at the end of the season, giving Maryland a top seed in the NCAA Tournament. During his freshman season, Vásquez averaged 9.8 points, 4.7 assists, and 3.3 rebounds per game, with a shooting percentage of 44.4 for field goals, 31.6 for three-pointers, and 79.8 for free throws.

Vásquez had per-game averages of 17 points, 6.8 assists, and 5.7 rebounds, as well as a shooting percentage of 43.2 for field goals, 30.9 for three-pointers, and 78.2 for free throws.

Vásquez led the Terrapins in scoring (17.5), assists (5.0), blocks (1.4), and minutes (34.6) per game as a junior. He was the first Terrapin basketball player to lead the team in points, rebounds, and assists in a single season, but only the sixth to do so in the ACC. Vásquez scored then career-high 35 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists, his third triple-double in history and the first since 1987, defeating North Carolina 88-85. Vásquez finished seventh in scoring, third in free throw percentage (.867), third in assists per game, third in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.80), and fifth in minutes per game in the ACC. In 57 of his last 61 games, including each of his last 17, he scored in double figures in scoring, including each of his last 17. He won five 20-point games in Maryland's last ten games. At the end of the regular season, Vásquez was selected to the All-ACC second team.

After the season, Vásquez participated in NBA workouts, where he received mainly positive feedback from professional scouts. He and his Montrose Christian coach, Stu Vetter, twice met with Gary Williams to discuss his future. Vásquez dropped his name from the NBA Draft three hours before the deadline in order to return to Maryland for his senior season. "He worked with about 14 to 15 teams and got a good feel for his situation," Williams said. I think he's made a good move. He returns as the best guard in the ACC and one of the country's best guards.

Vásquez averaged 19.6 points, 6.3 assists, 4.6 rebounds, and 1.7 steals per game over 33 games as a senior. Vásquez was the country's only player to average more than 18 points and six assists per game. The 2010 Bob Cousy Award from the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame to the country's best collegiate point guard, for which he beat Sherron Collins (Kansas), Scottie Reynolds (Villanova), Evan Turner (Ohio State), and John Wall (Kentucky).

Vásquez scored at 2,000 points, 700 assists, and 600 rebounds against Georgia Tech on February 20, 2010. In the Terrapins' double-overtime victory over Virginia Tech, Vásquez scored for the first time in his career, scoring 51 points. In Maryland's home victory over Duke on Senior Night, Vásquez scored 20 points, and the team won by a large margin. Vásquez helped lead Maryland to a 13-33 conference record to tie Duke for the ACC championship for the regular season. On March 8, 2010, he was selected unanimous first-team All-ACC pick and named ACC Player of the Year, defeating Duke's Jon Scheyer and Virginia Tech's Malcolm Delaney. In his third season, Vásquez gained three ACC Player of the Week awards, bringing his overall number to seven. Vásquez was selected as a consensus second-team All-American.

Professional career

The Memphis Grizzlies selected Vásquez with the 28th pick in the first round of the 2010 NBA draft, using one of the picks traded from the Los Angeles Lakers via the Pau Gasol trade. Vásquez earned spot minutes and scored in double digits just twice in his rookie season, but he saw more action in the 2011 NBA Playoffs.

Memphis defeated the San Antonio Spurs in the first round, where the Grizzlies won their first postseason game in franchise history. Starting point guard Mike Conley, who had fallen foul of foul fouls, was substituted in Game Four by Vásquez. Memphis defeated 104–86 after he had nine points and two assists in his 13 minutes of playing time.

Memphis advanced to the Conference Semifinals to face the four-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder, where Vásquez faced former Montrose Christian classmate Kevin Durant. The Thunder will dominate the series.

Vásquez participated in a United States State Department-sponsored trip to Venezuela in 2011 to hold clinics and talk with sports officials.

In exchange for Quincy Pondexter, the Vásquez was traded to the New Orleans Hornets on December 24, 2011.

Vasquez had 20 points and 12 assists off the bench against the Phoenix Suns on February 1, 2012. After a sore knee injury to Hornets guard Jarott Jack, Vasquez's first set of games for the Hornets were off.

In the 2012–13 NBA season, Vasquez took over as the Hornets' point guard. In a loss to the Phoenix Suns on November 23, 2012, Vasquez recorded 25 points and 14 assists (both career highs).

Vasquez was named Western Conference Player of the Week on January 1, 2013.

Vasquez scored 21 points, 12 assists, and 11 rebounds in his first NBA triple-double appearance on February 8, 2013.

Vasquez led the league in total assists, with 704 total assists, and finished second in voting for the NBA Most Improved Player award in 2012.

Vasquez was traded to the Sacramento Kings on July 10, 2013 as part of a three-team contract that also included the Portland Trail Blazers.

The Kings traded Rudy Gay, Quincy Acy, and Aaron Gray to the Toronto Raptors on December 9, 2013.

Vásquez re-signed with the Raptors on July 17, 2014, a two-year, $13 million deal. In Game 1 of the Eastern Conference quarter-finals on April 18, 2015, Vásquez scored a game-tying three-pointer with 25 seconds remaining.

Vásquez was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks in exchange for Norman Powell's draft rights and a protected 2017 first-round pick. In a 122–97 loss, he made his Bucks debut against the New York Knicks in the team's season opener, scoring 15 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists. He underwent successful surgery on December 15 to remove a bone spur and loosening his right leg. He was later sentenced to three to four months in prison.

Vásquez signed with the Brooklyn Nets on July 13, 2016. He was released by the Nets on November 9, 2016 after playing in three games.

Venezuela's National Team career

Vásquez was selected for the U-21 Venezuelan NT in 2004 after winning at the U-15 level in 2003, four years under the tournament's age. Those were his first appearances on the youth national team's setup.

Although being a sophomore at the University of Maryland, Vásquez made his Senior National Team debut in 2007 during the 2007 FIBA Americas Championship in Las Vegas. He was the second leading scorer of his team's scoring average, third in rebounds with 4.1 per game, and second best in assists with 3.3 Ast per game. Venezuela placed 8th (2-6 record) out of ten participating teams.

His ascension was heralded during the 2011 FIBA Americas Championship, where he led the Venezuelan team to a 5th-place finish. Vásquez, who is now an NBA player, was the second best scorer of the tournament with 19.3 PPG and first in assists with 5.8 APG.

Coaching career

The New Orleans Pelicans announced on August 15, 2019 that Vásquez will be as the associate head coach for the Erie BayHawks.

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