Drew Gooden

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Drew Gooden
Position	Power forward
Height	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)
Weight	250 lb (114 kg)
Team	Cleveland Cavaliers
Nationality	United States
Born	September 24, 1981 Oakland, California
College	Kansas
Draft	4^th overall, 2002 Memphis Grizzlies
Pro career	2002 – present
Former teams	Memphis Grizzlies (2002–2003) Orlando Magic (2003–2004)

Andrew (Drew) Melvin Gooden^[1] (born September 24, 1981 in Oakland, California) is an American professional basketball player currently with the Cleveland Cavaliers of the NBA. A 6'10", 250 lbs. power forward from the University of Kansas, Gooden was selected as the 4th overall pick by the Memphis Grizzlies in the 2002 NBA Draft.

Gooden played the center position at El Cerrito High School where as a senior, he led his Gauchos to the 1999 California Interscholastic Federation Boys Division III championship game. Washington Union High School (led by NBA guard Deshawn Stevenson) won the championship game over El Cerrito HS by a score of 77-71. ^[2]

Gooden was a dominant College Player at the University of Kansas, where he averaged 19.8 points and 11.4 rebounds per game in 2001-2. Besides being a key contributed to Kansas' Final Four run, he also garnered individual honors including Sporting News First-Team All America and Basketball America Player of the Year honors.

As a professional, Gooden has established himself as a solid power forward, consistently bringing down double digit numbers in points and rebounds.

Gooden is half Finnish; his father, Andrew Gooden, met Drew's mother, Ulla, while playing pro basketball^[3] in Äänekoski, Finland. [1] Gooden's parents divorced later on, and he stayed with his father in California.

Gooden re-signed with the Cleveland Cavaliers for three more years on August 14, 2006.^[4]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

NBA.com Profile - Drew Gooden

2002 NBA Draft
First Round Yao Ming \| Jay Williams \| Mike Dunleavy, Jr. \| Drew Gooden \| Nikoloz Tskitishvili \| Dajuan Wagner \| Maybyner "Nene" Hilario \| Chris Wilcox \| Amare Stoudemire \| Caron Butler \| Jared Jeffries \| Melvin Ely \| Marcus Haislip \| Fred Jones \| Bostjan Nachbar \| Jiri Welsch \| Juan Dixon \| Curtis Borchardt \| Ryan Humphrey \| Kareem Rush \| Qyntel Woods \| Casey Jacobsen \| Tayshaun Prince \| Nenad Krstić \| Frank Williams \| John Salmons \| Chris Jefferies \| Dan Dickau
Second Round Steve Logan \| Roger Mason, Jr. \| Robert Archibald \| Vincent Yarbrough \| Dan Gadzuric \| Carlos Boozer \| Milos Vujanić \| David Andersen \| Tito Maddox \| Rod Grizzard \| Juan Carlos Navarro \| Mario Kasun \| Ronald Murray \| Jason Jennings \| Lonny Baxter \| Sam Clancy \| Matt Barnes \| Jamal Sampson \| Chris Owens \| Peter Fehse \| Darius Songaila \| Federico Kammerichs \| Marcus Taylor \| Rasual Butler \| Tamar Slay \| Mladen Sekularac \| Luis Scola \| Randy Holcomb \| Corsley Edwards