| New Orleans Hornets | |
|---|---|
| Point guard / Shooting guard | |
| Personal information | |
| Date of birth | January 16, 1987 |
| Place of birth | Caracas, Venezuela |
| Nationality | Venezuelan |
| High school | Montrose Christian School |
| Listed height | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) |
| Listed weight | 211 lb (96 kg) |
| Career information | |
| College | Maryland |
| NBA Draft | 2010 / Round: 1 / Pick: 28th overall |
| Selected by the Memphis Grizzlies | |
| Career history | |
| Memphis Grizzlies (2010–2011) New Orleans Hornets (2011–present) |
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| Career highlights and awards | |
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| Stats at NBA.com | |
Greivis Vásquez (full name: Greivis Josué Vásquez Rodríguez; born January 16, 1987) is a Venezuelan basketball player with the New Orleans Hornets. He was chosen after a stellar 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.[1]
He was born in Caracas and moved to the United States to attend high school at Montrose Christian School in Rockville, Maryland in 2004.[2] 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.
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Vásquez grew up in Caracas, Venezuela, where he lived with his parents, Ivis Rodriguez and Gregorio Vásquez, and brother, Ingerman Sanoya. 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 with future college and NBA star Kevin Durant.
In the beginning of his freshman year (2006–07), Vásquez did not start for the Terps, but still played solid minutes. Midway through the season, he began starting at the 2 guard position, alongside fellow freshman Eric Hayes at the starting point guard position. He remained a starter for the rest of the season. He heavily contributed to the Terrapins' six-game winning streak at the end of the season, giving Maryland a #4 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Vásquez averaged 9.8 points, 4.7 assists and 3.3 rebounds per game during his freshman season, and shooting percentages of 44.4 for field goals, 31.6 for three-pointers and 79.8 for free throws.[1]
Vásquez had per-game averages of 17 points, 6.8 assists and 5.7 rebounds, and shooting percentages of 43.2 for field goals, 30.9 for three-pointers and 78.2 for free throws.[1]
As a junior, Vásquez led the Terrapins in scoring (17.5), rebounds (5.4), assists (5.0), steals (1.40), and minutes (34.6) per game. He became the first Terrapin basketball player to ever lead the team in points, rebounds and assists in a single season, and only the sixth to accomplish that task in the ACC. On February 21, 2009, Vásquez registered a then career-high 35 points, and 11 rebounds and 10 assists—Maryland's third triple-double in history and the first since 1987—in a come-from-behind 88–85 overtime win over North Carolina.[3][4] At the end of his junior year, Vásquez ranked 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. He reached double figures in scoring in 57 of his last 61 games, including each of his last 17. In Maryland's final ten games, he recorded five 20-point games.[5] Vásquez was named to the All-ACC second team at the close of the regular season.[6]
After the season, Vásquez participated in NBA workouts, where he received mostly positive feedback from professional scouts. He twice met with coach Gary Williams and his Montrose Christian coach, Stu Vetter, to discuss his future. Three hours before the deadline, Vásquez withdrew his name from the NBA Draft in order to return to Maryland for his senior season. Williams said, "He talked to about 14 or 15 teams and really got a good feel for his situation. I think he's made a great move. He returns as possibly the best guard in the ACC and one of the best guards in the country."[7]
As a senior, Vásquez averaged 19.6 points, 6.3 assists, 4.6 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game over 33 games. Vásquez is the only player in the country to average more than 18 points and 6 assists per game. His honors included the 2010 Bob Cousy Award given by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame to the nation's best collegiate point guard, for which he edged out Sherron Collins (Kansas), Scottie Reynolds (Villanova), Jon Scheyer (Duke), Evan Turner (Ohio State) and John Wall (Kentucky).[8]
Against Georgia Tech on February 20, 2010, Vásquez scored the 2,000th point of his collegiate career, making him the only player in ACC history to compile at least 2,000 points, 700 assists and 600 rebounds.[9] The following week, Vásquez set a new career scoring high with 41 points in the Terrapins' double-overtime victory at Virginia Tech.[10] Vásquez also scored 20 points in Maryland's home win over Duke on Senior Night, and made several critical baskets and assists in the final minutes to secure a victory. Vazquez helped lead Maryland to a 13–3 conference record to tie Duke for the regular season ACC championship. He was named a unanimous first-team All-ACC selection on March 8, 2010, and the ACC Player of the Year on March 9, 2010, beating out Duke's Jon Scheyer and Virginia Tech's Malcolm Delaney.[11][12] Vásquez also won three ACC Player of the Week honors in his final season, which brought his career total to seven.[13] Vásquez was named a consensus second-team All-American.[14]
The Memphis Grizzlies selected Vásquez with the 28th pick in the first round of the 2010 NBA Draft.[15] Throughout the regular season of his rookie year, Vásquez received spot minutes and scored in double digits only twice, but he gained extensive playing time in the 2011 NBA Playoffs.[16]
Memphis faced the No. 1-seeded San Antonio Spurs in the first round, where the Grizzlies won their first postseason game in franchise history. In Game Four, Vásquez substituted for starting point guard Mike Conley, who had gotten into foul trouble. Vásquez sparked a 7–0 scoring run to help take control of the game. During his 13 minutes of playing time, he had nine points and two assists as Memphis won, 104–86.[16] The eighth-seeded Grizzlies clinched the series in Game Six, where Vásquez played 23 minutes and had 11 points and a highlight-reel assist to Darrell Arthur. Memphis advanced to meet the No. 4-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder in the Conference Semifinals, where Vásquez faced off with his former Montrose Christian classmate, Kevin Durant.[17]
In the 2011 offseason, Vásquez took part in a United States State Department sponsored trip to his native Venezuela to hold clinics and meet with sports officials.[18][19]
On December 24, 2011, Vásquez was traded to the New Orleans Hornets in exchange for Quincy Pondexter.[20]
| Legend | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010–11 | Memphis | 70 | 1 | 12.3 | .408 | .291 | .733 | 1.0 | 2.2 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 3.6 |
| Career | 70 | 1 | 12.3 | .408 | .291 | .733 | 1.0 | 2.2 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 3.6 |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Memphis | 13 | 0 | 10.9 | .512 | .364 | .769 | 1.5 | 1.9 | 0.4 | .2 | 4.3 |
| Career | 13 | 0 | 10.9 | .512 | .364 | .769 | 1.5 | 1.9 | 0.4 | .2 | 4.3 |
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