Will Solomon
 Solomon with Maccabi in 2005. | |
| No. 5 – Olympique Antibes | |
|---|---|
| Position | Guard |
| League | LNB Pro A |
| Personal information | |
| Born |
July 20, 1978 Hartford, Connecticut |
| Nationality | American |
| Listed height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) |
| Listed weight | 185 lb (84 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school |
East Hartford (Hartford, Connecticut) |
| College | Clemson (1998–2001) |
| NBA draft | 2001 / Round: 2 / Pick: 32nd overall |
| Selected by the Vancouver Grizzlies | |
| Playing career | 2001–present |
| Career history | |
| 2001–2002 | Memphis Grizzlies |
| 2002–2003 | Aris Thessaloniki |
| 2003–2004 | Hapoel Jerusalem |
| 2004–2005 | Efes Pilsen |
| 2005–2006 | Maccabi Tel Aviv |
| 2006–2008 | Fenerbahçe Ülker |
| 2008–2009 | Toronto Raptors |
| 2009 | Sacramento Kings |
| 2009 | Fenerbahçe Ülker |
| 2010–2011 | Hapoel Jerusalem |
| 2011–2012 | Cherkaski Mavpy |
| 2012–2013 | Mersin BB |
| 2013–present | Shark Antibes |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
| Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |
William James "Will" Solomon (born July 20, 1978) is an American professional basketball player for Shark Antibes of the French League. Standing at 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m), he plays the guard position.
Amateur career
Solomon was first noticed at East Hartford High School in East Hartford, Connecticut. He held several records and is in several clubs in their schools basketball program such as "1000 Career Points", "All State", "All Conference", and the only member of the "NBA Draft" club. He went to Clemson where he continued his basketball career.
Professional career
Solomon declared himself eligible for the 2001 NBA draft after his junior year at Clemson University. He was selected by the Vancouver Grizzlies in the second round, with the 32nd overall pick. Solomon played for the Grizzlies in the 2001–02 season and averaged 5.2 points, 1.5 assists and 1.1 rebounds over 62 games.
After only one year in the NBA, Solomon decided to move to Europe and signed a contract with the Greek team Aris Thessaloniki in 2003. That year he won the EuroChallenge Cup, 3rd-tier European competition.
After a year in Greece, Solomon moved to Israel and played for Hapoel Jerusalem, with whom he won another European title, the ULEB Cup, 2nd-tier European competition. In Israel he was often nicknamed "The Fish" (Ha-dag, הדג), as in Hebrew his last name resembles "Salmon" much more than King Solomon, which is pronounced "Shlomo".
For 2004–05, he moved to Turkey and was signed by Efes Pilsen. He then played for the first time in his career in the Euroleague. With the help of Solomon, Efes Pilsen won the Turkish championship that year.
Solomon moved back to Israel the following season and was signed by Maccabi Tel Aviv, who were the European champions the previous two seasons and were close to winning a third consecutive Euroleague title before losing in the final. After this, he returned to İstanbul and joined Fenerbahçe Ülker, that enjoyed a high budget and a Euroleague spot after the Ülker Food Group decided to close their own team and move their entire support of funds and players to Fenerbahçe's basketball team. Nicknamed 'King Solomon'[1] by the Fenerbahçe fans, he helped the team win two championships.
Solomon also played point guard for the Washington Wizards summer league team in Las Vegas during the NBA's off-season in 2006.
On July 28, 2008, Solomon was signed by the Toronto Raptors.[2]
On February 19, 2009, Solomon was traded to the Sacramento Kings in a three-team deal that sent Patrick O'Bryant to the Raptors from the Boston Celtics and a conditional second round pick in 2014 to the Celtics.[3] Shortly after being traded to the Sacramento Kings, Will Solomon was waived.[4]
On April 9, 2009, the Turkish champions Fenerbahçe Ülker reached an agreement with him in order to bring him back to his former team,[5] but he was released from his contract on November 7, 2009.[6]
In August 2010, he returned to Israel and signed a one year contract with pro club Hapoel Jerusalem.[7]
In the summer of 2011, he signed a contract with the Ukrainian team Cherkaski Mavpy.
In October 2012, he signed a contract with Mersin BB of the Turkish Basketball League for the 2012–13 season.
In November 2013, he signed with the French team Shark Antibes.[8]
Career statistics
| 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 | PIR | Performance Index Rating | ||
| Bold | Career high | ||||||
Note: The Euroleague is not the only competition in which the player participated for the team during the season, he also played in domestic competition.
NBA
Regular season
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001–02 | Memphis | 62 | 4 | 14.1 | .341 | .284 | .671 | 1.1 | 1.5 | .6 | .1 | 5.2 |
| 2008–09 | Toronto | 39 | 9 | 13.9 | .436 | .263 | .833 | 1.1 | 3.2 | .5 | .1 | 4.9 |
| 2008–09 | Sacramento | 14 | 0 | 12.0 | .406 | .448 | .500 | 1.5 | .7 | .5 | .0 | 5.0 |
| Career | 115 | 13 | 13.8 | .378 | .298 | .692 | 1.1 | 2.0 | .5 | .1 | 5.1 |
Euroleague
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG | PIR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004–05 | Efes Pilsen | 23 | 23 | 30.3 | .433 | .348 | .785 | 2.4 | 2.6 | 2.0 | .3 | 14.5 | 14.0 |
| 2005–06 | Maccabi | 25 | 23 | 32.2 | .464 | .386 | .798 | 2.4 | 3.0 | 2.0 | .2 | 15.0 | 13.6 |
| 2006–07 | Fenerbahçe | 11 | 10 | 32.1 | .422 | .388 | .889 | 2.9 | 3.8 | 1.9 | .3 | 13.6 | 11.6 |
| 2007–08 | Fenerbahçe | 21 | 21 | 31.1 | .466 | .378 | .818 | 3.1 | 3.9 | 1.7 | .1 | 17.9 | 18.0 |
| 2009–10 | Fenerbahçe | 2 | 2 | 26.3 | .333 | .250 | .800 | 1.0 | 1.5 | .5 | .0 | 9.0 | 3.5 |
| Career | 82 | 79 | 31.2 | .448 | .370 | .806 | 2.6 | 3.2 | 1.9 | .2 | 15.3 | 14.4 |
References
- ↑
- ↑ Raptors Sign Free Agent Will Solomon
- ↑ "KINGS ACQUIRE WILL SOLOMON IN THREE-TEAM TRADE" (Press release). Sacramento Kings. 2009-02-19. Retrieved 2009-02-20.
- ↑ http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/wire?section=nba&id=4055103
- ↑ Solomon to come back
- ↑ Willie Solomon’un sözleşmesi feshedildi (Turkish)
- ↑ Hapoel Jerusalem brings back Solomon
- ↑ "Will Solomon pigiste médical de Trevor Huffman" (in French). sharks-antibes.com. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Willie Solomon. |
- Career statistics and player information from Basketball-Reference.com
- Will Solomon at draftexpress.com
- Will Solomon at eurobasket.com
- Will Solomon at euroleague.net
- Will Solomon at tblstat.net
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