Nathan Michael Sestina (born May 12, 1997) is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player for

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

of the Spanish

Liga ACB The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administered by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, w ...

and the

EuroLeague The EuroLeague is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier and the most prestigious men's basketball league in Europe. The league consists of 20 teams, of which 16 are given lon ...

. He played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

for Bucknell and

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

Early life

Sestina was born in St. Marys, Pennsylvania and grew up in

Emporium, Pennsylvania Emporium is a borough and the county seat of Cameron County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Early in the twentieth century, there were large power plants and manufacturers of radio tubes and incandescent lamps (Sylvania Electric Products), ...

. As a senior at Cameron County High School, Sestina averaged 22.6 points and 14 rebounds per game and was named the North Tier Conference Player of the Year. He finished high school with 1,703 points and 955 rebounds, a school record. Sestina committed to play college basketball at Bucknell over offers from 11 other schools. He became the first Division I basketball player from PIAA District 9 since 1990 and the first Division I athlete of any kind from Cameron County since the 1970s.

College career

Sestina suffered a season-ending shoulder injury four games into his freshman year and used a

medical redshirt Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

. He averaged 4.8 points and 3.7 rebounds per game over 31 games as a reserve player during his sophomore year. As a junior, Sestina averaged 6.5 points and 3.9 rebounds and 14.9 minutes played per game. He became a starter going into his senior year and enjoyed a breakout season, averaging 15.8 points (6th in the

Patriot League The Patriot League is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference comprising primarily leading Private university, private institutions of higher education and two United States service academies based in the Northeastern United ...

) and 8.5 rebounds per game (2nd in conference) and was named to the second team All-Patriot League. Following the end of the season, Sestina entered the transfer portal for his final season of eligibility as a graduate transfer. He was ranked the third-best player in the transfer portal by

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

. Sestina committed to transfer to the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical ...

In his first game with the Wildcats, Sestina scored seven points and grabbed a team-high six rebounds in a 69–62 win over top-ranked

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the ...

and hit a key three-point shot in the second half. He broke his left wrist six games into the season against Lamar, causing him to miss four weeks and three games. Sestina was averaging 7.3 points and 7.2 rebounds per game in 27.8 minutes of play at the time of the injury. Sestina returned in a game against

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

on December 18 and was scoreless. In the next game versus

Ohio State The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one of the largest universities by enrollme ...

, Sestina scored a season-high 17 points in a 71–65 Kentucky loss. He scored his 1,000th career point during a 13-point game against

LSU Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

on February 18, 2020. Sestina averaged 5.8 and 3.8 rebounds per game in 28 games and was named to the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

Community Service Team.

Professional career

On July 30, 2020, Sestina signed his first professional contract with

Kyiv-Basket Kyiv-Basket () is the Ukrainian basketball club based in Kyiv. Originally founded in 1992 and refounded in 2017, the team plays in the Ukrainian Basketball SuperLeague (UBL). The re-established club made its debut in the Ukrainian Basketball Supe ...

of the Ukrainian SuperLeague. On October 13, he signed with

Nizhny Novgorod Nizhny Novgorod ( ; rus, links=no, Нижний Новгород, a=Ru-Nizhny Novgorod.ogg, p=ˈnʲiʐnʲɪj ˈnovɡərət, t=Lower Newtown; colloquially shortened to Nizhny) is a city and the administrative centre of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast an ...

of the

VTB United League The VTB United League () is an international professional men's club basketball league that was founded in 2009. It is made up of mostly Russian clubs, along with one each from Belarus and Kazakhstan. Since 2013, it is the first tier of Russian ...

. However, with the season being cancelled, Sestina was released on November 3, before playing an official game for the team. After going undrafted in the

2020 NBA draft The 2020 NBA draft was held on November 18, 2020. The draft was originally scheduled to be held at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on June 25, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was instead conducted at ESPN's facilities in Bristol, Connecticut, wi ...

, Sestina signed an

Exhibit 10 The NBA salary cap is the limit to the total amount of money that National Basketball Association (NBA) teams are allowed to pay their players. Like the other major professional sports leagues in North America, the NBA has a salary cap to control ...

contract for with the

Brooklyn Nets The Brooklyn Nets are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Nets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), ...

on December 1, 2020. He was waived by the Nets on December 11. He was added to the roster of the Nets'

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is a professional basketball league in North America that serves as the Minor league#Basketball, developmental league of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league comprises 31 teams; as of ...

affiliate, the

Long Island Nets The Long Island Nets are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Uniondale, New York, and are affiliated with the Brooklyn Nets. The team plays its home games at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Nassau County ...

. On March 15, 2021, he signed with

Hapoel Holon Hapoel Holon Basketball Club (), is a professional basketball club based in Holon, Israel. The team plays in the Israeli Basketball Premier League (the top tier of Israeli basketball), and internationally in the Basketball Champions League. The ...

of the

Israeli Basketball Premier League Ligat HaAl (, lit., ''Supreme League or Premier League''), or the Israeli Basketball Premier League, is a professional basketball league in Israel and the highest level of basketball in the country. The league's name is abbreviated as either BSL ...

. On July 8, 2021, he signed with

Merkezefendi Belediyesi Denizli Basket Yukatel Merkezefendi Belediyesi Basket, due to current sponsorship Yukatel Merkezefendi, is a Turkish professional basketball club based in Denizli. The team is currently playing in the Basketball Super League. Their home arena is the Pamukkale Uni ...

of the Turkish

Basketbol Süper Ligi The Basketball Super League (; TBSL), also known as the Türkiye Sigorta Basketbol Süper Ligi for sponsorship reasons, is the top men's professional basketball division of the Turkish basketball league system. It replaced the former Turkish Bas ...

(BSL). On June 22, 2022, Sestina signed with

Türk Telekom Türk Telekomünikasyon A.Ş. () is a state-owned Turkish telecommunications company. Türk Telekom was separated from Turkish Post (PTT) in 1995. Türk Telekom Group provides integrated telecommunication services for PSTN, GSM, and wideband I ...

of the Turkish BSL. On June 21, 2023, he mutually parted ways with the club. On July 14, 2023, Sestina signed a two-year (1+1) deal with Turkish powerhouse Fenerbahçe. On June 18, 2024, he signed with

of the Spanish

Career statistics

EuroLeague

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2023–24 , style="text-align:left;", Fenerbahçe , 35 , , 4 , , 11.5 , , .465 , , .385 , , .588 , , 1.5 , , .4 , , .3 , , .2 , , 3.6 , , 2.9 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 35 , , 4 , , 11.5 , , .465 , , .385 , , .588 , , 1.5 , , .4 , , .3 , , .2 , , 3.6 , , 2.9

EuroCup

, - , style="text-align:left;",

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 22 , , 6 , , 26.7 , , .442 , , .372 , , .844 , , 4.6 , , 1.0 , , .5 , , .3 , , 10.4 , , 9.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 22 , , 6 , , 26.7 , , .442 , , .372 , , .844 , , 4.6 , , 1.0 , , .5 , , .3 , , 10.4 , , 9.0

Domestic leagues

{, class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:100%; text-align:right;" ! Year ! Team ! League ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! , - , style="text-align:left;",

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

, , style="text-align:left;",

, , style="text-align:center;",

G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is a professional basketball league in North America that serves as the Minor league#Basketball, developmental league of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league comprises 31 teams; as of ...

, , 15 , , 19.8 , , .394 , , .325 , , .667 , , 2.7 , , .7 , , .3 , , .3 , , 7.7 , - , style="text-align:left;",

, , style="text-align:left;",

, , style="text-align:center;", Ligat HaAl , , 14 , , 24.3 , , .505 , , .400 , , .810 , , 3.6 , , .9 , , .7 , , .3 , , 10.4 , - , style="text-align:left;",

, , style="text-align:left;",

, , style="text-align:center;", BIBL , , 5 , , 27.0 , , .491 , , .345 , , .900 , , 5.0 , , 1.6 , , 1.0 , , .8 , , 16.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2021–22 , , style="text-align:left;", M. B. Denizli , , style="text-align:center;", TBSL , , 30 , , 26.5 , , .465 , , .455 , , .824 , , 4.4 , , 1.3 , , .3 , , .4 , , 9.9 , - , style="text-align:left;",

, , style="text-align:left;",

, , style="text-align:center;", TBSL , , 36 , , 23.9 , , .496 , , .445 , , .774 , , 3.4 , , .8 , , .5 , , .7 , , 10.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2023–24 , , style="text-align:left;", Fenerbahçe , , style="text-align:center;", TBSL , , 18 , , 23.9 , , .468 , , .427 , , .733 , , 5.1 , , 1.1 , , .7 , , .3 , , 9.6

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2015–16 , style="text-align:left;", Bucknell , 4 , , 0 , , 8.0 , , .545 , , .667 , , 1.000 , , 1.3 , , .8 , , .5 , , .0 , , 3.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2016–17 , style="text-align:left;", Bucknell , 31 , , 1 , , 12.0 , , .508 , , .292 , , .696 , , 3.7 , , .4 , , .2 , , .5 , , 4.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2017–18 , style="text-align:left;", Bucknell , 34 , , 0 , , 14.9 , , .560 , , .341 , , .744 , , 3.9 , , .9 , , .3 , , .6 , , 6.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;", Bucknell , 31 , , 31 , , 27.8 , , .536 , , .380 , , .808 , , 8.5 , , 1.2 , , .4 , , 1.1 , , 15.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20 , style="text-align:left;",

, 28 , , 7 , , 19.8 , , .463 , , .407 , , .750 , , 3.8 , , .8 , , .4 , , .6 , , 5.8 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 128 , , 39 , , 18.2 , , .525 , , .374 , , .773 , , 4.9 , , .8 , , .3 , , .7 , , 8.1

Personal life

Sestina's father, Donald is a former teacher, basketball coach and athletic director for Cameron County High School and his mother, Rachelle, is also a teacher and swam collegiately at

Indiana University of Pennsylvania Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) is a Public university, public research university in Indiana, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education and Carnegie Classification o ...

. He has four siblings and his two older brothers, Andrew and Jason, both served in the

U.S. Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionary ...

. Sestina is engaged to former Kentucky volleyball player and current Kentucky assistant volleyball coach Madison Lilley.

References

External links

Bucknell Bison bio

Kentucky Wildcats bio

RealGM profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sestina, Nate 1999 births Living people 21st-century American sportsmen American expatriate basketball people in Israel American expatriate basketball people in Spain American expatriate basketball people in Turkey American men's basketball players Basketball players from Pennsylvania Bucknell Bison men's basketball players Centers (basketball) Fenerbahçe men's basketball players Hapoel Holon B.C. players Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball players Long Island Nets players Merkezefendi Belediyesi Denizli Basket players People from St. Marys, Pennsylvania People from Emporium, Pennsylvania Power forwards Türk Telekom B.K. players Valencia Basket players