Larry Donelle Drew II (born March 5, 1990) is an American former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player. He won the John R. Wooden High School Player of the Year Award in 2008 before starting his

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

career with the North Carolina Tar Heels. He went on to win a

national championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the best team, indi ...

in 2009 with the Tar Heels before deciding to leave the program midseason in 2011. He transferred to the

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pac-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) ...

' program, where he played one season and broke the single-season school record for

assist Assist or ASSIST may refer to: Sports Several sports have a statistic known as an "assist", generally relating to action by a player leading to a score by another player on their team: *Assist (basketball), a pass by a player that facilitates a ba ...

s. Drew was named to the All-Pac-12 first team. He won a gold medal with the United States national team at the

FIBA AmeriCup The FIBA AmeriCup (previously known as the FIBA Americas Championship) is the Americas Basketball Championship that takes place every four years between national teams of the Western Hemisphere continents. Since FIBA organised the entire West ...

in 2017.

Early life

Drew is the son of

Larry Drew Larry Donnell Drew (born April 2, 1958) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who serves as assistant coach for the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Drew was named to the Kansas Sports ...

, who was a first-round draft pick in the

1980 NBA draft The 1980 NBA draft was the 34th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on June 10, 1980, at the Sheraton Centre Hotel & Towers, before the 1980–81 season. In this draft, 23 NBA teams took turns selecti ...

before becoming a head coach in the league. At William Howard Taft High School, Drew won the John R. Wooden High School Player of the Year Award as the 2008

Los Angeles City Section The CIF Los Angeles City Section (CIF-LA) is the governing body of high school athletics for public schools in the city of Los Angeles and some surrounding communities. All of these schools were once associated with the Los Angeles Unified Schoo ...

Player of the year and was also a third-team ''Parade'' All-American that year. He participated in the 2008 McDonald's All-American Game, where he won the 3-point shooting contest.

College career

North Carolina

Drew started his collegiate career at

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

. In his freshman year, he averaged 1.4 points, 1.9 assists, 1.2 turnovers, and 1.1 rebounds in 9.6 minutes per game as the Tar Heels won the 2009 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I championship. He became the starting point guard as a sophomore, replacing Ty Lawson who departed for the NBA. Drew had an up and down season as the Tar Heels struggled to a 20–17 overall record and failed to qualify for the NCAA tournament. However, they did advance to the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) championship game. For the season, Drew averaged 8.5 points per game on 40.2% shooting from the field, with six assists and 2.1 turnovers per game. On February 3, 2011, Drew left the University of North Carolina's basketball program in the middle of the season. In his last game with the Tar Heels, he had nine assists in 19 minutes in a 106–74 victory over Boston College. He did not cite any reasons, but his playing time, scoring, and assist numbers were all down from the prior season, and freshman

Kendall Marshall Kendall Dewan Marshall (born August 19, 1991) is an American basketball coach and former professional player. He was born in Dumfries, Virginia, and attended Bishop O'Connell High School in Arlington, Virginia. He played college basketball for t ...

had supplanted him as starting point guard in mid-January. However, in a

freestyle rap Freestyle is a style of improvisation, with or without instrumental beats (Mystrodamus), in which lyrics are recited with no particular subject or structure and with no prior memorization.Kevin Fitzgerald (director), '' Freestyle: The Art of Rhyme' ...

in March on his 21st birthday, Drew rapped, "The past three years I can't undo, so now I'm making all the moves that I want to ... They tried to tell me just to play my role, but who's really trying to stick to a script that's full of typos?"

UCLA

Drew started attending classes at UCLA on March 28, and had to sit out the 2011–12 season before using his final season of eligibility. Drew joined former Tar Heel twins,

David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

and

Travis Wear Travis James Wear (born September 21, 1990) is an American former professional basketball player. He began his pro career with the New York Knicks after going undrafted in 2014. Wear was an All-American in high school and won a silver medal wit ...

, who also transferred to UCLA. Drew began the 2012–13 season as the Bruins lone senior player. He was also their only true point guard, a position he shared with freshman Kyle Anderson. In the final game of the regular season, Drew broke

Pooh Richardson Jerome "Pooh" Richardson Jr. (born May 14, 1966) is an American former basketball player who played 10 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was selected in the first round of the 1989 NBA draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves, th ...

's school record for most assists in a season. Drew was named to the All-Pac-12 first team.

Professional career

2013–14 season

After going undrafted in the 2013 NBA draft, Drew joined the

Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The club plays its home games at FT ...

for the

2013 NBA Summer League The 2013 NBA Summer League is a pro basketball league run by the NBA just after the 2013 NBA draft. It gives newly drafted players a chance to test their skills against each other, and to give them a feel for professional basketball. All 30 NBA ...

. On September 23, 2013, he signed with the Heat. However, he was later waived by the Heat on October 21. On October 31, he was acquired by the

Sioux Falls Skyforce The Sioux Falls Skyforce are an American professional basketball team of the NBA G League based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and are affiliated with the Miami Heat. The team plays their home games in the Sanford Pentagon, a place they have call ...

. On November 23, he made his professional debut in a 103–73 win over the

Reno Bighorns Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the ...

, recording nine points, three rebounds and six assists in 32 minutes.

2014–15 season

In July 2014, Drew re-joined the Heat for the

2014 NBA Summer League The 2014 NBA Summer League consists of two pro basketball leagues organized by the NBA and the Orlando Magic just after the 2014 NBA Draft. Ten teams took part in the week-long summer league at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida, from July 5 t ...

. On October 20, he re-signed with the Heat, however they waived him on October 25, when he accepted their assignment back to Sioux Falls. He was officially reacquired by the Skyforce on November 3. He went on to deliver a D-League record 23 assists on December 25 in the 135–129 win over the

Rio Grande Valley Vipers The Rio Grande Valley Vipers are an American professional basketball team of the NBA G League based in Edinburg, Texas, and are affiliated with the Houston Rockets. The Vipers play their home games at the Bert Ogden Arena. The Vipers have won fo ...

. On January 16, 2015, Drew signed a 10-day contract with the Philadelphia 76ers. On January 26, he signed a second 10-day contract with the 76ers. Hours later, he made his first NBA start against the New Orleans Pelicans; Philadelphia was without starting point guard

Michael Carter-Williams Michael Carter-Williams (born October 10, 1991) is an American professional basketball player. He was drafted in the first round with the 11th overall pick in the 2013 NBA draft by the Philadelphia 76ers, after playing college basketball for the ...

, who was out sick, and backup

Tony Wroten Tony LeonDre Wroten Jr. (born April 13, 1993) is an American professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Washington Huskies, where he was a first-team all-conference selection in the Pac-12, before being drafted by the Me ...

had been sidelined with a knee injury. League rules limited teams to signing a single player to a maximum of two 10-day deals. Needing to sign Drew to a fully guaranteed contract if they wished to retain him, the team instead signed

Tim Frazier Tim Frazier (born November 1, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for AEK Athens of the Greek Basket League and the Basketball Champions League. Frazier played high school basketball for Strake Jesuit College Preparatory and com ...

to a 10-day contract on February 5, citing the desire for roster "flexibility." On February 6, he returned to the Skyforce.

2015–16 season

During the offseason, Drew played for the New Orleans Pelicans during the

2015 NBA Summer League The 2015 NBA Summer League consisted of three pro basketball leagues organized by the NBA: the Orlando Pro Summer League, Utah Jazz Summer League, and Las Vegas Summer League. Ten teams participated in the week-long Orlando Pro Summer League at ...

in Las Vegas, where he was named to the All-NBA Summer League Second Team. Following the conclusion of the Summer League, he signed with AS Monaco Basket of the LNB Pro A in France for 2015–16. On March 15, 2016, he parted ways with Monaco after averaging 4.1 points per contest in 18 games. On March 28, 2016, Drew was reacquired by the

. The next day, he made his season debut in a 125–107 win over the

Iowa Energy Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...

, recording three points, one rebound and two assists in nine minutes off the bench. He helped the Skyforce win the league championship with a 2–1 Finals series win over the Los Angeles D-Fenders.

2016–17 season

On August 2, 2016, Drew signed a one-year contract with BC Neptūnas in Lithuania. On February 10, 2017, he parted ways with Neptūnas due to disciplinary issues. On March 2, 2017, Drew was acquired by the

2017—18 season

Drew Joined the Philadelphia 76ers for the 2017 NBA Summer League in Orlando. He later signed with Miami for his third training camp with the Heat. On October 12, he was waived by the Heat. On January 23, 2018, Drew signed a 10-day contract with the Philadelphia 76ers. In March, he signed two 10-day contracts with the New Orleans Pelicans, but was not re-signed after the team signed former Pelicans guard

Jordan Crawford Jordan Lee Crawford (born October 23, 1988) is an American professional basketball player for Manama Club of the Bahraini Premier League. He played college basketball for the Indiana Hoosiers and the Xavier Musketeers. His brother is Joe Crawfor ...

National team career

Drew played for the United States national team at the 2017 FIBA AmeriCup, where he won a gold medal. He averaged 4.6 points, 5.0 assists and 1.0 steals per game in the tournament.

Career statistics

NBA statistics

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College statistics

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North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

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2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...