Adrian McClinton Oliver (born March 31, 1988) 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 Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player. He played college basketball for the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

from 2006 to 2007 and

San Jose State University San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the List of oldest schools in California, oldest public university on the West Coast of ...

from 2008 to 2011.

Early life

Born in

Modesto, California Modesto ( ; ) is the county seat and largest city of Stanislaus County, California, United States. With a population of 218,069 according to 2022 United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau estimates, it is the List of cities and towns in Ca ...

, Oliver was raised by his single mother and grandparents after his father left the family when he was seven. Of mixed

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

and

Mexican American Mexican Americans are Americans of full or partial Mexico, Mexican descent. In 2022, Mexican Americans comprised 11.2% of the US population and 58.9% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexican Americans were born in the Unite ...

descent, Oliver graduated from Modesto Christian High School in 2006. He was a two-time, first-team all-state player who averaged 25.5 points as a senior and 26.1 points as a junior. Oliver's uncle, Allen Oliver, coached the Modesto Christian team while he played there.

College career

University of Washington

Turning down scholarship offers from

Gonzaga Gonzaga may refer to: Places *Gonzaga, Lombardy, commune in the province of Mantua, Italy *Gonzaga, Cagayan, municipality in the Philippines *Gonzaga, Minas Gerais, town in Brazil *Forte Gonzaga, fort in Messina, Sicily Surname *House of Gonza ...

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 ...

, Oliver attended the

from 2006 to 2007. At Washington he played in 38 games including 12 starts and averaging 4.7 points in 32 games in 2006–07, and 2.8 points in 6 games in 2007. Oliver was part of the recruiting class which included 2006 NBA draftee

Spencer Hawes Spencer Mason Hawes (born April 28, 1988) is an American former professional basketball player. A center, he was selected by the Sacramento Kings in the 2007 NBA draft and is the nephew of Steve Hawes, a retired NBA player. High school career ...

, who was a first round pick by the Kings. On December 4, 2007, Oliver announced that he would leave Washington for personal reasons; his mother and stepfather could not move to

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

. In a 2010 interview with ''

Metro Silicon Valley ''Metro'', also known as ''Metro Silicon Valley'', is a free weekly newspaper published by the San Jose, California-based Weeklys media group for four decades, a period during which its readership area became known as Silicon Valley. Metro was ...

'', Oliver revealed that he transferred to SJSU because he received a phone call stating that his grandparents were ill. Oliver first learned about SJSU only one day before he visited the campus. Under NCAA rules, Oliver sat out of the basketball team for one year after transfer until December 2008.

San Jose State

At San Jose State, Oliver reunited with

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It h ...

teammate

Justin Graham Justin Jaymes Graham (born September 10, 1988) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Canterbury Rams of the National Basketball League (NBL). He played college basketball for San Jose State Spartans men's basketbal ...

. Oliver majored in

sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

, with a concentration in

criminology Criminology (from Latin , 'accusation', and Ancient Greek , ''-logia'', from λόγος ''logos'', 'word, reason') is the interdisciplinary study of crime and deviant behaviour. Criminology is a multidisciplinary field in both the behaviou ...

. On December 20, 2008, Oliver debuted for San Jose State and scored 27 points in an 89–78 victory against

Northern Colorado Northern Colorado is the name for a region in the state of Colorado and a proposed state in the northeastern portion of Colorado. Region Northern Colorado is a region in the northern portion of Colorado. It borders northwestern Colorado, nort ...

. On November 20, 2009, Oliver and his San Jose State team visited Oliver's former school Washington for a game; the Spartans lost 80–70. That game was the first and only time Oliver would play against his former team. Averaging 22.5 points per game, Oliver was tied for fifth nationally with Devan Downey of

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

among the leading college basketball scorers of 2009–10. SJSU ended the 2009–10 season with a 14–17 record after being 12–8 at one point in February 2010; SJSU coach

George Nessman George Raymond Nessman II (born March 22, 1959) is an American athletic administrator and former college basketball coach who is the current athletic director at Justin-Siena High School. Nessman coached at the high school and community college ...

commented, "That hit Adrian harder than anybody" and "Adrian always has been a really competitive kid, but he's really owning the team's results now." With his high scoring statistics, Oliver was seen as a key to SJSU having its first winning basketball season in nearly 20 years. On January 26, 2010, Oliver won the Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week Award from the U.S. Basketball Writers Association for games ending the week of January 24, 2010. He was also selected as WAC Preseason Player of the Year prior to the 2010–11 season. During the summer before his senior season with the Spartans, Oliver worked with a personal trainer and played pickup basketball in

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

, with NBA players like

Chuck Hayes Charles Edward Hayes Jr. (born June 11, 1983) is a retired American professional basketball player and director of basketball operations for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for ...

, who attended Modesto Christian High. When San Jose State beat

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

75–72 on November 20, 2010, that was the first time SJSU beat a

Pac-10 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level for all sports, and its football teams compete in the Football Bowl ...

team since 1992. Prior to that game, Oliver had 1,066 career points, the 10th-highest all-time total among Spartans men's basketball players. By December 2010, Oliver became the Spartans' lead scorer, having scored 34 points in the season opener 67–60 victory against

Eastern Washington Eastern Washington is the region of the U.S. state of Washington located east of the Cascade Range. It contains the city of Spokane (the second largest city in the state), the Tri-Cities, the Columbia River and the Grand Coulee Dam, the H ...

and 35 points in an 80–77 victory over

UC Riverside The University of California, Riverside (UCR or UC Riverside) is a public land-grant research university in Riverside, California, United States. It is one of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The main campus sits on in ...

. The ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...

'' reported that Oliver was the top scorer of all

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

college basketball players. In the 2011 WAC men's basketball tournament, eighth-place San Jose State beat fifth-place

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

75–74 after Oliver scored a jumper with 5 seconds left. The Spartans then defeated fourth-place

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

74–68. However, in the semifinal game, San Jose State lost to first-place Utah State 58–54. Oliver missed a potentially game-winning three-pointer with eight seconds remaining in the second half, and

Tai Wesley Tai William Evans Wesley (born May 13, 1986) is an American professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Utah State Aggies, where he was named the Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year in 2011. After beginning h ...

made two free throws to seal the victory. San Jose State finished 2010–11 with a 17–15 record including 5–11 in regular season WAC play.

Professional career

Oliver went undrafted in the

2011 NBA draft The 2011 NBA draft was held on June 23, 2011, at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The draft started at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (23:00 UTC), and was broadcast in the United States on ESPN. Kia Motors was the presenting sponso ...

. On August 25, 2011, he signed a two-year deal with

Aris B.C. Aris Basketball Club (, transliterated into English Aris B.S.A.) known in European competitions as Aris Thessaloniki, is the professional basketball team of the major Thessaloniki-based Greek multi-sport club A.C. Aris Thessaloniki. Aris BC w ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. In October 2011, Oliver scored 16 points in Aris' 80–59

Greek Basketball Cup The Greek Basketball Cup or Hellenic Basketball Cup (also stylized as Basket Cup; Greek: Κύπελλο Ελλάδος καλαθοσφαίρισης ανδρών) is the top-tier level annual professional basketball national cup competition i ...

loss to defending Greek Cup champions,

Olympiacos B.C. Olympiacos B.C. (), commonly referred to as Olympiacos and Olympiacos Piraeus, is a Greek professional basketball club based in Piraeus, part of the major multi-sport club, Olympiacos CFP. The parent club was founded in 1925, with the basketb ...

In November 2011, he left Aris after appearing in just three league games. On December 10, 2011, Oliver signed with the

Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Confere ...

. He played one minute in a preseason game on December 17 against the

Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. Founded in 1946 i ...

, recording one rebound. He was later waived by the Kings on December 21, 2011. On December 28, 2011, Oliver was acquired by the

Reno Bighorns Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada–California border. It is the county seat and most populous city of Washoe County. Sitting in the High Eastern Sierra foothills, in the Truckee River v ...

of the

NBA Development League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is a professional basketball league in North America that serves as the developmental league of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league comprises 31 teams; as of the 2024–25 season, ...

. On January 11, 2012, he was waived by the Bighorns due to injury. Oliver averaged 6.6 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.0 assists per game with 39.3% field goal shooting in five games with Reno. On November 1, 2012, Oliver was reacquired by the Bighorns. In Reno's one preseason game, a 111–103 win over the

Idaho Stampede Idaho ( ) is a landlocked state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington and Oregon to the west; the state s ...

, Oliver recorded 8 points and 1 assist. On November 21, 2012, he was waived by the Bighorns. On August 8, 2013, Oliver signed with Stelmet Zielona Góra of Poland for the 2013–14 season. However, he was released by Stelmet a month later due to a range of injuries. In November 2013, Oliver joined the South Houston Assault of the

American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major professional basketball league that operated for nine seasons from 1967 to 1976. The upstart ABA operated in direct competition with the more established National Basketball Association thr ...

to attend their training camp. In March 2014, Oliver signed with the

Taranaki Mountainairs The Taranaki Airs are a New Zealand professional basketball team based in New Plymouth New Plymouth () is the major city of the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after the English city of Pl ...

for the

2014 New Zealand NBL season The 2014 NBL season was the 33rd season of the National Basketball League. The Canterbury Rams returned to the league in 2014 after a five-year hiatus. The 2014 pre-season tournament was held at the Te Rauparaha Arena in Porirua on Saturday ...

. On May 10, 2014, he recorded a franchise-high 42 points in a 126–90 win over the

Super City Rangers The Super City Rangers were a New Zealand basketball team based in Auckland. The Rangers competed in the National Basketball League (NBL) and played their home games across multiple venues in Auckland. Team history The Waitakere Rangers debut ...

. On June 9, 2014, he was released by the Mountainairs due to injury and clashes with management. On August 22, 2014, Oliver signed a one-year deal with

Fuerza Regia The Fuerza Regia de Monterrey (''Monterrey Royal Force'' in English) is a Mexican professional basketball team based in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico playing in the Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional (LNBP). They currently play their home g ...

of the

Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional The National Professional Basketball League ( or LNBP), officially known as the Liga Grupo Caliente, Caliente LNBP for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball sports league, league in Mexico. The league was founded in 2000 with 1 ...

. He made just one appearance for the team in 2014–15, scoring six points on February 21, 2015, against Gansos Salvajes. Later that year, he had a three-game stint with Mineros de Caborca.

References

External links

NBA D-League profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oliver, Adrian 1988 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Greece American expatriate basketball people in Mexico American expatriate basketball people in New Zealand American expatriate basketball people in Poland American sportspeople of Mexican descent Aris B.C. players Basketball players from Modesto, California Fuerza Regia de Monterrey players Reno Bighorns players San Jose State Spartans men's basketball players Shooting guards Taranaki Mountainairs players Washington Huskies men's basketball players American men's basketball players 21st-century American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen