Coleman Alexander Collins (born July 22, 1986) is an American artist and a retired 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 who last played for

BCM Gravelines Basket Club Maritime Gravelines-Dunkerque, commonly referred to as BCM Gravelines-Dunkerque, is a French professional basketball club based in Gravelines. They currently play in the Pro A, the highest professional league in France. The team forme ...

of the

LNB Pro A LNB may refer to: Sport * Liga Nacional de Baloncesto, a professional basketball league in the Dominican Republic * Liga Nacional de Básquetbol, an Argentine basketball league * Liga Nacional de Básquetbol (Paraguay), Liga Nacional de Básquetb ...

Early life

Collins attended Chamblee High School in

Chamblee, Georgia Chamblee ( ) is a city in northern DeKalb County, Georgia, United States, northeast of Atlanta. The population was 30,164 as of the 2020 census. History The area that would later become Chamblee was originally dairy farms. During the late n ...

, where he played basketball and ran track. He was selected to the all-Atlanta Metro team as a senior, and was MVP of the Florida-Georgia All-Star Game. He also placed 3rd in the state finals in the 400m. He went on to play college basketball at

Virginia Tech The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, commonly referred to as Virginia Tech (VT), is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States ...

, where he scored 1144 points, averaging 10.5 points and 5.6 rebounds for his career.

Professional career

Collins went undrafted in the 2007 NBA draft. In August 2007, he signed with

EnBW Ludwigsburg BG Ludwigsburg, for sponsorship reasons MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg (), is a professional basketball club that is based in Ludwigsburg, Germany. The club currently plays in the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL), the first tier of basketball in Germany. Fou ...

in Germany. In May 2008, he left the team. He went on to sign a contract with the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Suns compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA), We ...

. After participating in training camp, he was released before the regular season began. He spent the 2008–09 season with the

Fort Wayne Mad Ants The Noblesville Boom are an American professional basketball team based in Noblesville, Indiana that competes in the NBA G League. The Boom are the affiliate team of the NBA's Indiana Pacers and, since 2025, they have played their home games at ...

of the

NBDL 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, ...

. In July 2009, he signed with

ratiopharm Ulm Ratiopharm Ulm, officially stylized as ratiopharm ulm, is a professional basketball club based in Ulm, Germany. The club has two teams, one professional team, which plays in the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL), the major German professional league an ...

. He stayed with the German team for two seasons, leaving in May 2011. In September 2011, he signed with

HKK Široki Hrvatski košarkaški klub Široki (), commonly referred to as HKK Široki or simply Široki, is a men's professional basketball club based in Široki Brijeg, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The team currently competes in the Basketball Championship of B ...

in Bosnia. In the spring of 2012, he won both the Bosnian Cup and the league championship. In July 2012, he signed a two-year contract with

Chorale Roanne Chorale Roanne Basket is a professional basketball club that is based in Roanne, France. The club plays in the first division LNB Pro A. Their home arena is Halle André Vacheresse. The club was founded in 1937 and the team's colors are blue and w ...

in France. In a breakout year, he averaged 10.6 points and 7 rebounds during the regular season, and increased his production by averaging 18.3 points and 7 rebounds in the playoffs. In June 2013, he activated a release clause in his contract and left the team, paying the buyout himself. In July 2013, he signed a one-year deal with Azovmash of Ukraine. Following the events of the 2014 Ukrainian Revolution, amid the onset of the

War in Donbass The war in Donbas, or the Donbas war, was a phase of the Russo-Ukrainian War in the eastern Donbas region of Ukraine. The war began in April 2014, when Russian paramilitaries seized several towns. Ukraine's military launched an operation ...

, he left Azovmash on March 1, 2014. Three days later, he signed with Manama Club of Bahrain. In May 2014, he won the Bahrani Championship. On July 22, 2014, he signed a two-year deal with

of the French

. On October 21, 2015, he parted ways with Gravelines after averaging 4.7 points and 2.7 rebounds per game.

Personal life

Collins is also a freelance writer and artist. While at Virginia Tech he wrote a column for the student newspaper, The Collegiate Times. His writing has been published in various venues, including

BOMB Magazine ''Bomb'' (stylized in all caps as ''BOMB'') is an American arts magazine edited by artists and writers, published quarterly in print and daily online. It is composed primarily of interviews between creative people working in a variety of discipli ...

ESPN.com ESPN.com is the official website of ESPN. It is owned by ESPN Internet Ventures, a division of ESPN Inc. History Since launching in April 1995 as ESPNET.SportsZone.com (ESPNET SportsZone), the website has developed numerous sections including ...

, and the

Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers ...

. Collins received a Master of Fine Arts from UCLA. In 2021, he showed artworks in museum exhibitions at the

Kunsthalle Wien Kunsthalle Wien is the city of Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city ...

and the Carré d'Art, Nîmes. In 2023, he became an Assistant Professor of Art at the

University of California, Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Irvine, California, United States. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, U ...

. In 2025, he was awarded a

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

. He speaks several languages, including German, French and Spanish.

References

External links

Eurobasket.com profile

Collins' 2012-2013 Highlights

Collins' 2013-2014 Highlights
{{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Coleman 1986 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Bosnia and Herzegovina American expatriate basketball people in France American expatriate basketball people in Germany American expatriate basketball people in Ukraine American men's basketball players Basketball players from Georgia (U.S. state) Basketball players from Mercer County, New Jersey BC Azovmash players BCM Gravelines players Centers (basketball) Chorale Roanne Basket players Fort Wayne Mad Ants players HKK Široki players Riesen Ludwigsburg players People from Chamblee, Georgia Sportspeople from Princeton, New Jersey Power forwards Ratiopharm Ulm players Sportspeople from DeKalb County, Georgia Virginia Tech Hokies men's basketball players 21st-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen