Daniel Curtis Cross Jr. (born August 16, 1973) is an American retired basketball player. Cross 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 the

Florida Gators men's basketball The Florida Gators men's basketball team represents the University of Florida in the sport of basketball. The Gators compete in NCAA Division I's Southeastern Conference (SEC). Home games are played on Billy Donovan Court in the O'Connell Center, ...

team of the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

, where he was key member of the Gators' run to the 1994 NCAA Final Four. After college, Cross played professionally in several countries, including a stint in Italy's

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

. Cross was born in

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, and grew up in

Carbondale, Illinois Carbondale is a city in Jackson County, Illinois, United States, within the Southern Illinois region informally known as "Little Egypt". As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 25,083, making it the most po ...

. He is the oldest of the five children of Daniel Cross Sr. and Lillian Cross. He attended

Carbondale Community High School Carbondale Community High School is a public high school located in Carbondale, Illinois, United States. It serves grades 9-12 and is the sole school in District 165, having several different feeder schools within the city and outside of it. Dur ...

, where he played for the Carbondale Terriers high school basketball team, and led the Terriers to the state championship game. Cross accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the

in Gainesville, Florida, where he played for coach

Lon Kruger Lonnie Duane Kruger (born August 19, 1952) is an American former college and professional basketball coach (sport), coach who was most recently the men's basketball head coach of the University of Oklahoma. Kruger played college basketball for K ...

team from 1991 to 1995.
Florida Men's Basketball 2013–2014 Media Guide
'', University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 69, 72, 74, 75, 76, 79, 80, 83, 84, 85, 86, 91, 106, 110, 130, 132, 133, 146, 153, 160, 161, 162, 163, 164, 165, 168 (2013). Retrieved August 15, 2014. Cross shared time with upperclassmen at the point guard position during his freshman and sophomore seasons, starting 20 games in 1991–92, and twelve of the last fourteen in 1992–93; he became a consistent starter at the outset of his 1993–94 junior year. Memorably, he led the team with 20 points in their 59–57 upset of the No. 7

Kentucky Wildcats The Kentucky Wildcats are the men's and women's intercollegiate athletic squads of the University of Kentucky (UK), a founding member of the Southeastern Conference. The Kentucky Wildcats is the student body of the University of Kentucky. 30, ...

, and he scored 24 points (including six 3-pointers) in the Gators' 88–64 victory over the

South Carolina Gamecocks The South Carolina Gamecocks represent the University of South Carolina in the NCAA Division I. The University of South Carolina uses "Gamecocks" as its official nickname and mascot. While the men's teams were traditionally known as the Fight ...

in 1994. Cross was a key performer and team leader, emotionally and statistically, in the Gators' run to their first-ever NCAA Final Four in 1994. In the 1994 NCAA Tournament first-round game, Cross drove the lane to make a high-arcing layup with seven seconds left to defeat the

James Madison Dukes The James Madison Dukes are the college sports in the United States, intercollegiate athletics teams that represent James Madison University (JMU), in Harrisonburg, Virginia. The name "Dukes" is derived from Samuel Page Duke, the university's se ...

64–62, so that the Gators could advance. Paced by Cross, center

Andrew DeClercq Andrew Donald DeClercq (born February 1, 1973) is an American former professional basketball player and current coach. He was a center and power forward in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for ten seasons during the 1990s and 2000s. D ...

, and fellow guard Craig Brown, the Gators then dispatched the

Penn Quakers The Penn Quakers are the athletic teams of the University of Pennsylvania. The school sponsors 33 varsity sports. The school has won three NCAA national championships in men's fencing and one in women's fencing. Sponsored teams Men's varsit ...

(70–58), the

Connecticut Huskies The UConn Huskies (or Connecticut Huskies) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Connecticut, with its main campus located in Storrs, Connecticut. The school is a member of the NCAA's Division I and the Big Eas ...

(69–60, OT), and the

Boston College Eagles The Boston College Eagles are the athletic teams that represent Boston College, located in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level ( Football Bowl Subdivis ...

(74–68), before falling to the

Duke Blue Devils The Duke Blue Devils are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Duke University, located in Durham, North Carolina. Duke's athletics department features 27 varsity teams that all compete at the N ...

70–65 in the hard-fought NCAA national semifinal game. Cross had a 27-point scoring performance while leading the Gators' 81–70 victory over the No. 21

Wake Forest Demon Deacons The Wake Forest Demon Deacons are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Wake Forest University, located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. They compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Assoc ...

at the outset of the 1994–95 season. He was the Gators' leading scorer in 1993–94 (15.7 points per game) and again in 1994–95 (18.0 points per game), and led 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 ...

(SEC) in free throw completion percentage in 1995 (.843, 150–178). He was a two-time first-team All-SEC selection (1994, 1995), received Associated Press honorable mention All-American honors twice (1994, 1995), and was a senior team captain (1995). Cross returned to the University of Florida to complete his bachelor's degree in telecommunications in 2000, and was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a "Gator Great" in 2006.F Club, Hall of Fame
Gator Greats
Retrieved December 13, 2014. In 2008, he was honored as one of the "Legends of SEC Basketball." After concluding his college career, Cross played professionally for several top-tier teams in Europe and developmental leagues in the United States, including Serapide Pozzuoli of Italy's

Lega Basket Serie A The Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) is a professional men's club (sport), club basketball list of basketball leagues, league that has been organised in Italy since 1920. Serie A is organised by Lega Basket, which is regulated by the Italian Basketball ...

, 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 has played its home games in the Sanford Pentagon since the 2013–14 ...

and

Connecticut Pride The Connecticut Pride (from 1993 to 1994 the Hartford Hellcats) were an American professional basketball team based in Hartford, Connecticut, that was a member of the Continental Basketball Association (CBA). They played in Hartford from 1993 to ...

of the

Continental Basketball Association The Continental Basketball Association (CBA), originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, and later as the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association, was a men's professional basketball m ...

(CBA),

Espoon Honka 237px, Petteri Koponen with Espoon Honka in 2007 Espoon Honka, also known as Honka Playboys, was a basketball club based in Espoo, Finland and it played in Korisliiga. The club was dissolved in 2011 due to financial difficulties. History Espoon ...

of Finland's

Korisliiga The Korisliiga is the top-tier professional basketball league in Finland, comprising the top 12 teams of the country. In its current format, each team plays all other teams two times in the regular season, once at home and once away, for a total o ...

, and

Hapoel Tel Aviv Hapoel Tel Aviv () is a sports club in Israel, founded in the 1920s, and part of the Hapoel association. It runs several sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv which have competed in a variety of sports over the years, such as football, basketball, w ...

in Israel. Cross now runs annual basketball camps in Carbondale, Gainesville and Orlando, as well as managing an organization called "Athlete Connections" that counsels former college athletes on transitioning from college to life after sports.

References

External links

Italian League profile

Finnish League profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cross, Dan 1973 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Cyprus American expatriate basketball people in Finland American expatriate basketball people in Israel American expatriate basketball people in Italy American men's basketball players Basketball players from Chicago Connecticut Pride players Florida Gators men's basketball players Guards (basketball) Sportspeople from Carbondale, Illinois Sioux Falls Skyforce (CBA) players 20th-century American sportsmen

See also

References

External links