Elan Lee Buller (born February 16, 1979) was a U.S. University Division I WCC basketball player for the

Pepperdine University Pepperdine University () is a private university, private Christianity, Christian research university affiliated with the Churches of Christ, with its main campus in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Pepperdine's main campus consists ...

Waves in

Malibu, California Malibu ( ; ; ) is a beach city in the Santa Monica Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, about west of downtown Los Angeles. It is known for its Mediterranean climate, its strip of beaches stretching along the Pacific Ocean coa ...

. He won an Olympic gold medal at the

Maccabiah Games The Maccabiah Games (, or משחקי המכביה העולמית; sometimes referred to as the "Jewish Olympics") is an international multi-sport event with summer and winter sports competitions featuring Jews and Israelis regardless of religion ...

(July 2001) in Israel and broke two

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, list ...

for the longest basketball shot from the ground.

Early life and college career

Buller grew up in Los Angeles, California and played the point guard position for the

El Camino Real High School El Camino Real Charter High School (also known locally as "ECR" or "Elco") is an independent charter secondary school located in the Woodland Hills district of the San Fernando Valley region of the city of Los Angeles, California, United State ...

Varsity basketball team. He scored a school record of 47 points in a game against Granada Hills High School. Based on his high school academic and athletic record, he earned several athletic scholarships and played for Bethel College (Newton, Kansas), Fresno Pacific University (Fresno, California), and Pepperdine University (Los Angeles, California). At Pepperdine University, he played point guard from 1999 to 2001. In the 1999/2000 season, Buller was part of the team (as a redshirt) that beat the

Indiana Hoosiers The Indiana Hoosiers are the intercollegiate sports teams and players of Indiana University Bloomington, named after the demonym for people from the state of Indiana. The Hoosiers participate in NCAA Division I, Division I of the National Coll ...

, then coached by

Bobby Knight Robert Montgomery Knight (October 25, 1940 – November 1, 2023) was an American men's college basketball coach. Nicknamed "the General", he won 902 NCAA Division I men's basketball games, a record at the time of his retirement and sixth all- ...

, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Buller also appeared in an Adidas commercial as a basketball player. In July, 2001, Buller played on the United States basketball team that won an Olympic gold medal at the

World records

Buller set two

for the longest basketball shot made from the ground level. His first record was achieved on his birthday in 2011 at Campbell Hall Elementary school in Studio City, California. The shot was measured at . His second Guinness World record for longest basketball shot was set on September 9, 2014. The shot was measured at and took place in Oak Park, California. This shot broke

Harlem Globetrotter The Harlem Globetrotters is an American exhibition basketball team. They combine athleticism, theater, entertainment, and comedy in their style of play. Over the years, they have played more than 26,000 exhibition games in 124 countries and ter ...

Corey “Thunder” Law's record of .

Accomplishments and awards

* All-City High School Basketball Player in Los Angeles, California * Guinness World Records for longest ground level basketball shot (videos of both shots are in the external links below) * Olympic gold medal at the Maccabiah Games (July 2001) * Honored for Maccabiah U.S. Gold Medal at the Los Angeles Chapter of ORT (December 9, 2001), Beverly Hilton Hotel, Beverly Hills, California * Pepperdine University, Bachelor of Science & Bachelor of Arts (2002)

Personal life

Elan Buller has two brothers, Erick Joshua Buller (BA, UC, Santa Barbara) and Michael Joseph Buller (BA, CSU, Northridge), and is the son of Vern E. Buller and Ronit Buller of Woodland Hills, California. Elan Buller is a Camp Director, Coach, and Teacher at Campbell Hall School in Studio City, California. He lives in Calabasas, California and is married to Joy (Mason) Buller who is a CPA/Partner in her firm. They have two sons, Bradyn Asher Buller (born January 3, 2018) and Aaron Jordan Buller (born May 14, 2021).

References

External links

Guinness World RecordsVideo of Elan Buller's First Guinness World RecordVideo of Elan Buller's Second Guinness World Record
{{DEFAULTSORT:Buller, Elan Lee 1979 births Living people American men's basketball players El Camino Real High School alumni Maccabiah Games gold medalists for the United States Pepperdine University faculty Pepperdine Waves men's basketball players Maccabiah Games medalists in basketball Point guards 21st-century American Jews