Gelvis Andres Solano Paulino (born 1 June 1994) is a Dominican 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 for the Dewa United Banten of the

Indonesian Basketball League The Indonesia Basketball League (IBL; ) is the preeminent men's professional basketball league in Indonesia, founded by Indonesian Basketball Association (Perbasi) in 2003. From 2010 to 2015 it was known as the National Basketball League (NBL) ...

(IBL). He 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 Merrimack Warriors.

Early life

Solano is the son of Andrés Solano, a former member of the

Dominican Republic national baseball team The Dominican Republic national baseball team ( Spanish: ''Selección de béisbol de República Dominicana'') is the national baseball team of the Dominican Republic. The team has won the Baseball World Cup in 1948 and World Baseball Classic in 2 ...

. Like many Dominican kids, he started out playing baseball. At the age of 9, he switched to basketball.Gelvis Solano, el “dueño” de la pelota
El Liberal, 6 June 2019. Accessed 21 February 2020.

College career

He played four years at

Merrimack College Merrimack College is a Private university, private Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian university in North Andover, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1947 by the Order of St. Augustine with an initial goal to educate World War II veterans. It en ...

from 2012 to 2016 where he finished as all-time second place for points scored.

Professional career

After he finished College in the US, Solano went back to Dominican to play for

Reales de La Vega Reales de La Vega is a professional basketball team based in La Vega Province, Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, N ...

. The team reached the playoffs, but lost in the second round before the semifinals. Then, he played in the second division there for the Enriquillo Rebels and soon gained the nickname as ''Dominican Westbrook''. His debut in Argentina top league came with

Atlético Echagüe Atlético Echagüe is an Argentine professional basketball team located in Paraná, Entre Ríos Paraná () is the capital city of the Argentine province Entre Ríos, located on the eastern shore of the Paraná River, opposite the city of Sant ...

in 2016/17. His career continued with Hunan Yongsheng, of the

National Basketball League (China) The National Basketball League () is a professional basketball minor league in China, called the Chinese Basketball League (CBL) before 2006. It is commonly known as the NBL, and this name (spelled out in letters) is often used even in Chinese. ...

. His best match was against Hebei Xianglan Kylins, in which he converted 60 points. Solano recalls that he recorded many steals Later, he went on to Bergamo Basket 2014, of the Italian

Serie A2 Basket Serie A2, known for sponsorship reasons as Serie A2 Old Wild West, is a men's basketball list of basketball leagues, league in Italy. It constitutes the second-tier of the Italian basketball league system, Italian league pyramid, below the firs ...

before he returned to the Dominican Republic and in the summer of 2018 he became champion with

. After evaluating his options, he went on to play for

Ciclista Olímpico Club Ciclista Olímpico La Banda, also known as simply Ciclista Olímpico, is an Argentine sports club based in La Banda, Santiago del Estero. The club is mostly known for its basketball team, which currently plays in the Liga Nacional de Básque ...

in Argentina. Olympic came from an opaque performance in the Super 20 and decided to release Sebastián Vázquez, in favor of Solano. Olímpico closed the regular phase in eleventh position and went against

Obras Sanitarias Club Atlético Obras Sanitarias de la Nación (mostly known simply as Obras Sanitarias or Obras) is an Argentina, Argentine professional sports club that is located in the district of Núñez, Buenos Aires. Although originally conceived as a rugb ...

where Olímpico struggled but was able to close the series 3-2. After eliminating Obras, Olímpico focused on

Club La Unión Club La Unión (also known as La Unión de Formosa) is a sports club based on the city of Formosa, Argentina, Formosa, Argentina. The club is known for both its basketball and volleyball teams. Basketball Current roster Externa ...

, which Solano helped beat 3-0 in the series. Solano had a direct duel with Federico Marín. Gelvis commented on the matter: “I saw that he was celebrating too much in our house and that is disrespectful. I took it a little personal.” In January 2024, Solano joined the Dewa United Banten of the

(IBL). In December 2024, he returned to the Dewa United Banten for the 2025 IBL season.

National team

Solano has been a member of the

Dominican Republic national basketball team The Dominican Republic national basketball team () represents the Dominican Republic in men's international basketball competitions. In 2011 and 2012, John Calipari, the head coach of the University of Arkansas men's basketball team, served as ...

. Gelvis returned to wear the shirt of his country in the AmeriCup, which was played in Uruguay. At the 2019 FIBA World Cup in China, he was one of the cornerstones of the team that surprisingly beat

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and advanced to the second round instead of the heavily favored competitor.

References

External links

Profile
at RealGM.com
Profile
at 2019 Basketball World Cup {{DEFAULTSORT:Solano, Gelvis 1994 births Living people Ciclista Olímpico players Club Athletico Paulistano basketball players Dominican Republic expatriate basketball people in Argentina Dominican Republic expatriate basketball people in Brazil Dominican Republic expatriate basketball people in the United States Dominican Republic expatriate sportspeople in Hungary Dominican Republic expatriate sportspeople in Indonesia Dominican Republic men's basketball players Merrimack Warriors men's basketball players Point guards Basketball players from Santo Domingo Szolnoki Olaj KK players 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup players Basketball players at the 2023 Pan American Games Reales de La Vega players Dewa United Banten players Hunan Changsha Yongsheng players Atlético Echagüe players 21st-century Dominican Republic sportsmen