Mauricio "El Pica” Aguiar (born February 3, 1983, in

Montevideo Montevideo (, ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2023 census, the city proper has a population of 1,302,954 (about 37.2% of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

) is a Uruguayan 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 is a longtime member of the

Uruguay national basketball team Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

and is currently playing professionally with Hebraica y Macabi of the Uruguayan

Liga Uruguaya de Basketball Liga (Spanish and Portuguese: ''League'') or LIGA may refer to: Sports Basketball * Liga ACB, men's professional basketball league in Spain * Liga Femenina de Baloncesto, women's professional basketball league in Spain Football Latin Amer ...

Professional career

Aguiar began his career for the Uruguay basketball league in 2000. He spent his first three years (2000–03) playing with Uruguayan team Cordon Atletico. After three solid seasons with the team, Aguiar declared for the

2003 NBA draft The 2003 NBA draft was held on June 26, 2003, at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. The NBA announced that 41 college and high school players and a record 31 international players had filed as early-entry candidates ...

. However, he went undrafted. Following this, Aguiar moved to Italy to continue his career with Lauretana Biella of the Italian League. He saw little action off the bench in two seasons with the team, averaging only 4.0 points and 0.8 rebounds per game his first season and 5.3 points and 0.9 rebounds per game his second season. Since 2006, Aguiar has bounced between teams in

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

and teams in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. In his most recent season, 2008–09, he began the year with Club Biguá in Uruguay, averaging 8.8 points and 3 rebounds per game for the club in the 2008-09 Americas League while playing alongside fellow

members Leandro Garcia Morales and Martin Osimani. In April, he was signed by Italian team Vanoli Soresina for the last 16 games of the team's season. Aguiar quickly jumped into the team's rotation, averaging 9.2 points and 21.3 minutes per game for the season. Following the season, the team extended his contract for the 2009-10 season.

National team career

Aguiar is a long-time member of the

Uruguayan national basketball team The Uruguay national basketball team (Spanish: ''Selección de baloncesto de Uruguay'') represents Uruguay in men's international basketball competitions and it is governed by Federación Uruguaya de basketball. The team has made seven appeara ...

. He has been selected for the Uruguayans for the last four continental championships, the

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

, and

FIBA Americas Championship 2009 The 2009 FIBA Americas Championship, later known as the FIBA AmeriCup, was the continental championship held by FIBA Americas, for North, Central and South America and the Caribbean. This FIBA AmeriCup championship served as a qualifying tourname ...

.FIBA profile
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References

External links

Latinbasket.com ProfileItalian League Profile

RealGM profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aguiar, Mauricio 1983 births Living people Basketball players at the 2003 Pan American Games Basketball players at the 2007 Pan American Games Ciclista Olímpico players Club Biguá de Villa Biarritz basketball players Ferro Carril Oeste basketball players Obras Sanitarias basketball players Pallacanestro Biella players Pan American Games bronze medalists for Uruguay Regatas Corrientes basketball players Sport Club Corinthians Paulista basketball players Basketball players from Montevideo Uruguayan expatriate basketball people in Brazil Uruguayan expatriate basketball people in Italy Uruguayan men's basketball players Vanoli Cremona players Pan American Games bronze medalists in basketball Forwards (basketball) Medalists at the 2007 Pan American Games 20th-century Uruguayan sportsmen Hebraica Macabi players 21st-century Uruguayan sportsmen