Michael Eric Mitchell (born April 4, 1967) is an American former 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 holds an Irish passport and played for the Irish national team in the early 2000s.

Early life

Mitchell was born in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, and attended Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, California. After graduating, he attended Fresno State University from 1985 to 1988 before transferring to Colorado State where he played one final season in 1989–90.

Professional career

Australia

Mitchell was the second overall pick in the 1990 CBA draft before moving to Australia. Mitchell played in the National Basketball League (NBL) between 1991 and 1997 with the Gold Coast Rollers (1991–94),

Brisbane Bullets The Brisbane Bullets are an Australian professional men's basketball team in the National Basketball League (NBL) based in Brisbane, Queensland. They competed from 1979 to 2008, and returned to the league in 2016. Brisbane were one of ten NBL ...

(1995–96) and

North Melbourne Giants The North Melbourne Giants, previously known as the Coburg Giants, were an Australian professional basketball team based in Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital ...

(1997). During the 1992 season, Mitchell suffered an horrific injury when he smashed his right arm in anger against a wire-reinforced glass panel of a locker-room door after Gold Coast narrowly lost away to the Illawarra Hawks. With his arm almost severed, Mitchell was found slumped on the floor in a pool of blood by Rollers teammate Ron Radliff. Doubt was initially cast over whether Mitchell would ever play again.

Europe

Between 1997 and 1999, Mitchell played in Germany for

Dragons Rhöndorf Dragons Rhoendorf is a professional basketball club based in Bad Honnef, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The team had its most successful years from 1995 to 1999 when it played in the Basketball Bundesliga and reached the semi-finals in 1999. Si ...

. After a seasons in France with

Besançon BCD Besançon Basket Comté Doubs is a professional basketball club based in Besançon, France, that plays in the fourth tier ( NM2) of Ligue Nationale de Basketball. Their home arena is the Palais des sports Ghani-Yalouz. History On 1 September 20 ...

, he returned to Germany in 2000 and played the next four seasons for

Gießen 46ers The GIESSEN 46ers (formerly GIESSEN 46ers) is a professional basketball club based in Gießen, Germany, that plays in the ProA. Their home arena is Sporthalle Gießen-Ost, with a capacity of 4,003 people. History The biggest achievements in clu ...

. He was unable to play in the 2004–05 season due to injury and subsequently retired in 2005.

National team career

Mitchell debuted for the Ireland national basketball team in 2001, playing in FIBA EuroBasket 2003 qualification.

Coaching career

Mitchell began his coaching career in 2005, first as assistant coach at the

University of California, Riverside The University of California, Riverside (UCR or UC Riverside) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Riverside, California, United States. It is one of the ten campuses of the University of Cali ...

for two years, and then as head coach for the Ramona High School boys' basketball team. In 2008, he joined the

Chicago Sky The Chicago Sky are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Sky compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The franchise was founded prior to the 2006 season. Th ...

of the WNBA as an assistant coach.

Personal life

Mitchell met his now ex-wife in Australia in the 1990s. She was also American but had Irish heritage as her grandparents were born in Ireland. Mitchell gained an

Irish passport An Irish passport () is the passport issued to Irish nationality law, citizens of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. An Irish passport enables the bearer to travel internationally and serves as evidence of Irish nationality and citizenship of the Eu ...

through marriage. Mitchell has two children,

Donovan Donovan Phillips Leitch (born 10 May 1946), known mononymously as Donovan, is a Scottish musician, songwriter and record producer. He emerged from the British folk scene in early 1965 and subsequently scored multiple international hit singles ...

and Myca. Donovan, known as D. J., is also a professional basketball player.

References

External links

Bundesliga profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, Mike 1967 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Australia American expatriate basketball people in France American expatriate basketball people in Germany American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players American women's basketball coaches Basketball coaches from California Basketball players from Los Angeles Besançon BCD players Brisbane Bullets players Chicago Sky coaches Colorado State Rams men's basketball players Forwards (basketball) Fresno State Bulldogs men's basketball players Giessen 46ers players Gold Coast Rollers players High school basketball coaches in the United States Irish men's basketball players North Melbourne Giants players UC Riverside Highlanders men's basketball coaches Mater Dei High School (Santa Ana, California) alumni 20th-century American sportsmen 20th-century Irish sportsmen