Richard Lugo (born May 7, 1973, in

Calabozo Calabozo, officially Villa de Todos los Santos de Calabozo, is a city in Venezuela located in Guárico state, capital of the Francisco de Miranda Municipality and former capital of the state. It has a population of 168,605, according to the Nat ...

Guárico Guárico State (, ) is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. The state capital is San Juan de Los Morros and the largest city is Calabozo, other important city centers include Valle de la Pascua and Zaraza. Guárico State covers a total surface ...

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

) is a Venezuelan 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 currently signed with the Venezuelan team

Guaiqueríes de Margarita Guaiqueríes de Margarita is a professional basketball team based in La Asunción, Venezuela. The team currently plays in Venezuela's Liga Profesional de Baloncesto. The team has won the Venezuelan championships nine times. Current roster LPB t ...

Early life and college career

Lugo was born on May 7, 1973, in Calabozo, Guárico, Venezuela. He attended

St. Francis College St. Francis College (St. Francis of Brooklyn or SFC) is a private Franciscan college in Downtown Brooklyn, New York City. It was founded in 1859 by the Franciscan Brothers of Brooklyn as the St. Francis Academy and was the first private school ...

in New York, where he played one season of

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

Division I college basketball. As a freshman starting center for the Terriers, he averaged 9.5 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 4.5 blocks per game.

Professional career

After his college career, Lugo turned professional, signing with

Panteras de Miranda Panteras de Miranda (transl. ''Miranda Panthers'') is a Venezuelan 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, co ...

in Venezuela in 1995. Throughout his 20-year career, he has played for various teams across Latin America, Europe, and China. His career highlights include: * Playing in Venezuela for teams like

Trotamundos de Carabobo Trotamundos B.B.C. (), also known as Trotamundos de Carabobo, is a professional basketball team based in Valencia, located in the Venezuelan Carabobo State. The team currently plays in the Venezuelan SuperLiga. The team has won the Venezuelan cham ...

Bucaneros de La Guaira The Piratas de La Guaira are a professional basketball team based in Maiquetía, Vargas, Venezuela. Founded in 2008 in San Cristóbal, Táchira as the basketball section of football club Deportivo Táchira, they rellocated to Vargas state in 2010 a ...

, and

. * Playing in Puerto Rico for

Vaqueros de Bayamón The ''vaquero'' (; , ) is a horse-mounted livestock herder of a tradition that has its roots in the Iberian Peninsula and extensively developed in what what is today Mexico (then New Spain) and Spanish Florida from a method brought to the Americ ...

, Cangrejeros de Santurce,

Capitanes de Arecibo The Capitanes de Arecibo are a Puerto Rican professional basketball team based in Arecibo that competes in the Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN) league. In 2010, the team also had the distinction to play in the Premier Basketball League (PBL) ...

, and Atleticos de San German. He was a champion with Capitanes de Arecibo in 2005 and participated with Atleticos de San German in 2008. * Brief stints in China with

Jiangsu Dragons Jiangsu Dragons Kentier (), also known as Jiangsu Dragons or Jiangsu Kentier, are a Chinese professional basketball team in the Southern Division of the Chinese Basketball Association, based in Nanjing, Jiangsu. History In the 2004–05 seaso ...

, Spain with Porriño Baloncesto, and Poland with

Śląsk Wrocław Wrocławski Klub Sportowy Śląsk Wrocław Spółka Akcyjna, commonly known as WKS Śląsk Wrocław (), is a Polish professional Association football, football club based in Wrocław that plays in , the second level of the Polish football leagu ...

. * Playing in Mexico with

Halcones UV Córdoba The National Professional Basketball League ( or LNBP), officially known as the Liga Caliente LNBP for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball league in Mexico. The league was founded in 2000 with 10 teams. Notable basketball p ...

and Colombia with Los Canoneros. Lugo has made a name for himself as a dominant defensive player, being named the Venezuelan Player of the Year in 1998. He earned a spot on the Venezuelan All-Defensive Team four times (2000, 2005–2007) and was a two-time Puerto Rican League Defensive Player of the Year (2003–2004). In 2016, Lugo became the all-time leading rebounder in the Professional Basketball League of Venezuela (LPB), surpassing 6,000 career rebounds.

National team career

Lugo has been a regular member of the

Venezuela national basketball team The Venezuela national basketball team is organized and run by the Venezuelan Basketball Federation (FVB). () They won the 2015 FIBA AmeriCup. Venezuela qualified for two Summer Olympiads: Basketball at the 1992 Summer Olympics – Men's tourna ...

since 1998. He participated in the

2002 FIBA World Championship The 2002 FIBA World Championship was the 14th edition of the FIBA Basketball World Cup, FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's national teams. The tournament was held by the FIBA, International Basketb ...

and

2006 FIBA World Championship The 2006 FIBA World Championship was the 15th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's national teams. The tournament was hosted by Japan and held from 19 August to 3 September 2006. It was co-organised b ...

, leading the team in rebounds at both tournaments.Profile
at FIBA.com He also helped the team win bronze medals at the

2005 FIBA Americas Championship The 2005 FIBA Americas Championship, later known as the FIBA AmeriCup (also known as The Tournament of the Americas), was hosted by the Dominican Republic, from August 24, to September 4, 2005. The games were played in Santo Domingo. This FIBA Amer ...

and the

South American Basketball Championship The South American Basketball Championship, or FIBA South American Championship, was the main FIBA tournament for men's national teams from South America's region of FIBA Americas. The tournament was first played in 1930. The tournament often ...

in 2001 and 2004.

Honors and awards

* Venezuelan Player of the Year (1998) * Venezuelan All-Defensive Team (2000, 2005–2007) * Puerto Rican League Defensive Player of the Year (2003, 2004) * FIBA Americas Championship Bronze Medal (2005) * South American Championship Bronze Medal (2001, 2004)

References

External links

* 1973 births Living people Cangrejeros de Santurce basketball players Centers (basketball) Guaiqueríes de Margarita players Halcones UV Córdoba players Panteras de Miranda players People from Calabozo Sportspeople from Guárico Śląsk Wrocław basketball players St. Francis Brooklyn Terriers men's basketball players Trotamundos de Carabobo players Venezuelan expatriate basketball people in China Venezuelan expatriate basketball people in Colombia Venezuelan expatriate basketball people in Mexico Venezuelan expatriate basketball people in Poland Venezuelan expatriate basketball people in Puerto Rico Venezuelan expatriate basketball people in Spain Venezuelan men's basketball players 2006 FIBA World Championship players 2002 FIBA World Championship players Vaqueros de Bayamón basketball players Jiangsu Dragons players {{Venezuela-basketball-bio-stub