Serge Zwikker (born April 28, 1973) is a Dutch former

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.

High School career

Zwikker, the son of a

police officer A police officer (also called policeman or policewoman, cop, officer or constable) is a Warrant (law), warranted law employee of a police, police force. In most countries, ''police officer'' is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. ...

and a mother who worked in the flower business, first came to the United States in 1988, playing for Don Kent at Monsignor Clancy Memorial High School in

Queens, New York Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

. He then transferred to Flint Hill Preparatory School, and then finished his prep career at Harker Prep in

Potomac, Maryland Potomac () is an Unincorporated area#United States, unincorporated community and census-designated place in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it had a population of 47,018. It is named a ...

. Zwikker was a 1992

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College career

After redshirting one year, he played four years of college basketball for the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...

under coach

Dean Smith Dean Edwards Smith (February 28, 1931 – February 7, 2015) was an American men's college basketball Coach (basketball), head coach. Called a "coaching legend" by the Basketball Hall of Fame, he coached for 36 years at the University of North C ...

. He saw limited playing time his first two years, usually coming off the bench for

Rasheed Wallace Rasheed Abdul Wallace (born September 17, 1974) is an American basketball coach and former professional player. A native of Philadelphia, Wallace played college basketball for the North Carolina Tar Heels before declaring for the draft in 1995. ...

. Zwikker's college career breakthrough came March 17, 1995 against

Murray State University Murray State University (MSU) is a public university in Murray, Kentucky, in the Southern United States. In addition to the main campus in Calloway County in southwestern Kentucky, Murray State operates extended campuses offering upper-level an ...

. Plagued by an ankle injury, Wallace scored only six points before Smith went to the uninjured Zwikker in relief. Zwikker went on to score 19 points as he and

Jerry Stackhouse Jerry Darnell Stackhouse (born November 5, 1974) is an American basketball coach and former professional player who is an assistant coach for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association. Stackhouse played college basketball f ...

led the Tar Heels to an 80–70 win. Zwikker became the Tar Heels' starting center following Wallace's departure in the

1995 NBA draft The 1995 NBA draft took place on June 28, 1995, at SkyDome in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It marked the first NBA draft to be held outside the United States and was the first draft for the two Canadian expansion teams that were added for 1995–96 ...

. As a senior, he averaged 11.5 points and 8.1 rebounds per game, while serving as a team captain with

Shammond Williams Shammond Omar Williams (born April 5, 1975) is an American-born naturalized Georgian former professional basketball player. Standing at , he played at both point guard and shooting guard positions. During his career he played in the NBA and in E ...

Professional career

Houston Rockets (1997–1998)

Zwikker was selected by the

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA) ...

with the first pick of the second round (29th overall) in the

1997 NBA draft The 1997 NBA draft took place on June 25, 1997, at Charlotte Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Vancouver Grizzlies had the highest probability to win the NBA draft lottery, but since they were an expansion team along with the Toronto R ...

, and spent one season on the Rockets' bench. However, he did not record any playing time. Due to the 1998 NBA lockout, he signed a three-year contract with

TAU Cerámica Club Deportivo Saski-Baskonia, S.A.D commonly known as Saski Baskonia () and also simply as Baskonia, is a professional basketball team based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain. The team plays in the Liga ACB and the EuroLeague. History 1959–1969 ...

Vitoria-Gasteiz Vitoria-Gasteiz (; ; also historically spelled Vittoria in English) is the seat of government and the capital city of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country and of the provinces of Spain, province of Álava in northern Spain. I ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. On January 22, 1999, the Rockets renounced the rights to Zwikker.

Return to Europe (1998–2000)

Zwikker played

Euroleague The EuroLeague is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier and the most prestigious men's basketball league in Europe. The league consists of 20 teams, of which 16 are given lon ...

basketball in 1998–99, first playing for

, and then for

Gorizia Gorizia (; ; , ; ; ) is a town and (municipality) in northeastern Italy, in the autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. It is located at the foot of the Julian Alps, bordering Slovenia. It is the capital of the Province of Gorizia, Region ...

in Italy. After only ten games with

, his season ended due to a back injury. At the beginning of the 2000–01 season, he played three games for Conesco Den Helder in his native Netherlands.

National team

Zwikker played in the 1990 European Championship for Junior Men and later also represented the Dutch men's national team.

Personal life

After his basketball career ended, Zwikker, who had earned a degree in

communication Communication is commonly defined as the transmission of information. Its precise definition is disputed and there are disagreements about whether Intention, unintentional or failed transmissions are included and whether communication not onl ...

, started a career in IT in the United States.

Notes

External links

Zwikker's player page on basketball-reference.com
1973 births Living people American men's basketball players CB Breogán players Centers (basketball) Den Helder Kings players Dutch expatriate basketball people in Spain Dutch expatriate basketball people in the United States Dutch men's basketball players Houston Rockets draft picks Liga ACB players McDonald's High School All-Americans North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Saski Baskonia players Sportspeople from Maassluis 20th-century American sportsmen {{Netherlands-basketball-bio-stub