Alfredo William "Tito" Horford (born January 19, 1966) is a Dominican retired professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player who was selected by the

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 1968 ...

in the second round (39th overall) of the

1988 NBA draft The 1988 NBA draft took place on June 28, 1988, in New York City, New York. The length was reduced from seven rounds in the previous year to three rounds. This was also the first draft for the Charlotte Hornets and Miami Heat, prior to their ...

. Horford played three years in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball sports league, league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues i ...

(NBA), two with the Bucks from 1988–1990, and a short stint with the

Washington Bullets The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays ...

during the 1993–94 season. He played in Spain in 1992. He was listed on the Bucks' summer 1992 roster.

Early years

Tito Horford was born in

La Romana, Dominican Republic La Romana is a municipality and capital of the southeastern province of La Romana, opposite Catalina Island. It is one of the 10 largest cities in the Dominican Republic with a population estimated in 2010 at 130,426 within the city limits (me ...

. His father was a Bahamian immigrant. He attended Marian Christian High School (closed in 1989) in

Houston Houston (; ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in Texas, the Southern United States#Major cities, most populous city in the Southern United States, the List of United States cities by population, fourth-most pop ...

which originally recruited him from the Dominican Republic. After high school, Horford enrolled at the

University of Houston The University of Houston (UH) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the List of universities in Texas by enrollment, university in Texas ...

, when he was ruled ineligible. He then went to

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

before being kicked off the team. He then played at

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, ...

Career

Drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks with the 39th pick of the 1988 NBA draft, Tito Horford became the first Dominican-born player to play in the NBA. He spent the 1988–89 and ’89–90 seasons with the Milwaukee Bucks and also had a three-game stint with the Washington Bullets. Horford then travelled the world to play basketball in France and Italy while also playing in the Dominican semi-pro leagues, as well as for the national team.

Career statistics

Regular season

, - , align="left" , 1988–89 , align="left" ,

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...

, 25 , , 0 , , 4.5 , , .326 , , .000 , , .632 , , 0.9 , , 0.1 , , 0.0 , , 0.3 , , 1.7 , - , align="left" , 1989–90 , align="left" ,

, 35 , , 0 , , 6.7 , , .290 , , .000 , , .625 , , 1.7 , , 0.1 , , 0.1 , , 0.5 , , 1.5 , - , align="left" , 1993–94 , align="left" , Washington , 3 , , 0 , , 9.3 , , .000 , , .000 , , .000 , , 1.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.3 , , 1.0 , , 0.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 63 , , 0 , , 6.0 , , .300 , , .000 , , .628 , , 1.3 , , 0.1 , , 0.1 , , 0.4 , , 1.5

Playoffs

, - , align="left" , 1989–90 , align="left" ,

, 2 , , 0 , , 1.0 , , 1.000 , , .000 , , .000 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 1.0

Personal life

After retiring from basketball, he settled in

Lansing, Michigan Lansing () is the capital of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is mostly in Ingham County, although portions of the city extend west into Eaton County and north into Clinton County. The 2020 census placed the city's population at 112,644, maki ...

. His son, Al Horford, went to the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

and played a prominent role in the Gators team that won the

national championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the best team, indi ...

in 2006 and

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto ...

. He was selected 3rd overall by the

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays its home games at ...

in the 2007 NBA draft, and went on to be a five-time All-Star during his career. His other son, Jon Horford, played as a forward for the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

basketball team. He then transferred to Florida after his junior season. His brother, Kelly Horford, played at

Florida Atlantic University Florida Atlantic University (Florida Atlantic or FAU) is a public research university with its main campus in Boca Raton, Florida, and satellite campuses in Dania Beach, Davie, Fort Lauderdale, Jupiter, and Fort Pierce. FAU belongs to the 1 ...

from 1992 to 1996.

References

External links

Tito Horford Statistics
1966 births Living people Centers (basketball) Dominican Republic people of Bahamian descent Esporte Clube Sírio basketball players McDonald's High School All-Americans Miami Hurricanes men's basketball players Milwaukee Bucks draft picks Milwaukee Bucks players National Basketball Association players from the Dominican Republic Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) People from La Romana, Dominican Republic Washington Bullets players {{Caribbean-basketball-bio-stub