Acie Earl

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Acie Boyd Earl (born June 23, 1970 in Peoria, Illinois) is an American former professional basketball player in the NBA.

Earl, a 6'10", 240 lb (110 kg) center, is an alumnus of The University of Iowa and was selected 19th overall in the 1993 NBA Draft by the Boston Celtics.

[edit] High School

Earl was a star basketball player from Moline High School playing varsity-level basketball for four seasons. Earl led the Maroons to a 23-4 record in 1988, along with future NFL All-Pro Brad Hopkins. Earl is also currently the number 7th leading all-time scorer in Moline basketball history.

[edit] College

Acie was a key recruit for the Hawkeyes for Dr. Tom Davis, and played 22 games in his first-year season. He averaged 6.0 points per game, and had 50 blocked shots.

In his second season, Acie became a key force in the Big Ten, averaging 16.3 points per game, 6.7 rebounds per game, and 106 total blocked shots. Iowa made it to the 1991 NCAA Tournament where they were defeated by the Duke Blue Devils in the second round of the tournament. Duke went on to win the NCAA Basketball title that year.

In his third season, Acie continued to be a force, improving his totals to 19.5 points per game, 7.8 rebounds per game, and 121 blocked shots. Once again the Hawkeyes made it to the 1992 NCAA Tournament only to face Duke once again in the second round. Iowa was defeated 75-62, however Acie Earl had an outstanding defensive performance, with 8 blocked shots, one shy of the all-time NCAA Tournament record held by David Robinson. Duke went on to win the tournament again.

In his final season, Acie finished strong, with 16.9 points per game, 8.9 rebounds per game, and 81 blocked shots. Iowa made it to the 1993 NCAA Tournament that year, and made it to the second round of the tournament, losing to Wake Forest.

Acie was the 1992 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, and upon graduation held the Iowa career record with 358 blocked shots, and was second in total points scored with 1779 (first is Roy Marble with 2116.)^[1]

Earl received his undergraduate degree from The University of Iowa in the fall of 1992 with a degree in Leisure Studies.

[edit] Professional

Acie was the first round draft pick of the Boston Celtics in the 1993 NBA Draft, in the same draft as Chris Webber, Jamal Mashburn, and Anfernee Hardaway. Acie played in 74 games for the Celtics in his rookie season, averaging 5.5 points per game and 3.3 rebounds per game. Acie's statistics dropped in his second season, playing in only 30 games. He was traded to the Toronto Raptors before the 1995-96 season, and his statistics improved - scoring 7.5 points per game, and averaging 3.1 rebounds per game. Late in this season, Acie had his career best game. On April 12, 1996 against the team that drafted him - the Celtics - Earl posted a double-double, with 40 points and 12 rebounds, albeit in a 136-108 loss.^[2] He was later traded to the Milwaukee Bucks in his final season in the NBA.

Earl also played 21 games for the Sydney Kings in the 1998-99 Australian National Basketball League season.^[3]

He is the former head coach of the Tijuana Dragons of the American Basketball Association (ABA) team based in Tijuana, Mexico.

Earl also played for a basketball team called Dukagjini, in Kosovo.He helped the team to began the state champions that year.

Earl is currently an assistant coach at Solon High School in Solon, IA

[edit] Notes

1. ^ 1,000 Point Club :: Iowa Men's Basketball 1,000 Point Club
2. ^ http://www.basketball-reference.com/games/boxscore.cgi?date=1996-04-12&tm1=TOR&tm2=BOS
3. ^ http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/01/09/1041990049201.html Retrieved October 2, 2006

[edit] External links

• NCAA & NBA stats @ basketball-reference.com