Andrew Sullivan (basketball)

Andrew Sullivan
Personal information
Born	12 February 1980 (age 44); Apollon Limassol
2010	Newcastle Eagles
2010–2011	Mersey Tigers
2011–2014	Leicester Riders
2014–2015	London Lions
2015–2016	Leicester Riders
As coach:
2017–2018	Great Britain national team (assistant)
Career highlights and awards
	2× British League MVP (2006, 2013); 3× BBL Trophy MVP (2006, 2011, 2016); BBL Cup MVP (2014);

Andrew Derek "Drew" Sullivan

Great Britain national team. He was a two-time MVP of the British Basketball League.^[2]

High school career

The only child of Eunice Sullivan, Andrew moved from his London home to the United States in 1996 where he attended St. Augustine Preparatory School, in Richland, New Jersey. In his prep career, he scored 1,368 points, averaging 19.8 PPG as a senior. Coached by Paul Rodio his team had a 24–6 record and he was named in the first team all-state as well as being voted as South Jersey Player of the Year 1999.^{[citation needed]}

College career

In 1999, Andrew enrolled in the School of Arts & Sciences at Villanova University, home of the Wildcats basketball team, from which he graduated in 2003. The athlete was Villanova's most versatile defender and could guard four positions.

Sullivan took to his first season with the Wildcats in 1999–2000, on his debut playing with three rebounds and tough defense in seven minutes against

Fairleigh Dickinson. He tied a career-high with seven points in 12 minutes in a 67–66 loss to Miami on 17 January 2000 and three days later grabbed five rebounds and scored five points in a 66–57 win at Providence. Overall, it was a successful rookie season for the Englishman, in which another highlight unfolded when he made several plays in an 86–69 win over Notre Dame

, ending the night with seven points and five rebounds in 14 minutes of activity. By the end of the season, Sullivan had played 29 games, averaging 2.31 PPG.

His second season saw his minutes fluctuate throughout the campaign, playing just 20 games and averaging a mere 1.65 PPG, although he did earn a career-high 26 minutes, playing with energy and strong defense in an 87–75 win over Towson University on 26 November 2000 he contributed four points and five rebounds. Returning from injury, Andrew also scored another four points in 23 minutes of activity in a 74–60 win over Connecticut on 10 February 2001.

The following season would prove to be much more successful than the previous when he established himself as Villanova's best perimeter defensive player in 2001–02.^{[citation needed]}He was the only Wildcat to start all 32 contests and connected on .529 of his field goal attempts, chalking up a 5.65 PPG average, or a combined total of 181 points throughout the season.

Sullivan started the season well, when he contributed six points and six rebounds in a 59–57 win over Dayton on 24 November 2001. His key steal on Dayton's last offensive possession gave the Wildcats a chance to win on a final trip down the floor and his 28 minutes established a new career high as did his point total. Three days later Andrew better his minutes record, logging a career-high 39 minutes in a 61–58 overtime loss against La Salle University.

Later that season Andrew came within a whisker of his first career double-double, with nine points and nine rebounds in a 71–59 loss at

UCLA. Sullivan's season finished in a 72–70 loss to Connecticut in Big East tournament

on 7 March 2002 where he produced nine rebounds and four points.

Professional career

After leaving

Chester Jets

, but he was also the game high scorer with 27 points and was named as the MVP of the Championship.

Following an incredible debut season in England, the future was looking bright for the British talent, and despite receiving several offers to play on the European continent, Andrew opted to stay with the Eagles for another season, resigning for

2005–06

, and it paid handsomely.

The

power forward

.

After capturing the League title, Newcastle then went on to win the Championship Play-offs to complete the "clean sweep" of trophies. Sullivan scored 19 points in the final, an 83–68 win against the

2006

.

With every title won in just two years in England, seemingly Sullivan's work there was done and a fresh challenge was sought after. Europe came calling again and this time, he jumped at the chance of playing with European

Andy Betts

.

After a season struggling with minutes and court time in Spain, and following the departure of his British teammates, Sullivan moved to Belgium to sign for

Great Britain coach Chris Finch

.

In September 2008 it was announced that Sullivan would once again represent the

EuroChallenge

.

In November 2009 Sullivan played for

Pizza Express Primetel Apollon in the first division of Cyprus

.

In January 2010 Sullivan moved back to the Newcastle Eagles and has helped win the BBL Cup and the League Title. In summer 2010 he signed for Mersey Tigers.

In October 2011 Sullivan quit Mersey Tigers following a dispute regarding pay.^[3] A week later, he signed with Leicester Riders on a week-to-week contract.^[4] and then on 1 December 2011 he signed to the riders for the rest of the season.^[5] Sullivan remained at Riders for three successful years and was part of the 2013 treble winning team, claiming the BBL Championship regular season and Play-off crown's as well as winning the BBL Cup.

In August 2014, after weeks of speculation, Sullivan was signed by his hometown team London Lions for the 2014–15 season.^[6] At the official unveiling, Sullivan claimed it was his intention to see out the remainder of his career at the Lions, although he subsequently returned to the Leicester Riders for the following season.^[7]

International career

England

Sullivan's successes have not just been restricted to his club teams, but continued with the England national team competing at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. An 80–58 victory against Nigeria in the third place game, in which Sullivan did not play, awarded England the bronze medal and the team returned home triumphant. In the four games that he did feature, Sullivan averaged 31 minutes-per-game, 5 rebounds-per-game and 18.25 points-per-game, with his tournament high coming against South Africa where he scored 23 points in a 95–53 win.