Von Wafer
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Vakeaton Quamar Wafer (born on July 21, 1985 in Homer, Louisiana), nicknamed Von, is an American professional basketball player, most recently in the NBA for the Los Angeles Clippers. He was chosen as the 39th overall selection (ninth pick of the second round) in the 2005 NBA Draft.
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[edit] High school
Wafer attended Pineview High School his freshman, sophomore and junior years of high school. He averaged 32 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists during his junior season. Up to this point, Wafer was a virtual unknown on the national recruiting scene. Tim Loring, the coach of the Arkansas Wings AAU team, invited Wafer to play for them the summer before his senior year. This allowed Wafer to display his skills on a wider stage, and by the end of the summer, he was considered to be one of the top 10 seniors on many recruiting lists. He was briefly at RL Paschal High School and Laurinburg Institute his senior year before deciding to attend and play at Heritage Christian Academy in Cleveland, Texas, where he averaged 26 points, 8 rebounds, 4 steals, and 4 blocks per game.
Wafer is only the seventh McDonald's High School All-American to play at Florida State University. During the game, he scored 29 points on 13 of 20 shooting from the field and had 8 rebounds. He also finished second to LeBron James in the McDonald's All-American slam-dunk contest.
[edit] College
During his freshman year at Florida State University in the 2003-04 season, Wafer averaged 7.9 points in 17.5 minutes a game. He ranked third among all ACC freshmen with 43 three-point field goals made and scored in double figures 12 times. As a sophomore during the 2004-05 season, he led the team in scoring (12.5 ppg) and three-point field goals made (65). He made more than one three-point field goal in 14 games and surpassed the 20-point mark on six occasions. Despite some success that year, he was suspended for two games early in the season and benched frequently later. The Tallahassee Democrat reported that his family explained the suspensions were because of missed classes and study sessions.[1]
[edit] Professional career
Wafer declared himself as an early entry candidate for the 2005 NBA Draft after his sophomore year at FSU despite many draft experts predicting he would not be drafted. There were several hurdles he had to overcome to become a viable option for an NBA team to select him. Wafer was not invited to the annual Chicago pre-draft camp, which provides players who are not viewed as first round prospects a chance to display their abilities in front of NBA team personnel. During a workout with the Phoenix Suns, Wafer reportedly was frustrated by the physical play from Jan Jagla, and responded by laying an intentional elbow to Jagla's nose, walked off the court, and ended the workout at that point.[2][3] Los Angeles Lakers scout Irving Thomas, who played two seasons at FSU, saw three Seminoles games during the 2004-05 season, helped arrange a workout for Von with the Lakers.[1] Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak saw enough of Wafer's ability that they used the second of their two second round picks to select Wafer in the draft.
Wafer was placed on waivers by the Los Angeles Lakers on October 26, 2006. He played in one preseason game due a bruised left heel.[4] Wafer then played for the Colorado 14ers of the NBA Development League during 2006-07, and was named Player of the Month in January 2007.[5] He was signed to a 10-day contract by the Los Angeles Clippers on February 21.[6] He played one game without scoring before being waived a week later.[7]
[edit] Personal
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Wafer is the son of Doris Zeigler and Ray P. Johnson and spent much of his time growing up in Newport News, Virginia, with his mother and spent his summers in Homer, Louisiana, with his father.
[edit] Notes
- ^ http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/tallahassee/sports/11993658.htm
- ^ http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/draft/d05/tracker/player?playerId=18821
- ^ http://www.hoopshype.com/articles/predraft_rodecker.htm
- ^ http://www.nba.com/lakers/news/0607_waivers.html
- ^ Colorado Guard Von Wafer D-League Player of Month, Feb. 2, 2007
- ^ Clippers sign Von Wafer
- ^ Clippers Sign Will Conroy to 10-Day Contract
[edit] External links
| 2005 NBA Draft | ||
|---|---|---|
| First Round Andrew Bogut | Marvin Williams | Deron Williams | Chris Paul | Raymond Felton | Martell Webster | Charlie Villanueva | Channing Frye | Ike Diogu | Andrew Bynum | Fran Vázquez | Yaroslav Korolev | Sean May | Rashad McCants | Antoine Wright | Joey Graham | Danny Granger | Gerald Green | Hakim Warrick | Julius Hodge | Nate Robinson | Jarrett Jack | Francisco García | Luther Head | Johan Petro | Jason Maxiell | Linas Kleiza | Ian Mahinmi | Wayne Simien | David Lee |
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| Second Round Salim Stoudamire | Daniel Ewing | Brandon Bass | C.J. Miles | Ricky Sánchez | Ersan İlyasova | Ronny Turiaf | Travis Diener | Von Wafer | Monta Ellis | Roko Ukić | Chris Taft | Mile Ilić | Martynas Andriuškevičius | Louis Williams | Erazem Lorbek | Bracey Wright | Mickaël Gelabale | Andray Blatche | Ryan Gomes | Robert Whaley | Axel Hervelle | Orien Greene | Dijon Thompson | Lawrence Roberts | Amir Johnson | Marcin Gortat | Uroš Slokar | Cenk Akyol | Alex Acker |
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| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Wafer, Von |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Wafer, Vakeaton Quamar (birth name) |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Professional basketball player |
| DATE OF BIRTH | July 21, [1985] |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Homer, Louisiana |
| DATE OF DEATH | |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
Categories: Articles lacking sources from February 2007 | All articles lacking sources | 1985 births | Living people | People from Louisiana | American basketball players | African American basketball players | McDonald's High School All-Americans | Florida State Seminoles men's basketball players | Los Angeles Lakers players | Los Angeles Clippers players
