Udonis Haslem Biography Udonis Haslem bio PERSONAL Full name is Udonis Johneal Haslem…nickname is “U.D.”, the first two letters of his name…has a son Kedonis (7)…has two brothers and three sisters…lists his late brother, Samuel Wooten, who died of cancer at the age of 36 in the summer of 1999, as the person that has made a difference in his life and the person that he most admired…it was Samuel who always took him to the court and had him play with older players…was a leisure service management major at UF…he chose his major because it dealt with planning recreation activities and running boys and girls clubs in your community…wants to invest in different companies when his playing career is over and give back to his community…visited a Red Cross shelter in Arcadia, FL on the west coast of Florida in August of 2004 to lift the spirits and assist those who suffered hardships due to Hurricane Charley and to thank the American Red Cross volunteers…likes to workout and play video games with his son in his spare time…likes to read when he is alone…enjoys football and his favorite teams are the Miami Dolphins and Miami Hurricanes…lists “Bad Boys”, “Life”, “Scarface” and “Glory” as his favorite movies…enjoys hip-hop music and his favorite artists include Jay-Z and the Hot Boyz…his favorite type of food is seafood and lists Red Lobster as his favorite restaurant…says Indianapolis is the best place he has visited because it was the site of the NCAA Final Four during his junior year…lists the Bahamas as his dream vacation spot…broke a backboard dunking in ninth grade…played football until the 10 th grade before a knee injury forced him to the sidelines…had a pet snake “Tango” while at UF…on game days he likes to take a shower after a good nap, listen to music and then pray…wears a size 18 shoe. COLLEGE Was a four-year starter at the University of Florida and left as the all-time winningest player in Florida basketball history (97 wins)…did not miss a game in his career and started in his final 99 games…is the first player in school history to play on four straight NCAA Tournament teams and to be named All-SEC by the league coaches…was the first Gator to be named to an Associated Press All-America team…as both a junior and senior, he was a First–Team All-SEC selection by both the SEC coaches and the Associated Press and was a Third Team All-SEC selection by both the SEC coaches and the Associated Press in both his freshman and sophomore seasons…finished his career in the top 10 in 11 different statistical categories for the Gators…was tied for first in games played (130) and ranked in the top 10 in starts (2 nd , 125), free throws attempted (2 nd , 773), personal fouls (2 nd , 409), scoring (3 rd , 1,781 points), free throws made (3 rd , 515), field goal percentage (4 th , .584), dunks (4 th , 101), blocked shots (5 th , 120), blocks per game (6 th , 0.92 bpg) and double-doubles (7 th , 25)…led the Gators in scoring 30 times, in rebounds on 44 occasions and in assists five times…scored in double figures 99 times, with 26 games of at least 20 points…grabbed double-figure rebounds in 28 games…drew 57 charges…averaged 13.1 points, 5.0 rebounds and shot 60.2 percent (56-93) from the floor in 12 NCAA Tournament games…was one of only two players in school history to amass 1,700 points and 800 rebounds…as a senior, was an Associated Press Honorable Mention All-American and was a finalist for the Naismith Player of the Year Award, the Wooden All-American Team and the inaugural Senior CLASS Award (given annually to the top male and female college senior)…was one of three finalists for ESPN The Magazine Center of the Year…was a team captain and led the Gators in scoring (16.0 ppg), rebounding (8.3 rpg), field goal percentage (.562), double-doubles (11), free-throws made (177), free throws attempted (255), blocked shots (39) and dunks (31)…led the SEC in field goal percentage and ranked ranked 26 th nationally…his 39 blocked shots were the most by a Gator senior in school history…tied a career high and set a IKON Coaches vs. Cancer Classic single-game record with 16 rebounds vs. Temple on Nov. 8…his 16 rebounds were the best opening night performance by a Gator in 20 years and fourth best on opening night overall…also grabbed 16 rebounds against LSU on Jan. 16…was named SEC Co-Player of the Week for the week of Dec. 10-16…tied an SEC Tournament record by shooting 7-7 from the floor against Auburn…as a junior in 2000-01 he was the only Gator to start all 31 games and averaged 16.8 points and 7.5 rebounds…was an Associated Press Third Team All-American, a finalist for the Wooden All-American Team and was voted by his peers as the SEC’s strongest player in Sports Illustrated’s college hoops preview…led the SEC and finished 11 th nationally in field goal percentage (.597)…also ranked second in the SEC in defensive rebounds (168, 5.4 rpg) and 10 th in free throw percentage (.709)…led the Gators in scoring (522 points), blocks (31, 1.00 bpg) and free throws made (146) and attempted (206)…scored in double figures in 27 of 31 games, including a stretch of 19 consecutive games…topped UF in scoring 14 times and in rebounding 12 times…had nine double-doubles…scored a career-high 28 points against Alabama on Feb. 24…grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds at Mississippi State on Jan. 10…averaged 20 points in the NCAA Tournament, fifth best among all players in the tournament…as a sophomore, he averaged 11.8 points and 5.1 rebounds in a career-high 37 games…was named to the NCAA All Final Four Team and to the East Regional All-Tournament Team…set a UF NCAA Tournament record and earned Chevrolet Player of the Game honors with 27 points in the NCAA Championship game against Michigan State…his 10-12 shooting performance (.833) from the field was second only to Bill Walton’s 21-22 (.955) in a championship game…his 85 points scored in the 2000 NCAA Tournament was the third highest total all among players in the tournament…as a freshman, he averaged 10.5 points and 5.0 rebounds while shooting a career-high 60.3 percent (117-194) from the floor and became the first freshman center in school history to be named All-SEC earning Third Team honors by both the SEC coaches and the Associated Press. Background Started 24 of the 75 games in which he appeared and averaged 7.3 points (.459 FG%, .765 FT%), 6.3 rebounds, 0.7 assists and 23.9 minutes…missed a total of seven games due to injury while on the injured list from Dec. 29-Jan. 10 with a right knee sprain, strained MCL…was an NBA All-Rookie Second Team selection…in his 24 starts he averaged 8.7 points, 7.5 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 31.1 minutes while shooting 46.1 percent from the floor and 75.4 percent from the foul line…led the HEAT in offensive rebounds (189), marking the first time in franchise history a rookie led the HEAT in offensive rebounds…ranked third in rebound average, total rebounds (473) and defensive rebounds (284)…ranked among the NBA rookie statistical leaders in rebounds per game (2 nd ), field goal percentage (5 th ), free throw percentage (9 th ), scoring average (10 th ) and minutes per game (10 th )…his 473 total rebounds, 189 offensive rebounds and 76.5 percent free throw percentage all rank third on the HEAT’s all-time rookie list and his 284 defensive rebounds rank fourth…set a HEAT rookie record by pulling down a career-high 17 rebounds against Boston on Jan. 20 and also scored 18 points in the contest…scored in double figures on 22 occasions, including two games with at least 20 points…scored 20 points at Dallas on Nov. 3 in just his fourth pro game, tying for the third fewest amount of games needed for a HEAT rookie to record his first 20-point game…grabbed double-figure rebounds 17 times, tied for second best on the team…recorded 11 double-doubles (second on the squad), including six off the bench, one shy of tying the franchise single-season record for double-doubles by a non-starter…recorded double-doubles in consecutive games on three occasions…recorded his first career double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds against Detroit on Oct. 31, in that contest he grabbed a career-high eight offensive rebounds…the eight offensive rebounds were a single-game high for a HEAT player in 2003-04 and tied the AmericanAirlines Arena single-game record…led the HEAT in scoring twice, in rebounds 20 times, in blocks in 16 contests, in steals eight times and in minutes once…was Miami’s top scorer off the bench in 14 contests and led the HEAT reserves in rebounds 36 times, in steals and minutes 14 times each, in blocks on 12 occasions and in assists six times…was selected to play in the Rookie Challenge during All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles and finished with nine points, three rebounds, a game-high three steals and one assist in 15 minutes…was just the fourth undrafted rookie ever to play in the Rookie Challenge…became the fifth youngest player to start on Opening Night for the HEAT when he made his NBA debut at Philadelphia on Oct. 28…pulled down eight rebounds in his NBA debut against the 76ers, the most by a HEAT rookie starter on Opening Night…hit a season-high 20 consecutive free throw attempts from Feb. 20-Mar. 2…had 28 dunks to tie for third best on the squad…had four double-figure scoring quarters…had eight multi-steal games… Season Highs: 20 points (twice), 17 rebounds (vs. Boston, Jan. 20), three assists (twice), two steals (eight times), two blocks (at Portland, Nov. 19) and 44 minutes (vs. Detroit, Feb. 2). 2002-03 Played for Chalon Sur-Saone in the top league in France and averaged 17 points and nine rebounds…was a member of the HEAT summer league team at the 2003 Pepsi Pro Summer League in Orlando where he played in all five games (two starts) and averaged 6.6 points (.481 FG%, .538 FT%), a team-high 7.0 rebounds and 19.2 minutes…led the HEAT in offensive rebounds (15) and total rebounds (35) and ranked second in defensive rebounds (20)…ranked third at the Pepsi Pro Summer League in rebound average. NBA PLAYOFFS 2004: Saw action in all 13 postseason games for the HEAT (all off the bench) and averaged 3.6 points, 3.4 rebounds and 15.3 minutes while shooting 39.4 percent from the floor and 67.7 percent from the foul line…was tied for third on the squad with 18 offensive rebounds…made his postseason debut against New Orleans on Apr. 18 and played 29 minutes, his postseason career high…set postseason career highs in defensive rebounds (eight) and total rebounds (nine) against New Orleans in Game 2 of the Opening Udonis Haslem links Udonis Haslem website NBA Player Page
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