Tyler Zeller

Tyler Zeller

Zeller with the Tar Heels
No. 44 – Boston Celtics
Position Center
League NBA
Personal information
Born (1990-01-17) January 17, 1990
Visalia, California
Nationality American
Listed height 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)
Listed weight 253 lb (115 kg)
Career information
High school Washington (Washington, Indiana)
College North Carolina (2008–2012)
NBA draft 2012 / Round: 1 / Pick: 17th overall
Selected by the Dallas Mavericks
Playing career 2012–present
Career history
2012–2014 Cleveland Cavaliers
2014–present Boston Celtics
Career highlights and awards
Stats at NBA.com

Tyler Paul Zeller (born January 17, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is the nephew of former NBA player Al Eberhard, and the brother of fellow NBA players Cody Zeller and Luke Zeller.

High school career

Born in Visalia, California,[1] Tyler Zeller grew up in Washington, Indiana, attending Washington High School. In his four years at Washington High, his team won four sectional titles, as well as state Class 3A championships in his freshman and senior years (2005 and 2008). In his senior year, he averaged 33.1 points and 11.0 rebounds per game, and also shot 69% from the field and 82% from the free throw line. In his final high school game, the '08 Class 3A final against Fort Wayne Harding, he scored 47 points, which broke a record for scoring by a player in an Indiana boys' state championship game that had stood since 1970. He was not only a basketball superstar, but also played on Washington High's tennis team for three years, and finished his high school career with a 3.99 grade point average on a 4.0 scale, good for third in his graduating class. After the 2008 season, he was named "Mr. Basketball" in Indiana, the state's highest honor for high school players. He received the title three years after his brother Luke and three years before his brother Cody were honored with the same award. He was also named a McDonald's All-American,[1] as well as a first-team Parade All-American.

During the early stages of the signing period in November 2007, Zeller signed a letter of intent to play at North Carolina. When the university announced his signing, Tar Heels head coach Roy Williams said about Zeller, "I think he is the finest running big man in the country and he has a tremendous shooting touch to go with that ability to run the floor."[2] Zeller notably exhibited that shooting touch at a high school all-star game during the 2008 Kentucky Derby Festival, at which he won the event's three-point shooting contest.[1]

Considered a four-star recruit by Rivals.com, Zeller was listed as the No. 7 center and the No. 33 player in the nation in 2008.[3]

College career

Zeller started the first two games of the 2008–09 season in place of the previous season's consensus national Player of the Year, Tyler Hansbrough, who was sidelined with a stress reaction in his right shin. In his first game, he scored 18 points in Carolina's season-opening win over Penn.[4]

The Tar Heels' next game, on November 18, was against another equally storied team, Kentucky. The Heels scored a surprisingly easy 77–58 win over the Wildcats, but suffered another injury blow, this time involving Zeller. With 1:26 left in the game, Zeller went for a breakaway dunk off a turnover, but was fouled by Kentucky's Ramon Harris before he could score. Zeller fell to the floor awkwardly, got up, and was taken to the locker room holding his left wrist.[4]

X-rays showed that Zeller had broken both of the major bones in his lower left arm (the radius and ulna). The day after the injury, he had surgery at UNC Hospitals to repair the broken bones.[5] In early January 2009, Zeller's cast was removed.

Zeller made his return during his freshman season on February 18, 2009, in the Tar Heels' home game against North Carolina State, playing 8 minutes and scoring 2 points.

As a sophomore, Zeller averaged 9.3 points per game on 52.1% shooting and 4.6 rebounds per game in limited action off the bench.[6]

Zeller averaged 15.7 points per game during his junior year. He shot 54.7% and averaged 7.2 rebounds per game. He had a more active role, playing an average of 28.1 minutes per game, significantly more than the 17.4 minutes per game during his sophomore campaign.[7]

Zeller averaged 16.5 points per game on 55.3% shooting during his senior season. He also played an average of 28.2 minutes per game.[7]

Zeller was voted to the All-ACC First Team his senior year and was named the ACC Player of the Year.[8] Zeller was also named a second team all American by the Sporting News and the USBWA as a senior. Both accolades made him eligible to have his jersey honored in the rafters of the Smith Center at the conclusion of his college career.

College statistics

Season Averages
Season Team G PTS REB AST STL BLK FG% 3P% FT% MIN TO
2008–09 North Carolina 15 3.1 2.0 0.2 0.2 0.2 .472 .000 .765 7.8 0.5
2009–10 North Carolina 27 9.3 4.6 0.3 0.5 0.9 .521 .000 .722 17.4 1.3
2010–11 North Carolina 37 15.7 7.2 0.6 0.7 1.2 .549 .000 .757 28.1 1.4
2011–12 North Carolina 38 16.3 9.6 0.9 0.9 1.5 .553 .000 .808 28.2 1.9
Totals: 117 12.8 6.7 0.6 0.7 1.1 .542 .000 .774 23.1 1.4

Professional career

Cleveland Cavaliers (2012–2014)

Zeller announced that he was entering the 2012 NBA draft along with North Carolina teammates Harrison Barnes, Kendall Marshall and John Henson. He was selected by the Dallas Mavericks with the 17th pick in the draft, and was the fourth Tar Heel to be selected in the first round. He was subsequently traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers on draft night, and signed his rookie scale contract with the Cavaliers on July 5, 2012.[9]

On October 11, 2013, Zeller underwent an emergency appendectomy procedure to remove his appendix and was subsequently ruled out indefinitely.[10][11] He recovered from the surgery in time to face the Brooklyn Nets in the team's 2013–14 season opener on October 30.[12]

On March 22, 2014, Zeller scored a then career-high 23 points in a 118–111 loss to the Houston Rockets.[13]

Boston Celtics (2014–present)

On July 10, 2014, Zeller was traded to the Boston Celtics in a three-team trade that also involved the Cavaliers and the Brooklyn Nets.[14] On December 5, 2014, he scored a then career-high 24 points on 10-of-11 shooting in a 113–96 win over the Los Angeles Lakers.[15] He set a new career high on March 16, 2015 against the Philadelphia 76ers, scoring 26 points on 11-of-15 shooting to help the Celtics defeat the 76ers, 108–89.[16]

Zeller started the 2015–16 season as the Celtics' starting center, but moved to the bench after just three games. Over the Celtics' first 25 games of the season, Zeller logged nine DNPs.[17] On December 16, he scored a season-high 12 points in a loss to the Detroit Pistons, hitting 5-of-7 from the field in less than ten minutes.[18] Zeller began to see increased minutes in early February, recording two 16-point games on February 2 against the New York Knicks, and on February 5 against the Cleveland Cavaliers, both wins.[17] On February 7, he again set a season high, scoring 17 points in a 128–119 win over the Sacramento Kings.[19] On April 8, he tied a career high with 26 points in a 124–109 win over the Milwaukee Bucks.[20]

On June 29, 2016, the Celtics tendered a qualifying offer to make Zeller a restricted free agent.[21] He went on to re-sign with the Celtics on July 27, 2016.[22]

NBA career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2012–13 Cleveland 77 55 26.4 .438 .000 .764 5.7 1.2 .5 .9 7.9
2013–14 Cleveland 70 9 15.0 .538 .000 .719 4.0 .5 .3 .5 5.7
2014–15 Boston 82 59 21.1 .549 .000 .823 5.7 1.4 .2 .6 10.2
2015–16 Boston 60 3 11.8 .476 .000 .815 3.0 .5 .2 .4 6.1
Career 289 126 19.1 .500 .000 .783 4.7 .9 .3 .6 7.6

Playoffs

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2015 Boston 4 4 22.5 .517 .000 .800 4.5 .5 .5 .3 8.5
2016 Boston 3 0 12.7 .467 .000 .667 5.0 .7 .0 .7 6.0
Career 7 4 18.3 .500 .000 .727 4.7 .6 .3 .4 7.4

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Tyler Zeller". University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Athletic Department. Retrieved March 12, 2011.
  2. ↑ "Tar Heels Sign Three To NCAA Letters Of Intent" (Press release). University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Athletic Department. 2007-11-14. Retrieved 2008-11-20.
  3. ↑ Tyler Zeller Recruiting Profile
  4. 1 2 "Thompson powers Hansbrough-less UNC past Kentucky; Zeller hurts wrist". ESPN. Associated Press. 2008-11-18. Retrieved 2008-11-20.
  5. ↑ Katz, Andy (2008-11-19). "Broken wrist likely to sideline UNC forward Zeller for season". ESPN. Retrieved 2008-11-20.
  6. ↑ "Tyler Zeller Career Stats". CarolinaDaily.com. Retrieved January 6, 2011.
  7. 1 2 "Tyler Zeller". ESPN. Retrieved 27 March 2012.
  8. ↑ Zeller Named ACC Player Of The Year – NORTH CAROLINA OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE. Tarheelblue.cstv.com (2012-03-06). Retrieved on 2012-03-12.
  9. ↑ Cavs sign Dion Waiters, Tyler Zeller
  10. ↑ Cavaliers Preseason: Tyler Zeller has Emergency Appendectomy, Out Indefinitely
  11. ↑ Cleveland Cavaliers' Tyler Zeller has appendectomy
  12. ↑ Do you remember Tyler Zeller? After missing the entire preseason, the Cavaliers center is working to return to form
  13. ↑ James Harden scores 37 as Rockets cruise past Cavs
  14. ↑ Celtics Complete Three-Team Trade
  15. ↑ Zeller leads Celtics to 113-96 win over Lakers
  16. ↑ Celtics win 5th straight, 108-89 over 76ers
  17. 1 2 Tyler Zeller 2015-16 Game Log
  18. ↑ Stellar Tyler Zeller not enough to boost tired Celtics
  19. ↑ Avery Bradley's 25 points helps Celtics beat Kings
  20. ↑ Zeller scores 26, Celtics down Bucks 124-109
  21. ↑ Bulpett, Steve (June 29, 2016). "Celtics to give qualifying offers to Jared Sullinger, Tyler Zeller". Boston Herald. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
  22. ↑ "Celtics Sign Five Players". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. July 27, 2016. Retrieved July 27, 2016.
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