Andrés Feliz

Andrés Rafael Feliz Sarita (born July 7, 1997) is a Dominican basketball player. He played college basketball for the Illinois Fighting Illini. Feliz started his college career at Northwest Florida State College. He has represented the Dominican Republic in FIBA-sanctioned international youth and senior level competitions and was the top scorer at the 2015 FIBA Under-19 World Championship.

Andrés Feliz

Feliz in January 2020
Personal information
Born	(1997-07-15) July 15, 1997 Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Nationality	Dominican
Listed height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Listed weight	195 lb (88 kg)
Career information
High school	West Oaks Academy (Orlando, Florida)
College	Northwest Florida State (2016–2018) Illinois (2018–2020)
Position	Point guard
Career highlights and awards
First-team NJCAA DI All-American (2018) Nike Hoop Summit (2016)
Medals Men's basketball Representing the  Dominican Republic Centrobasket U17 Championship 2013 Puerto Rico Team FIBA Americas U18 Championship 2014 United States Team

Early life

Feliz grew up in Guachupita, one of the poorest and most dangerous areas of Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. His neighborhood received limited access to water and electricity. Because his family could not afford basketball shoes, he played in his school shoes or borrowed them from a friend.[1]

High school career

While at West Oaks Academy in Orlando, Florida Feliz helped lead his varsity basketball team to consecutive Sunshine Independent Athletic Association state titles and was a two-time tournament MVP.[2] During his junior season, he was teammates with Corey Sanders. As a high school senior, Feliz was named to the World Team in the 2016 Nike Hoop Summit that took place at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon.[3]

During the summer of 2015, Feliz verbally committed to play for then head coach Orlando Antigua and the South Florida Bulls.[4] He received interest from Louisville, Miami, and Missouri during his recruitment.[5]

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Andrés Feliz PG	Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic	West Oaks Academy (FL)	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	Oct 13, 2015
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2016 Team Ranking". Rivals.com.

College career

As a freshman at the University of South Florida, Feliz left school a few days into the semester and immediately enrolled at Northwest Florida State College in Niceville, Florida.[6][7] As a freshman at Northwest Florida, Feliz averaged 11.6 points per game, 4.7 assists per game, and 3.2 rebounds per game while averaging 57.3 percent from the field.[8] As a sophomore, Feliz led Northwest Florida to a Florida State Title an elite eight appearance in the NJCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship while averaging 20.0 points, 6.1 assists, 5.7 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game and becoming Northwest Florida State's all-time assists leader.[9][10] Feliz was named a NJCAA DI First Team All-American and to the 2018 NJCAA DI All-Tournament Team.[11] As the top rated junior college point guard in the United States, Feliz committed to continue his college career playing for head coach Brad Underwood, his former coach Orlando Antigua, and the Illinois Fighting Illini.[12]

As a junior, Feliz was a spark plug coming off the bench, averaging 8.3 points, 2.2 assist, and 2.9 rebounds per game and shot 45-percent from the field and 27-percent from three-point range. He averaged 11 points, 5 rebounds, and 2.9 assists per game as a senior.[13]

Professional career

The Basketball Tournament

Feliz joined House of 'Paign, a team comprised primarily of Illinois alumni in The Basketball Tournament 2020. He scored 20 points and had seven rebounds in a 76-53 win over War Tampa in the first round.[14]

National team career

Feliz made his international debut for the Dominican Republic national basketball team during the 2013 Centrobasket U17 Championship for Men. In 2014, he won a bronze medal playing for the Dominican Republic national team in the 2014 FIBA Americas Under-18 Championship. In 2015, Feliz was the leading scorer in the 2015 FIBA Under-19 World Championship, averaging 18.9 points and 3.7 assists in seven games.[4] He also played for the Dominican Republic national team during the 2015 Pan American Games.[15]

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

College

NCAA Division I

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2018–19	Illinois	33	5	22.3	.453	.270	.755	2.9	2.2	1.0	.0	8.3
2019–20	Illinois	31	15	26.8	.460	.274	.769	5.0	2.9	.7	.0	11.0
Career		64	20	24.5	.457	.273	.763	3.9	2.6	.9	.0	9.6

JUCO

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2016–17	Northwest Florida State	28	28	25.0	.573	.184	.702	3.2	4.7	1.5	.0	11.6
2017–18	Northwest Florida State	34	33	31.0	.611	.418	.772	5.7	6.1	2.1	.1	20.0
Career		62	61	28.3	.597	.349	.750	4.6	5.5	1.8	.1	16.2

References

1. Werner, Jeremy (November 5, 2019). "'A rose growing out of concrete': The Andrés Feliz story". 247Sports.com. Retrieved December 13, 2019.
2. Collings, Buddy (February 29, 2016). "Andres Feliz of West Oaks gets Nike Hoop Summit invite". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved April 14, 2018.
3. "2016 NIKE HOOP SUMMIT: WORLD SELECT TEAM ANNOUNCED". Nike, Inc. March 24, 2016. Retrieved April 14, 2018.
4. Dauster, Rob (July 13, 2015). "South Florida lands commitment from leading scorer in U19 World Championships". NBC Sports. Retrieved April 14, 2018.
5. Smith, Ryan T. (July 13, 2015). "2016 Guard Andres Feliz Commits to USF Basketball". SB Nation. Retrieved April 14, 2018.
6. Knight, Joey (August 27, 2016). "Men's hoops: USF freshman Andres Feliz not with team". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved April 14, 2018.
7. "Top JUCO Guard Andres Feliz commits to Illinois". SB Nation. April 8, 2018. Retrieved April 14, 2018.
8. "Illinois Basketball: Illini add to depth with Andres Feliz commitment". FanSided. April 8, 2018. Retrieved April 14, 2018.
9. "2018 Men's State Basketball Champions: Northwest Florida". Florida College System Activities Association. March 12, 2018. Retrieved April 14, 2018.
10. Richey, Scott (April 8, 2018). "Feliz commits to Illinois". News Gazette. Retrieved April 14, 2018.
11. Collings, Buddy (April 11, 2018). "West Oaks grads are JUCO All-Americans". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved April 14, 2018.
12. Ryan, Shannon (April 8, 2018). "Illini receive commitment from top-rated junior college point guard Andres Feliz". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved April 14, 2018.
13. wilson, Jalen (March 24, 2020). "Illinois basketball: 2019-20 season wrap-up for Andres Feliz". Writing Illini. Retrieved March 25, 2020.
14. Stevens, Matthew (July 4, 2020). "Be Like Mike: Daum Leads House Of Paign To 76-53 Win In TBT First Round". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved July 5, 2020.
15. Tupper, Mark (April 7, 2018). "Feliz would be a good Illini fit". Herald and Review. Retrieved April 14, 2018.

External links

• Illinois Fighting Illini bio
• Northwest Florida Raiders bio