Andrew Vlahov

Andrew Vlahov

Vlahov in January 2023
Personal information
Born	(1969-04-01)1 April 1969 Perth,Western Australia, Australia
Listed height	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
Listed weight	238 lb (108 kg)
Career information
High school	Kent Street(Perth, Western Australia) South Eugene(Eugene, Oregon)
College	Stanford(1987–1991)
NBA draft	1991:undrafted
Playing career	1991–2002
Position	Small forward/power forward
Career history
1991–2002	Perth Wildcats
Career highlights and awards
3×NBL champion(1991, 1995, 2000) NBL Grand Final MVP(1995) 2×All-NBL First Team(1992, 1995) 2×All-NBL Second Team(1996, 2000) 2×All-NBL Third Team(1993, 1994) NBL Rookie of the Year(1991) NBL's 20th Anniversary Team No. 21retired by Perth Wildcats 2×Gaze Medalwinner (1991, 1993) Australian Basketball Hall of Fame(2007) NITchampion (1991)

Andrew Mitchell VlahovOAM(born 1 April 1969) is an Australian retired professionalbasketballplayer. He played his entire eleven-year professional career for thePerth Wildcatsof theNational Basketball League(NBL), with whom he won three championships in 1991, 1995 and 2000.

Early life

Vlahov was born inPerthtoEva(née Kampe) andLen Vlahov.His mother had arrived in Australia as a post-war refugee fromLatvia,while his father was the son of Croatian immigrants. Both his parents were athletes, and represented Australia at the1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Gameswhich were held in Perth. Eva was a WA StateLong jumpchampion while Len held the WA StateDiscusrecord for 20 consecutive years.

Andrew Vlahov initially attendedKent Street Senior High Schoolin south Perth, but unfortunately Kent Street Senior did not have a basketball team, but he played in his local junior team the Perth Redbacks where he would meet long time friend and future Australian Boomers teammateLuc Longley.Vlahov first came to the U.S. as an exchange student injunior high school,and later returned for his final year of high school, enrolling atSouth Eugene High SchoolinEugene,Oregon,while his father (an academic as well as an athlete) worked at theUniversity of Oregon.

Playing career

Australian Institute of Sport

He attended theAustralian Institute of Sportin 1987. His sister Lisa attended between 1985 and 1986.

College

Vlahov attended college atStanford Universityin the US from 1987 to 1991 and was coached byMike Montgomery.

Vlahov was a key member of Stanford's 1991National Invitational Tournamentchampionship winning team, scoring 14 points and 11 rebounds in the championship game against Oklahoma.

Vlahov received the following awards at Stanford:

• Best Defensive Player – 3 times (1988–89, 1989–90, 1990–91)
• Most Inspirational Player (1989–90)
• Team Captain (1989–90, 1990–91)
• Pacific-10 Conference All-Academic Team (1989)

Vlahov holds four Stanford school basketball records:

• 5th in career steals (130)
• 7th in career assists (278)
• 9th in season steals (50)
• 10th in career fouls (286)

NBL

After playing at Stanford, Vlahov was signed by the Perth Wildcats where he played his entire NBL career. A stellar first season with the Wildcats saw Vlahov awarded with theNBL's Rookie of the Year award.Vlahov replacedMike Ellisas thecaptainof the club in 1993 after only two seasons in the NBL and remained so until his retirement.

International

Vlahov was a four-time Olympian playing with theBoomersat the1988,1992,1996and2000 Olympic Games.

Post-playing career

While still on the playing roster with the Wildcats, Vlahov teamed up with ex-NBAplayer and fellow Western AustralianLuc Longleyto purchase the Wildcats franchise from ownerKerry Stokes.Once Longley pulled out of the venture Vlahov was the majority shareholder of the club (withMack Hallholding a small minority of shares) until the completion of the 2005/2006 season when Western AustralianJack Bendattook over the club.

In his time as owner of the Wildcats, Vlahov was instrumental in the NBL's push into the Asian market including match telecasts to Asian countries and the now discontinued "Singapore Spectacular" (a regular season match where the Wildcats played host to another NBL team in Singapore). The success of the spectacular actually led to theSingapore Slingers(formerly theCanberra Cannons(1979-2002) andHunter Pirates(2003–2006)) joining the NBL in 2006. Although the Slingers only lasted in the league until 2008, they remain the only Asian based team in NBL history.

Vlahov now leads RV Sport, a premium sports and event marketing company. Vlahov appeared in a television commercial for "King Size Big and Tall", an Australian clothing company that specialises in clothing for big men.

On 4 February 2013, Vlahov was named in the Perth Wildcats 30th Anniversary All-Star team.

On Australia Day 2016, Vlahov was awarded theMedal of the Order of Australia(OAM) for service to basketball as an athlete and administrator.

External links

• Andrew VlahovatOlympedia
• Andrew Vlahovat theAustralian Olympic Committee
• Andrew Mitchell VlahovatOlympics.com
• Endrjū (Andrejs) Vlahovsat theLatvijas Olimpiskā komiteja(in Latvian)(English translation,archive)