Dwyane Wade
From Hoopedia
| Dwyane Wade |
|---|
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| Position : Shooting Guard |
| Nickname(s) : "D-Wade","Flash" |
| Height : 6 ft 4 |
| Weight : 215 lbs |
| Team : Miami Heat |
| Born : January 17,1982 in Chicago, Illinois |
| College : Marquette Golden Eagles |
| Drafted : 3rd overall in 2003 by the Miami Heat |
| Pro Career : 2003 - |
| Former Teams : none |
Dwyane Tyrone Wade, Jr. (born January 17, 1982) plays for the Miami Heat in the National Basketball Association (NBA). His nicknames include "Flash" and "D-Wade". Wade was named 2006 Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year. Despite the unorthodox spelling, Wade's first name is pronounced as "Dwayne"; often in print media, it is misspelled as such. Wade has established himself one of the more well-known and popular players in the league. He had the top selling jersey in the NBA for nearly two years, as he led the NBA in jersey sales from the 2005 NBA playoffs, until the mid point of the 2006-07 NBA season.
After entering the league with little fanfare as the fifth pick in the 2003 NBA Draft, Wade has become one of the more accomplished young players in the NBA today. After making the All-Rookie team in his first season, and the All-Star team the following three seasons, he led his team to an NBA Championship at the conclusion of his third pro campaign. Wade was named 2006 NBA Finals MVP as he led the Heat to a 4-2 series win over the Dallas Mavericks.
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Early Life
Dwyane Wade was born on the south side of Chicago to Dwyane Sr. and Jolinda Wade. He cites one of his older sisters, Tragil, as the individual most responsible for his childhood upbringing and for steering him in the proper direction. His parents divorced and he lived with his father and stepmother in Robbins, Illinois during his childhood. As a child growing up in the Chicago area Wade idolized former Chicago Bulls star Michael Jordan and has said he patterns his game after him.
Wade attended H. L. Richards High School in Oak Lawn, Illinois. He did not see a lot of playing time his sophomore year as his stepbrother, Demetris McDaniel, was the star of the team. Wade grew four inches in the summer before his junior year and proceeded to average 20.7 points and 7.6 rebounds per game. Wade then averaged 27 points and 11 rebounds his senior year, and led his team to a 24–5 record. They advanced to the title game of the Class AA Eisenhower Sectional during the season he set school records for points (676) and steals (106) in a season.
Wade was recruited by only three schools — Marquette, Illinois State and DePaul.
College Years
Wade started all 65 games in his college career with the Marquette Golden Eagles in which he appeared and averaged 19.7 points, 6.5 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 2.31 steals while shooting 49.4 percent from the floor, 33.3 percent from three-point range and 74.5 percent from the foul line. He finished his career ranked 20th on Marquette’s all-time scoring list with 1,281 points and ranked ninth on both the school’s all-time steals list (150) and all-time blocks list (79). He was the first Marquette player since 1978 to be named a First Team All-American by the Associated Press. He earned a spot on the Wooden Award All-America team and was one of five finalists for the Wooden Award after helping lead the Golden Eagles to the 2003 Final Four, the school’s first appearance since 1977. In addition to garnering consensus First Team All-America honors, he was named the Conference USA Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year and First Team All Conference USA during the 2002-03 season. As a junior in 2002-03 he led Conference USA and ranked 22nd nationally in scoring (21.5 ppg) and set a Marquette single-season scoring record with 710 points. He ranked second in the league in steals (2.15 spg), eighth in assists (4.4 apg), 10th in field goal percentage (.501) and 11th in free throw percentage (.779). He also averaged 6.3 rebounds, 1.30 blocks and 32.1 minutes while leading the Golden Eagles to a 27-6 record…capped an outstanding junior year by being named the Most Valuable Player of the Midwest Regional Final compiling 51 points, 15 assists and 14 rebounds in victories over Pittsburgh and Kentucky. In the victory over Kentucky, which vaulted the Golden Eagles into the Final Four and ended the Wildcats’ 26-game winning streak, he registered Marquette’s first triple-double since 1994 when he totaled 29 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists in an 83-69 victory. His triple-double versus Kentucky was just the third in NCAA Tournament history.
International
Wade was selected to be a member of the bronze-medal winning 2004 USA Basketball Senior National Team. He appeared in all eight games during the Olympics and averaged 7.3 points (.382 FG%, .696 FT%), 2.4 assists, a team-high 2.13 steals, 1.9 rebounds and 17.5 minutes…had a team-high 17 steals and ranked third in assists (19). He scored in double figures twice, including an Olympic-high 12 in USA’s 89-79 win over Australia on Aug. 19…totaled 10 points and three steals in his Olympic opener against Puerto Rico. He also had nine points and a game-high six assists in the USA’s bronze-medal winning victory over Lithuania.
