Mike Mitchell (basketball, born 1967)


Michael Eric "Mike" Mitchell is a retired American professional basketball player.

Early life

Mike Mitchell was born in Los Angeles, California, and attended Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, California. After graduating he attended Fresno State University from 1985-1988 before transferring to Colorado State for 1989 and 1990 where he made the 1990 All-Western Athletic Conference First-team.

Career

Australia

After going undrafted in the 1990 NBA Draft, Mitchell travelled to Australia in 1991 where he played for the Gold Coast Rollers in the National Basketball League. His first season in the NBL saw him selected at Center for the 1991 All NBL team. After four seasons with the struggling Gold Coast club he then signed with two-time NBL Champions the Brisbane Bullets from 1995 to 1996. In 1997, he signed with the North Melbourne Giants.
On May 31, 1992, during his NBL career, Mitchell suffered an horrific injury when he smashed his right arm in anger against a wire-reinforced glass panel of a locker-room door after Gold Coast narrowly lost away to the Illawarra Hawks. With his arm almost severed, Mitchell was found slumped on the floor in a pool of blood by Rollers teammate Ron Radliff. Doubt was initially cast over whether Mitchell, who was averaging 28.5 points per game, would ever play again, but eventually he recovered.

Europe

In the following years, he played professionally in Germany, France and Ireland. He also briefly played for the Ireland national basketball team.

Post career

In 2008, Mitchell was named an assistant coach with the Women's National Basketball Association's Chicago Sky. Prior to that, he was an assistant coach at the University of California, Riverside, and the head coach for the Ramona High School boys' basketball team.