Damon Lopez

Damon Anthony Lopez (born August 15, 1968)^[1] is an American former basketball player known for his collegiate career at Fordham University between 1988 and 1991, where he was the Patriot League's first-ever player of the year in 1991. He also had a professional basketball career for eight years following college. Lopez played the center position and set a number of Fordham records for blocks. In 2015 he was selected to the Patriot League Men's Basketball 25th Anniversary Team.

A native of the Bronx, New York City, Lopez attended Cardinal Hayes High School.^[2] He stood 6'1" and was cut from the basketball team in both his junior and senior years.^[2] His uncle encouraged him to stick with it, and Lopez wound up attending Garden City Community College in Garden City, Kansas, where he redshirted his freshman season.^[2] Lopez then transferred to Westchester Community College back in New York and played one year there. Between a huge growth spurt that saw him reach 6'7" and him "catching up" to his new physique, Lopez dominated competition.^[2] At the national junior college tournament, scouts from many NCAA Division I programs attended to check out Lopez.^[2] He chose to play for Fordham University, which was located 20 blocks away from his childhood home and was also the first NCAA program to express interest in him.^[2] By the time he suited up for Fordham he stood 6'9" and weighed 240 pounds.^[2]

Lopez began his collegiate career with the Fordham Rams as a redshirt sophomore in 1988–89.^[2][3] That year he averaged 5.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 2.4 blocks per game.^[3] The following season, Lopez increased his averages to 11.4 points, 10.3 rebounds, and 2.8 blocks, while also grabbing 1.6 steals a game.^[3] The Rams finished in third place in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) North Division with a 10–6 conference record, and Lopez was named to the All-MAAC Second Team.^[4][5]

Fordham left the MAAC prior to the start of Lopez's senior year in 1990–91 to join the Patriot League, which had formed in 1986.^[6] He started 32 of 33 games (both career highs) and averaged 17.7 points, 9.5 rebounds, 3.0 blocks, and 2.0 steals per game.^[3] He tied his own school single-game blocks record of 10, set the single-season blocks record of 100, and set the career record of 252 blocks in just three seasons played (since surpassed by Bryant Dunston, who played four years).^[3] Fordham went 11–1 in Patriot League games, were crowned regular season champions, and went on to win the 1991 Patriot League tournament where Lopez was named the tournament MVP.^[6][7] He was named to the All-Patriot League First Team and won the Patriot League Player of the Year award, which was the first time it was awarded in league history.^[5] In 2008, Lopez was inducted into Fordham's Athletics Hall of Fame, and in 2015 he was honored on the Patriot League Men's Basketball 25th Anniversary Team.^[5][8]

Following college, Lopez went undrafted in the 1991 NBA draft.^[5] He had tryouts for the Portland Trail Blazers and Denver Nuggets but was never signed, so he instead played professionally in various international countries for the next eight years.^[5][6] He also had a stint playing in the United States Basketball League before retiring.^[5]

• College statistics @ sports-reference.com