Daniel Santiago

Daniel Gregg Santiago (born June 24, 1976) is a Puerto Rican basketball coach at IMG Academy and former professional player. A center, he had a collegiate career in the NCAA and NAIA. His professional career saw him play in the NBA, the Baloncesto Superior Nacional of Puerto Rico, and overseas. Santiago has played for the Puerto Rican national team since 1998 until 2014, including been part of the 2004 team that defeated the United States at the 2004 Olympic Games in Greece.

College career Santiago attended and played Junior College basketball at New Mexico Military Institute in Roswell, New Mexico and played NCAA Division I basketball at the University of New Mexico. He finished up his collegiate career at the NAIA school of Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, where he was named NAIA player of the year. In 2019 Daniel Santiago obtained a college degree in General Studies with concentrations in Social Work, Sociology and History from the University of South Florida.

Professional career In Puerto Rico, Santiago played professionally on the National Superior Basketball League with the Vaqueros, helping the team to various national championships and tournament finals.

Between 1998 and 2000, he played for Varese Roosters of the Italian Serie A.

From 2000 to 2001 he played for the NBA's Phoenix Suns as a back-up center until being released. He returned to the NBA in 2003, playing two seasons with the Milwaukee Bucks.

In 2005, Santiago signed for a season with Spanish ACB League's Unicaja Málaga. After winning the 2006 league, he signed a further two-year deal with the Andalusia outfit. In 2008, Santiago signed with Regal FC Barcelona, helping the side to a third finish in the 2008–09 Euroleague.

In July 2009, Santiago came back to the BSN after a 7-year absence, joining the Bayamón Cowboys. In September 2009 he signed with Efes Pilsen S.K. of Turkey.Santiago's latest transfer news In October 2010 he signed with Spirou Charleroi.SPIROU gets bigger with Santiago In January 2011 he joined Capitanes de Arecibo.Daniel Santiago reports to the practices of the Arecibo Captains for the League of the Americas.

In September 2012, Santiago signed with Boca Juniors in Argentina.Daniel Santiago joins Boca Juniors In March 2013, he was selected as the league's best center for the season.ARG – The Best of the National League are awarded In May 2013, he joined the Mets de Guaynabo in Puerto Rico.

National team career In 2002, Santiago represented senior the Puerto Rican national team at the Indianapolis 2002 FIBA World Cup, and he also played in the 2004 Summer Olympics team that handed the United States their first defeat in Olympic play, since they began using NBA players. Santiago again represented Puerto Rico at the 2006 World Cup. He retired from the national side in 2007, only to return the following year.

Personal Santiago's paternal grandfather, Pedro Santiago Rodríguez, was a well known baseball player in Puerto Rico and emigrated to the United States to play. Due to his small stature he was nicknamed "Jockey", while grandson Daniel received the "El Gigante" (the giant) moniker. Puerto Rico's Jockey Rodríguez retired from baseball with the Albuquerque Dukes team under the name Pedro Santiago.

Santiago was raised in the West Texas area of Lamesa on a cotton farm and later in Albuquerque, New Mexico where his parents, Stan and Diana Santiago, originated. He has two younger brothers, Matthew and Jarrett Santiago.

Career statistics

NBA Source

Regular season

| style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"|Phoenix | 54 || 2 || 10.8 || .478 || – || .689 || 1.9 || .2 || .3 || .4 || 3.1 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"|Phoenix | 3 || 0 || 8.0 || .500 || – || – || 2.3 || .7 || .0 || .3 || 2.7 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"|Milwaukee | 54 || 28 || 13.1 || .479 || – || .678 || 2.4 || .4 || .4 || .4 || 4.0 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"|Milwaukee | 11 || 0 || 9.5 || .333 || – || .727 || 1.7 || .1 || .3 || .4 || 2.0 |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career | 122 || 30 || 11.6 || .469 || – || .685 || 2.1 || .3 || .3 || .4 || 3.4

Playoffs

| style="text-align:left;"|2001 | style="text-align:left;"|Phoenix | 1 || 0 || 12.0 || .500 || – || – || 5.0 || .0 || .0 || 2.0 || 2.0 |- | style="text-align:left;"|2004 | style="text-align:left;"|Milwaukee | 1 || 0 || 1.0 || – || – || – || .0 || .0 || .0 || .0 || .0 |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career | 2 || 0 || 6.5 || .500 || – || – || 2.5 || .0 || .0 || 1.0 || 1.0

EuroLeague

* Led the league

| style="text-align:left;"| 2005–06 | style="text-align:left;" rowspan="3"| Málaga | 19 || 18 || 24.8 || .641 || .000 || .641 || 5.6 || .6 || .6 || .7 || 12.9 || 15.4 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2006–07 | 22 || 17 || 22.4 || .601 || || .549 || 4.9 || 1.1 || .9 || .9 || 11.1 || 13.8 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2007–08 | 17 || 13 || 17.4 || .679 || || .684 || 4.2 || .4 || .5 || .7 || 9.0 || 11.6 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2008–09 | style="text-align:left;"| Barcelona | style="background:#CFECEC;"|23* || 20 || 14.8 || .552 || .000 || .762 || 2.7 || .5 || .3 || .8 || 6.4 || 6.7 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2009–10 | style="text-align:left;"| Efes | 15 || 2 || 10.6 || .651 || .000 || .829 || 2.5 || .3 || .1 || .7 || 5.7 || 7.3 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2010–11 | style="text-align:left;"| Charleroi | 9 || 8 || 13.2 || .476 || || .611 || 3.3 || .3 || .6 || .3 || 5.7 || 6.2 |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:center;" colspan=2|Career | 105 || 78 || 17.9 || .609 || .000 || .648 || 4.0 || .6 || .5 || .7 || 8.8 || 10.6

Domestic leagues

Season Team League 1996 Vaqueros de Bayamón BSN 23 ? .570 -- .690 3.3 .5 ? ? 5.0 1997 24 ? .590 -- .820 3.2 .5 ? ? 4.4 1998 7 ? .390 -- 1.000 2.9 .4 ? ? 3.4 1998–99 Pallacanestro Varese Lega A 36 18.4 .629 -- .663 3.5 .2 1.3 .8 6.1 1999–00 27 29.9 .575 .200 .654 7.1 .6 2.7 .9 13.2 2001 Vaqueros de Bayamón BSN 6 ? .560 .000 .690 4.8 .7 ? ? 10.2 2002 27 ? .610 .000 .770 6.9 1.1 ? ? 15.0 2002–03 Lottomatica Roma Lega A 42 29.3 .574 .333 .610 8.0 1.0 2.8 1.5 12.3 2005–06 Unicaja Liga ACB 43 21.4 .605 .000 .721 4.1 .4 1.2 .9 10.4 2006–07 24 20.3 .601 .000 .656 3.8 .7 1.1 .8 10.3 2007–08 33 15.8 .552 .000 .737 3.2 .4 .8 .8 8.4 2008–09 FC Barcelona 41 12.1 .562 .000 .726 2.0 .5 .5 .8 4.9 2009 Vaqueros de Bayamón BSN 5 25.2 .488 .333 .500 6.6 3.4 1.4 1.2 11.2 2010 Capitanes de Arecibo 29 21.3 .554 .462 .738 5.7 1.1 .8 .7 11.0 2010–11 Spirou Charleroi Ethias League 5 17.2 .577 -- .733 4.0 1.2 .4 1.0 8.2 2011 Capitanes de Arecibo BSN 42 21.7 .577 .000 .715 5.8 1.7 .5 1.8 11.0 2012 48 19.9 .577 .000 .647 4.4 1.0 .6 .9 9.3 2012–13 Boca Juniors Argentina LNB 49 24.2 .629 .286 .588 5.8 1.3 .8 1.1 11.9 2013 Mets de Guaynabo BSN 24 24.8 .566 -- .591 5.9 1.9 .5 .9 10.2 2014 Cangrejeros de Santurce 47 22.1 .572 .000 .701 5.0 1.2 .5 1.0 9.7 2015 13 11.2 .524 .000 .500 2.6 .6 .1 .7 3.9

Daniel Santiago

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