Rafael Vidaurreta
Rafael Vidaurreta
Player Profile
Class:
Senior

Hometown:
Zaragoza, Spain

High School:
New Hampton

Height / Weight:
6-9 / 268

Position:
Center

A physical, veteran, consistent performer for Wake Forest over the three previous seasons ... hoping to rebound from a right knee injury ... underwent arthroscopic surgery Sept. 26 to repair an osteochondral defect, or a fracture to the bony cartilage of the knee ... worked hard during the rehabilitation process in hopes of returning early in the season ... one of the ACC’s best post defenders and rebounders ... not afraid of contact ... has a very good work ethic ... has pulled down 648 career rebounds -- the 15th-most in Wake Forest history ... enters this season having started in 55 consecutive games ... has started all 48 ACC games during his career ... spent part of last summer developing his game while playing for a Spanish national team ... last name pronouced vid-uh-RETT-uh.

1999-00
The only Deacon to start all 36 games ... led the team and ranked ninth in the ACC in rebounds (6.9 rpg) ... ranked eighth in the ACC in offensive rebounds (2.72) ... averaged 9.8 rebounds in NIT play ... scored 10 points and grabbed eight rebounds against NC State in the NIT semifinals in Madison Square Garden ... was one point shy of a double-double (9 points, 11 rebounds) in home NIT win over New Mexico ... pulled down 16 rebounds in two ACC Tournament games, including nine against Duke ... had six points and seven boards against Georgia Tech ... scored 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting against NC State ... scored 10 points, went 6-of-6 from the line and pulled down nine rebounds against Maryland ... recorded 10 rebounds at Florida State ... had a season-high 14 rebounds (6 offensive) at Davidson ... grabbed a game-high 10 boards at Clemson ... pulled down 11 caroms against Maryland-Eastern Shore and 10 against Maryland.

1998-99
Wake’s top rebounder at 7.3 rpg, a figure that was even better (7.6 rpg) in ACC play (5th-best in league games) … led the Deacs with 77 offensive rebounds … along with Robert O'Kelley, the only individual to start every ACC contest … started 25 times overall, including the last 19 games in a row … in those 19 dates averaged a solid 9.5 points and 8.9 rebounds while shooting 56% from the floor and 76% from the free throw line (and playing 32.5 minutes per game) … even more impressive over the last five games, averaging a double-double (10.8 ppg and 11.2 rpg) … scored a career-high 15 points and collected 12 rebounds in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals vs. NC State … followed that outing with 10 points and a career-high 15 rebounds in NIT win over Alabama … also had a 12-point, 10-rebound outing at UNC … scored in double figures 10 times and grabbed 10 or more rebounds in nine games … grabbed 8 or more rebounds in 11 of the last 13 games ... had a streak of 17 consecutive made free throws during the year.

1997-98
The only member of the squad to start all 16 ACC regular season games … in the opening lineup for 21 contests overall, including the last 20 in a row … scored 14 points and grabbed 6 rebounds in 17 minutes, hitting all four of his shots from the floor, against Liberty ... made his first career start at Marshall, but was scoreless in 12 minutes of playing time … moved into the lineup to stay in ACC opener at Virginia and played 33 minutes of that overtime loss, grabbing a team-high 11 boards … led the Deacs in rebounding 11 times on the year, including six of the last seven games … averaged an excellent 8.3 rpg the last 12 games, topped by a then career-high of 14 in NIT win over UNC Wilmington … collected 14 rebounds in January game with North Carolina and 12 the following outing at NC State … added 10 points against NC State for his only double-double of the year ... averaged 7.0 rpg in ACC competition, the 6th-best figure in the league.

High School
Committed to the Deacs in January of 1997, then signed during the spring signing period after spending two years at the New Hampton School in New Hampton, NH … coached there by Derrick Nelson … averaged 16 points and 7 rebounds per game as a senior, leading his team to an 18-7 record … started as a junior there as well.

Personal / Miscellaneous
Vidaurreta is the second WFU player under Dave Odom to call the nation of Spain his homeland, following forward Ricky Peral, who graduated from WFU in 1997 … highlight of his career in Spain was being part of a silver medal team on the junior level in the European Championships … likes to play ping-pong and squash when not playing basketball … father Faustino was a standout athlete in track and field, at one time ranking as the top youth high jumper in Spain … hometown of Zaragoza is a city of 750,000 residents, located in northeastern Spain … born in Madrid (1/5/77) and will be 24 the day before the Deacs play at North Carolina.

VIDAURRETA’s Career Statistics

Season G GS MP MPG FG FGA PCT 3PT 3PA PCT FT FTA PCT REB AVG PF-DQ AS TO BS ST PTS AVG
1997-98 30 21 705 23.5 47 108 .435 3 7 .429 38 71 .535 175 5.8 96-5 23 58 13 19 135 4.5
1998-99 31 25 893 28.8 87 176 .494 2 10 .200 66 90 .733 225 7.3 89-3 44 54 3 24 242 7.8
1999-00 36 36 918 25.5 69 168 .411 0 10 .000 38 74 .514 248 6.9 91-3 28 57 15 38 176 4.9
Total 97 82 2516 25.9 203 452 .449 5 27 .185 142 235 .604 648 6.7 276-11 95 169 31 81 553 5.7

VIDAURRETA Game-By-Game 1999-00 *started

OPPONENT MP FG-A 3P-A FT-A O-D-R PF AS TO BS ST PTS
CAMPBELL *18 2-3 0-0 2-3 2-0-2 1 1 0 0 1 6
at Navy *9 1-2 0-0 2-2 1-1-2 5 1 3 0 1 4
MD. E-SHORE *25 2-4 0-1 0-4 2-9-11 1 1 1 1 1 4
WISCONSIN *21 1-4 0-1 1-3 2-4-6 2 1 3 0 1 3
TEMPLE *30 1-5 0-1 2-4 1-4-5 2 4 4 0 0 4
vs. Georgia *35 3-9 0-1 0-0 4-6-10 2 2 2 0 2 6
UNCG *19 0-1 0-0 1-4 3-4-7 3 1 0 1 1 1
HIGH POINT *15 0-2 0-0 0-0 1-3-4 3 3 0 0 2 0
at Arkansas *21 0-4 0-0 0-0 3-5-8 4 1 3 0 1 0
vs. Oregon *29 3-3 0-0 0-0 3-3-6 2 0 2 1 1 6
vs. Ohio *32 2-2 0-0 1-2 2-6-8 4 0 3 2 2 5
vs. Villanova *27 0-3 0-1 3-3 2-4-6 1 1 3 2 0 3
FLORIDA STATE *31 3-8 0-0 0-0 5-4-9 1 2 1 1 1 6
at Clemson *31 1-3 0-0 1-6 3-7-10 1 1 1 1 1 3
N. CAROLINA *36 4-8 0-2 0-0 3-6-9 1 0 0 1 4 8
at NC State *29 1-4 0-0 0-0 3-2-5 4 0 1 0 1 2
at Maryland *28 7-11 0-0 0-0 3-6-9 2 2 1 1 0 14
DUKE *23 3-8 0-0 0-0 3-5-8 4 0 0 0 0 6
at Georgia Tech *30 0-5 0-1 1-2 2-2-4 4 0 2 0 4 1
VIRGINIA *25 2-2 0-0 0-0 2-6-8 1 0 3 1 1 4
at Davidson *31 0-2 0-1 1-5 6-8-14 3 0 0 0 0 1
at Florida State *37 2-7 0-0 1-4 7-3-10 2 0 2 0 0 5
CLEMSON *13 1-2 0-1 0-0 1-1-2 1 0 0 0 0 2
at North Carolina *19 2-3 0-0 2-2 4-1-5 4 2 0 0 0 6
NC STATE *25 5-6 0-0 0-1 2-5-7 3 2 2 0 1 10
MARYLAND *26 2-10 0-0 6-6 2-7-9 2 0 3 0 1 10
at Duke *29 2-2 0-0 2-2 2-2-4 0 1 0 1 2 6
GEORGIA TECH *25 3-7 0-0 0-0 2-5-7 2 0 1 0 1 6
at Virginia *20 3-5 0-0 0-0 3-1-4 5 0 1 0 1 6
vs. N. Carolina *27 2-6 0-0 0-0 1-5-6 3 0 0 0 0 4
vs. Duke *34 5-9 0-0 1-4 4-5-9 2 2 4 0 1 11
at Vanderbilt *29 3-6 0-0 0-1 4-5-9 5 0 3 1 3 6
NEW MEXICO *28 2-4 0-0 5-8 4-7-11 3 1 0 1 0 9
vs. California *19 2-4 0-0 0-1 2-5-7 1 0 1 0 0 4
vs. NC State *31 4-6 0-0 2-2 2-6-8 2 0 4 1 1 10
vs. Notre Dame *25 1-4 0-0 3-4 3-2-5 3 1 0 1 2 5

Career Highs
POINTS
15 vs. NC State
(Mar. 5, 1999)

REBOUNDS
15 vs. Alabama
(Mar. 10, 1999)

ASSISTS
5 vs. Alabama
(Mar. 10, 1999)

STEALS
4, vs. North Carolina (Jan. 12, 2000)
4, vs. Ga. Tech
(Jan. 27, 2000)

BLOCKED SHOTS
3 vs. Missouri
(Jan. 25, 1998)

FIELD GOALS
7 at Maryland
(Jan. 19, 2000)

FIELD GOAL ATTEMPTS
12 at North Carolina
(Feb. 23, 1999)

FREE THROWS
6, three times

FREE THROW ATTEMPTS
11, two times

3-POINT FIELD GOALS
1, five times

3-POINT FIELD GOAL ATTEMPTS
2 at North Carolina
(Feb. 12, 2000)

MINUTES PLAYED
39 at North Carolina
(Feb. 12, 2000)

Vidaurreta Info
FULL NAME: Rafael Vidaurreta
MAJOR: Communication
BIRTHDATE: Jan. 5, 1977
BIRTHPLACE: Madrid, Spain
PARENTS’ NAMES: Faustino Vidaurreta, MariaConcepcion Ramirez
HIGH SCHOOL COACH: Mark Tilton

Up Close
FAVORITE TV SHOW: The Sopranos
CD I WOULD CHOOSE IF COULD HAVE JUST ONE: Los Inhumanos
IF I LOST ALL POSSESSIONS BUT ONE, I’D KEEP: My shorts
SOMETHING MOST PEOPLE DON’T KNOW ABOUT ME: I drive the “purple bullet”
MY GREATEST MOMENT IN SPORTS WAS: Having a picture of me getting dunked on by Vince Carter posted all over the internet
THE PERSON WHO INFLUENCED MY LIFE THE MOST: My parents, who were never wrong
IF I WERE HEAD COACH FOR A DAY, I WOULD: I would take the day off
TEAMMATE WHO MAKES ME LAUGH THE HARDEST: Antwan Scott
PERSON I WOULD CALL AS MY “PHONE A FRIEND” LIFELINE: My dad; he truly knows everything

 

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