Travis Diener

Travis Lyle Diener (born March 1, 1982 in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin) is an American professional basketball player for the NBA's Indiana Pacers.

Biography

Diener played collegiately at Marquette University, and was a member of the great Golden Eagles team that reached the NCAA Tournament Final Four in 2003. That Golden Eagles team had three future NBA players, including Diener, Dwyane Wade and Steve Novak.

Following his college career at Marquette, he was a second-round draft choice (38th overall) of the Orlando Magic in the 2005 NBA Draft. His selection by the Magic mystified some critics, who argued that the team was overloading on point guards, already having Steve Francis and Jameer Nelson on their roster.

Diener made his NBA debut on December 2, 2005, playing 22 minutes and scoring twenty-three points in a loss to the Memphis Grizzlies.

On June 19, 2007, the Indiana Pacers signed Diener (who was a free agent) to a three-year deal reportedly worth $4.86 million.

He is represented by Washington D.C based agent, Doug Neustadt.

Family

Diener's family has a storied basketball history, with many of his relatives coaching or playing at prominent universities. Consider:

His sister Brittney played basketball for NCAA D-II Lewis University.
His sister Rachel plays basketball for Saint Louis University.
His cousin Drake played basketball for DePaul University and currently plays professionally for Mens Sana Basket in Italy.
His cousin Drew played basketball for Saint Louis University and is currently the director of basketball operations at the University of Virginia.
His cousin Derek played basketball and handball at West Point.
His cousin Shane Grube was a walk-on guard at Marquette University before transfering to D-III Lakeland College.
His high school (Goodrich High School) basketball coach was his uncle Dick Diener.
Another uncle, Tom, is the former boys basketball coach at Milwaukee Vincent, where he has won five state titles, the most of any coach in Wisconsin high school basketball history.

In high school, Travis Diener was a USA Today Player of the Year: 2000 All-America High School Baseball as a pitcher and a shortstop.

Both Travis and Drake Diener engendered criticism in the 1990s when their families decided to redshirt them; both boys were pulled from the Fond du Lac public schools after 8th grade, homeschooled for the year and reentered as high school freshmen, not sophomores. Critics alleged they were held back in order to give an age advantage in high school sports.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

|- | align="left" | 2005–06 | align="left" | Orlando | 23 || 0 || 10.7 || .420 || .439 || .833 || .9 || .7 || .3 || .0 || 3.8 |- | align="left" | 2006–07 | align="left" | Orlando | 26 || 0 || 11.1 || .425 || .360 || .800 || .7 || 1.3 || .2 || .0 || 3.8 |- | align="left" | 2007–08 | align="left" | Indiana | 66 || 21 || 20.5 || .370 || .318 || .901 || 1.7 || 3.8 || .5 || .1 || 6.9 |- | align="left" | Career | align="left" | | 115 || 21 || 16.4 || .383 || .344 || .880 || 1.3 || 2.6 || .4 || .0 || 5.6 |}