Brett Blizzard

Brett Alan Blizzard (born June 12, 1980) is an American-Italian basketball player. Originally of American nationality, Blizzard opted to acquire dual citizenship in Italy while playing overseas. He became eligible to play on Italy's national team because of a distant Italian relative. Including Virtus Bologna, Blizzard has played for seven professional teams in his career. He also owns and operates The American Basketball Experience, which brings European youth basketball players to America to train and experience American culture.

Early life Brett Blizzard was born in Tallahassee, Florida. He attended Florida State University School (colloquially "Florida High School") from 1995 to 1999. As a standout on the basketball team, Brett earned a full-ride scholarship to attend the University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW) to play for the UNCW Seahawks in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA). Blizzard finished his career at Florida High as All-Time leading scorer.

UNC Wilmington (1999–2003) Brett Blizzard entered UNCW in August 1999 as a relative unknown in college basketball, but by his graduation he had become a national media darling for his performances in the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championships.

Freshman season Blizzard started all 31 games as a true freshman in 1999–2000. Brett complemented his scoring ability with 76 assists and 62 steals. but Blizzard solidified his selection as an All-CAA First Team selection by leading UNCW to win the CAA Tournament championship. They defeated Richmond 57–47, with Brett taking home his first of an unprecedented three Tournament MVP awards. Blizzard also won the CAA Rookie of the Year award.

Sophomore season Brett's sophomore campaign (2000–01) was the least personally successful year of his tenure. In 30 games, Blizzard scored fewer points (415), had fewer steals (48) and made fewer three-pointers than the previous season.

Junior season In 2001-02, Brett Blizzard led the Seahawks into the NCAA tournament after winning both the Colonial Athletic Association regular season and tournament titles.

Brett scored a team-high 18 points in the contest. Due to his fearless guard play and unique last name, the national media thrust Blizzard into the spotlight and sports commentators would frequently reference him throughout the rest of the tournament. UNCW would lose their next game, however, by a score of 67–76 to Indiana.

He earned his third consecutive All-CAA First Team award and second CAA All-Tournament Team and MVP awards. UNCW entered the 2003 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament as an #11 seed. They lost their first round match-up against #6-seeded Maryland. Aaron Coombs sank two free throws with five seconds remaining, giving the Seahawks a 73–72 lead and placing them in a position to pull off a tournament surprise for the second year in a row. Instead, Maryland won the game 75–73 by hitting a buzzer beating three-point shot.

Brett Blizzard finished his career with the University of North Carolina Wilmington as the holder of 32 school records and sharer of five others. Among them, he finished as the school's all-time leader in scoring for both single season and career (655 and 2,144), steals for both single season and career (70 and 241), and games started/played (both 125). On February 2, 2005, Blizzard became one of only three Seahawk players ever to have his jersey retired.

Professional career

Aurora Basket Jesi In 2003–04, Blizzard got loaned to Sicc BPA Jesi (later renamed Aurora Basket Jesi) from Montepaschi Siena. For the season, he started 41 games and averaged 12.9 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game.

Following a successful rookie campaign, Blizzard tried to make an NBA roster by participating in two July 2004 NBA Summer Leagues while playing for the Phoenix Suns — the Reebok Rocky Mountain Revue in Salt Lake City, Utah and the Reebok Vegas Summer League in Las Vegas, Nevada. No teams signed him and he went back to Italy.

Bennet Cantu Basketball With Cantu; Blizzard averaged 12 points per game in the ULEB, (Union of European Leagues of Basketball), Cup.

Reggio Emilia Basketball Blizzard moved to Reggio Emilia where he averaged 13 points

Virtus Bologna Basketball In his first year, he was a starter and helped lead Virtus to the championship game against Siena. During the four years at Bologna; Blizzard played in 3 Italian Cup Finals, a Championship Final, a FIBA Cup Final, and captured a FIBA Cup Championship. Blizzard ended his relationship with Bologna in 2010 due to non payment from the club.