Spencer Nelson

Spencer Nelson, born on 11 July 1980, is an American-born former professional basketball player who was naturalized as an Azerbaijani. Standing 6 feet 8 inches tall, he played mainly as a power forward and also at small forward. He grew up in Idaho, where he was named the state's top high school player as a senior in 1998, and he also won a state doubles title in tennis. After a two-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints he starred for Utah State University and was later named to its All-Century Team. Going undrafted in 2005, he tried out with the Utah Jazz and then built a European career with clubs in Germany, Italy and Spain, including GHP Bamberg, Benetton Treviso, CB Gran Canaria and Montepaschi Siena, before retiring in 2015 and returning to Utah State as an assistant coach in 2016.