Nicolás Eduardo "Nico" Carvacho Bibb (born January 24, 1997) is a Chilean-American professional basketball player for Benfica of the LPB. He played college basketball for Colorado State.

Nico Carvacho
Carvacho with Würzburg Baskets in 2023
Benfica
PositionPower forward / center
LeagueLPB
Personal information
Born (1997-01-24) January 24, 1997 (age 27)
Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.
NationalityAmerican / Chilean
Listed height6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)
Listed weight245 lb (111 kg)
Career information
High school
CollegeColorado State (2016–2020)
NBA draft2020: undrafted
Playing career2020–present
Career history
2020–2021Rilski Sportist
2021–2023s.Oliver Würzburg
2023–2024MKS Dąbrowa Górnicza
2024–Benfica
Career highlights and awards

Early life

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Carvacho was born in Nashville, Tennessee.[1][2][3] He is the son of Nicole and Eddie Carvacho, a professional soccer coach. Growing up, Carvacho preferred playing soccer to basketball, which he began playing at the age of nine. When he was 15, he moved to his father's native country of Chile to join a soccer club. After five months, he returned to Frisco, Texas and decided to focus on basketball.[4] As a junior at Frisco High School, Carvacho averaged 10 points and 10 rebounds per game and helped the team to a 19–12 record.[5] He transferred to Sunrise Christian Academy for his senior season. Carvacho committed to Colorado State, one of the few schools to offer him a scholarship.[4]

College career

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Carvacho redshirted his freshman season. As a redshirt freshman, his game was raw and he picked up quick fouls but showed signs of great rebounding ability. He ended his sophomore season with 16 straight double-doubles.[4] As a sophomore, Carvacho averaged 9.2 points, 10.3 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game for the Rams. After the season, coach Larry Eustachy was fired and Carvacho explored transferring.[6] He received attention from several high-major schools such as Oklahoma and Wisconsin, but ultimately returned to Colorado State.[7]

On December 22, 2018, Carvacho had 23 points and a career-high 22 rebounds in a 64–61 loss to Long Beach State.[8] After averaging 21.5 points and 8.5 rebounds in wins over Air Force and New Mexico, Carvacho was named Mountain West Conference player of the week on January 14, 2019.[9] On February 12, Carvacho surpassed Pat Durham as the all-time leading rebounder at Colorado State.[7] He tied the Mountain West rebounds mark in the season finale.[10] He was named to the First Team All-Mountain West as well as to the league Defensive Team.[11] He averaged 16.1 points and an NCAA Division I-leading 12.9 rebounds per game, and his 409 rebounds broke the school single-season record. After the season, he declared for the 2019 NBA draft but ended up returning to the Rams.[12]

Coming into his senior season, Carvacho was named to the preseason First Team All-Mountain West.[13] On November 5, Carvacho became the Mountain West Conference all-time leading rebounder, grabbing 11 in a win over Denver. He surpassed Jordan Caroline’s 958 career mark.[14] At the conclusion of the regular season, Carvacho was named to the Second Team All-Mountain West.[15] As a senior, Carvacho averaged 12.9 points and 10.8 rebounds per game and had 14 double-doubles.[16]

Professional career

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On September 12, 2020, Carvacho signed his first professional contract with Rilski Sportist of the Bulgarian National Basketball League.[17] Carvacho had a great season in the Bulgarian basketball league National Basketball League and was named as best import player and best center of the Bulgarian season 2020–21.[18] He also wheeled Rislki to its third-ever Bulgarian Basketball Cup title and was given MVP honours.[19]

On July 16, 2021, Carvacho signed with s.Oliver Würzburg of the German Basketball Bundesliga.[18]

In July 2024, Carvacho signed with Benfica of the LPB.[20]

National team career

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Carvacho is a current member of the Chilean men's national basketball team.[21] In 2013, Carvacho competed for Chile at the FIBA Americas Under-16 Championship in Maldonado, Uruguay, where his team finished in fifth place. In the following year, he represented Chile at the Albert Schweitzer Tournament, an under-18 tournament held in Mannheim, Germany. Carvacho played for the senior team of Chile in the 2016 South American Basketball Championship in Caracas, Venezuela and was named Honorable Mention All-Tournament.[4]

Career statistics

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Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

College

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2015–16 Colorado State   Redshirt
2016–17 Colorado State 36 33 21.9 .537 .333 .595 5.7 1.2 .4 .5 5.4
2017–18 Colorado State 32 32 28.7 .507 .375 .608 10.3 2.2 .7 .7 9.2
2018–19 Colorado State 32 32 31.9 .592 .000 .491 12.9 2.1 .6 .7 16.1
Career 100 97 27.3 .556 .333 .553 9.5 1.8 .6 .6 10.0

References

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  1. ^ "@fullname - Men's Basketball".
  2. ^ "Why I Left My Father's Game: The Nico Carvacho Story". 10 January 2018.
  3. ^ "Nico Carvacho growing up quickly at Colorado State".
  4. ^ a b c d Kurtzman, Rich (December 27, 2018). "From soccer stud to CSU's best big man: Nico Carvacho's excelled in a short time". Mile High Sports. Retrieved January 18, 2020.
  5. ^ "CSU basketball adds three on first day of early signing period". KKTV. November 12, 2014. Retrieved January 18, 2020.
  6. ^ Lytle, Kevin (March 15, 2018). "Carvacho granted permission to speak to other schools". The Coloradoan. Retrieved January 18, 2020.
  7. ^ a b Keeler, Sean (March 12, 2019). "Why Colorado State's Nico Carvacho said farewell to Wisconsin, Oklahoma and Vanderbilt and hello to the Rams' record book". Denver Post. Retrieved January 18, 2020.
  8. ^ "Booker, Byers clutch as Long Beach edges Colorado St 64–61". ESPN. Associated Press. December 22, 2018. Retrieved January 18, 2020.
  9. ^ Nguyen, Joe (January 14, 2019). "Colorado State's Nico Carvacho named Mountain West Men's Basketball Player of the Week". Denver Post. Retrieved January 18, 2020.
  10. ^ Barnard, Colin (March 11, 2019). "CSU basketball's Nico Carvacho named first-team All-Mountain West by media". Loveland Reporter-Herald. Retrieved January 18, 2020.
  11. ^ "Mountain West announces 2018–2019 men's basketball All-conference team" (Press release). Mountain West Conference. March 12, 2019. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
  12. ^ Herz, Eddie (April 22, 2019). "Nico Carvacho declares for 2019 NBA Draft". 247 Sports. Retrieved January 18, 2020.
  13. ^ Herz, Eddie (October 15, 2019). "Nico Carvacho earns preseason All-MW honors, CSU hoops slated ninth as a team". Loveland Reporter-Herald. Retrieved January 18, 2020.
  14. ^ Zahlmann, Luke (November 5, 2019). "Rams Open Season With Solid Victory Over Denver". Colorado State Rams. Retrieved January 18, 2020.
  15. ^ "Mountain West Announces 2019–20 Men's Basketball All-Conference Team" (Press release). Mountain West Conference. March 3, 2020. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
  16. ^ Herz, Eddie (March 23, 2020). "Nico Carvacho honored as NABC All-District first-team member". Reporter Herald. Retrieved March 24, 2020.
  17. ^ "Nico Carvacho signs with Rilski Sportist". Sportando. September 12, 2020. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
  18. ^ a b "Nicolas Carvacho besetzt die Center-Position". soliver-wuerzburg.de (in German). July 16, 2021. Retrieved July 16, 2021.
  19. ^ "Нико Карвачо е MVP на Купата". bgbasket.com. 15 March 2021. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
  20. ^ Vera, Pablo (30 July 2024). "El gran salto de una figura chilena: fichó en el Benfica". Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 July 2024.
  21. ^ "Febachile".
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