Priest Lauderdale
Priest Lauderdale (born August 31, 1973) is an American retired professional basketball player. Career. A 7' 4", 325 lb center, Lauderdale was selected 28th overall in the 1996 National Basketball Association Draft by the Atlanta Hawks, after playing collegiately at Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio and professionally in the Greek League for Peristeri. He also attended Kaskaskia College in Centralia, Illinois but did not play basketball there competitively. Lauderdale saw action in 35 regular season games for the Atlanta Hawks in the 1996-97 season, averaging 3.2 points as well as 1.2 rebounds per contest, and played  also three playoff games for Atlanta that season. He concluded his brief NBA career with the Denver Nuggets in 1997–1998, averaging 3.7 points and 2.6 rebounds (39 games) for the team. Lauderdale played professionally in Bulgaria for Lukoil Academic from 2002 to 2005 and received Bulgarian citizenship. Lauderdale also played in the CBA (2000-01 for the Fort Wayne Fury), the IBL (2000-01 for the Connecticut Pride), in China, Venezuela, Cyprus, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Spain, England, and the United Arab Emirates. Lauderdale has been serving as a coach at youth camps in Germany.