Sandro Mamukelashvili

Alexander "Sandro" Mamukelashvili (Georgian: ალექსანდრე "სანდრო" მამუკელაშვილი; born May 23, 1999) is a Georgian-American college basketball player for the Seton Hall Pirates of the Big East Conference. He attended basketball powerhouse Montverde Academy after a stint on youth teams in Italy. As a junior at Seton Hall, Mamukelashvili missed several weeks with a wrist injury but averaged 11.9 points per game.

Mamukelashvili was born in New York City and grew up in Tbilisi, Georgia after moving to the country when he was a baby. His grandmother, Ira Gabashvili, was a captain on the Soviet national basketball team. Mamukelashvili's older brother David introduced him to basketball, and Sandro grew up idolizing the Georgian player Zaza Pachulia. He was in Chicago visiting his aunt, noted pianist Eteri Andjaparidze, when the Russo-Georgian War broke out in August 2008.

When he was 14 years old, Mamukelashvili moved to Biella, Italy, to attend high school. He competed on the U17, U18 and U19 teams and helped to finish third place in the national finals. Mamukelashvili said that moving to Italy was difficult but his club and head coach Federico Danna made everything possible for him. In 2016, he moved to the United States to attend basketball powerhouse Montverde Academy, where he played alongside New York Knicks player RJ Barrett. While at Montverde, Pachulia became a mentor to the young man and introduced him to several NBA players like Stephen Curry. Mamukelashvili scored 11 points in a 72–45 win over Greensboro Day School to help Montverde reach the finals of the DICK’S Sporting Goods High School Nationals. In April 2017, Mamukelashvili signed with Seton Hall over offers from USC, South Carolina, and Vanderbilt among others. He chose the Pirates because his high school coach Kevin Boyle had a good relationship with Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard and his brother David lives nearby. He speaks English, Georgian, Russian, and Italian.

As a freshman, Mamukelashvili averaged 2.6 points, 1.9 rebounds and 0.5 blocks per game and helped the Pirates reach the second round of the NCAA Tournament. His best game as a freshman came against Xavier on February 14, 2018, when he scored 17 points and grabbed seven rebounds. As a sophomore, he averaged 8.9 points and 7.8 rebounds per game. On December 19, Mamukelashvili scored a season-high 23 points on 8-of-11 shooting and had eight rebounds in a 90–76 win over Sacred Heart. In the summer of 2019, Mamukelashvili worked with Pachulia at his Academy in Tbilisi to expand his game, adding a jump stop and improving his three-point shooting.

On November 29, 2019, Mamukelashvili scored 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting and had six rebounds in an 84–76 win over Iowa State in the Bahamas. During the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament, Mamukelashvili averaged 14 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game while making 61% of his shots from the field and 60% from behind the arc. He fractured his right wrist in a game against Iowa State on December 8 and missed several weeks. On January 29, 2020, he returned to the court, playing five minutes in a 64–57 win over DePaul. On February 19, with his father Zurab in attendance for the first time in two years, Mamukelashvili scored 15 points and had six rebounds, hitting the game-winning shot on an inbounds pass with 0.6 seconds remaining in a 74–72 win over Butler. He had a career-high 26 points on February 29, in an 88–79 win over Marquette. Mamukelashvili averaged 11.9 points and 6.0 rebounds per game as a junior. After the season, he declared for the 2020 NBA draft but did not hire an agent.

In the summer of 2018, Mamukelashvili represented the Georgia national basketball team at the 2019 FIBA World Cup Qualifications and the Georgia U20 team at the FIBA U20 European Championship. During the European Championship, he averaged 8.7 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 1.7 assists per game.

College