"A Day in history": Drew Gordon's All-time rebounding record

Increasingly, within the "Day in history" project, we recall personal records set by Zenit players. We've already covered Austin Hollins and his three-pointers, Ryan Toolson with 35 points in the EuroCup, and now it's time to remember Drew Gordon, who was relentless in securing rebounds in one particular game.

On October 25, 2017, the team from St. Petersburg played an away game against the French team ASVEL. The EuroCup regular-season game ended with a victory for the home team 88:85. Despite Zenit's loss, Gordon's outstanding performance made this game memorable. The blue-whites forward grabbed 18 rebounds in that match, setting an absolute record for the club’s players from the Neva banks. Of the total rebounds, the American player collected 7 on offense and 11 on defense. During 27 minutes and 48 seconds of play, Drew also scored 20 points, made 2 assists, 2 blocks and recorded one steal.

In the 2017/18 season, Drew reached the EuroCup quarterfinals with the team and also secured a bronze medal in the VTB United League. Additionally, by the end of the season, he had the best rebounding stats among Zenit players across all competitions, averaging 6.9 rebounds per game.

After his time in Saint Petersburg, the forward played for the Long Island Nets in the U.S.,  Budivelnyk in Ukraine, Rizing Zephyr Fukuoka in Japan, and faced his former team while playing for Zielona Gora from Poland, Lokomotiv Kuban from Krasnodar and Avtodor Saratov.

In May of this year, Drew Gordon tragically passed away in a car accident at the age of 33. The Zenit basketball club and fans in Saint Petersburg will always remember his brilliant play and the invaluable contribution he made to the history of the blue-whites team.