View source for Nick Vanos

{{Short description|American basketball player (1963–1987)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox basketball biography
| name            = Nick Vanos
| image           = Nick Vanos.jpeg
| width           = 
| caption         = 
| height_ft       = 7
| height_in       = 1
| weight_lb       = 255
| birth_date      = {{birth date|1963|04|13}}
| birth_place     = [[San Mateo, California]], U.S.
| death_date      = {{death date and age|1987|08|16|1963|04|13}}
| death_place     = [[Romulus, Michigan]], U.S.
| high_school     = [[Hillsdale High School (San Mateo, California)|Hillsdale]] (San Mateo, California)
| college         = [[Santa Clara Broncos men's basketball|Santa Clara]] (1981–1985)
| draft_year      = 1985
| draft_round     = 2
| draft_pick      = 32
| draft_team      = [[Phoenix Suns]]
| career_start    = 1985
| career_end      = 1987
| career_number   = 30
| career_position = [[Center (basketball)|Center]]
| years1          = {{nbay|1985|start}}–{{nbay|1986|end}}
| team1           = [[Phoenix Suns]]
| highlights      = 
* 2× First-team All-[[West Coast Conference|WCC]] (1984, 1985)
* No. 32 [[Santa Clara Broncos men's basketball#Retired numbers|retired by Santa Clara Broncos]]
}}
'''Nicolaas Peter Vanos''' (April 13, 1963 &ndash; August 16, 1987) was an American professional [[basketball]] player for the [[Phoenix Suns]] of the [[National Basketball Association]] (NBA). The [[San Mateo, California]] native was selected 32nd by the Suns in the [[1985 NBA draft]] after playing at [[Hillsdale High School (San Mateo, California)|Hillsdale High School]] and [[Santa Clara University]]. He played only two seasons in the NBA, both of them for the Suns at [[Center (basketball)|center]], ending with his death in a plane crash in 1987.<ref name="f493">{{cite web |date=October 29, 1987 |title=The parents of Phoenix Suns basketball player Nick Vanos,... |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1987/10/29/The-parents-of-Phoenix-Suns-basketball-player-Nick-Vanos/4256562482000/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250321015142/https://www.upi.com/Archives/1987/10/29/The-parents-of-Phoenix-Suns-basketball-player-Nick-Vanos/4256562482000/ |archive-date=March 21, 2025 |access-date=August 1, 2025 |website=UPI}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nba.com/suns/history/nick-vanos-remembered-1963-1987#gref|title=Nick Vanos Remembered: 1963-1987|website=NBA.com|date=February 3, 2016|access-date=July 25, 2019}}</ref>

Vanos and his girlfriend Carolyn Cohen both died as passengers on [[Northwest Airlines Flight 255]], which crashed just after takeoff from the [[Detroit Metropolitan Airport]] on August 16, 1987. The two were on their way back to [[Phoenix, Arizona]] after a visit to Cohen's parents in [[Michigan]]. The crash killed all but one of the 155 persons aboard, and two motorists on the ground.<ref name="f493" /><ref name="AAR-88-05 Final Report">{{Cite web |date=May 10, 1988 |title=Aircraft Accident Report, Northwest Airlines, Inc. McDonnell Douglas DC-9-82, N312RC, Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, Romulus, Michigan, August 16, 1987 |url=https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/AAR8805.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160409052618/http://ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/AAR8805.pdf |archive-date=April 9, 2016 |access-date=January 16, 2015 |publisher=[[National Transportation Safety Board]] |id=NTSB/AAR-88/05}} - [https://libraryonline.erau.edu/online-full-text/ntsb/aircraft-accident-reports/AAR88-05.pdf Copy at] [[Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University]].</ref>{{Reference page|pages=25–26}}

==See also==
*[[List of basketball players who died during their careers]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
*{{basketballstats|bbr=v/vanosni01|name=Nick Vanos}}

{{1985 NBA draft}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vanos, Nick}}
[[Category:1963 births]]
[[Category:1987 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American sportsmen]]
[[Category:Accidental deaths in Michigan]]
[[Category:American men's basketball players]]
[[Category:American people of Dutch descent]]
[[Category:Basketball players from San Mateo County, California]]
[[Category:Centers (basketball)]]
[[Category:Phoenix Suns draft picks]]
[[Category:Phoenix Suns players]]
[[Category:Santa Clara Broncos men's basketball players]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from San Mateo, California]]
[[Category:Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1987]]
[[Category:Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in the United States]]


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