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MUScoop Wiki
Starting Points
NCAA Division I Sports
Discontinued Sports
Club Sports
Athletic Department
Nicknames
Traditions
Official Links
Position: Guard
Height: 6'1“
Weight: 175 lbs.
Born: March 1, 1982
Hometown: Fond du Lac, WI
High School: Goodrich H.S.
Drafted By: Orlando Magic
Agency: The Neustadt Group
Highly regarded recruit who earned numerous honors both in high school and on the AAU level … Was named a Parade Magazine Fourth Team All-American following the 2000-01 season, the lone player from the state of Wisconsin to earn that honor … Averaged 21.2 points and 7.5 assists his senior season in helping his team to a 22-2 record that included a share of the Fox Valley Association championship … Shot a keen 44 percent from three-point range and was a unanimous first-team selection to the Wisconsin All-State Team as chosen by both the Associated Press and Milwaukee Journal Sentinel … Three-time all-conference honoree and two-time conference Player of the Year … Was his conference's leading scorer for three straight campaigns … Selected to participate in the 2001 Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Division I All-Star Game … Ranked as the No. 37 senior in the country by BlueChipHoops.com … Recruiting analyst Bob Gibbons had him ranked as the No. 48 player in the nation … HoopScoop slotted him as the No. 39 prep player in the USA … Was tabbed as the No. 8 point guard in the country by Hoops4U.com … Recruiting USA ranked him as the No. 55 player in the nation … As a junior, he was a second-team all-state selection after averaging 19.0 points and 5.0 assists per outing as he helped that squad to a 22-2 won-lost slate … During his last three years, he helped his prep team to a 70-9 overall record … An outstanding pitcher for his high school baseball team, he led the FVA is wins, complete games, innings pitched and strikeouts… Also hurled a perfect game his senior year … All-Fox Valley Association First-Team selection in baseball … Three-time letterwinner in baseballl and captained his squad his junior and senior seasons … Selected Marquette over Wisconsin, Utah and Saint Louis.
Diener was on track to become Marquette's all-time leading scorer, until he was injured late in his senior year.
GP-GS | Min | Avg | FG-A | FG% | 3FG-A | 3P% | FT-A | FT% | OR | DR | Reb | avg | Ast | avg | Stl | Blk | TO | PF | Pts | Avg | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2001-02 | 33- 3 | 781 | 23.7 | 77-179 | .430 | 57-129 | .442 | 57- 67 | .761 | 15 | 66 | 81 | 2.5 | 86 | 2.6 | 39 | 2 | 27 | 63 | 262 | 7.9 |
2002-03 | 33-33 | 1146 | 34.7 | 124-313 | .396 | 69-190 | .363 | 74- 91 | .813 | 13 | 92 | 105 | 3.2 | 184 | 5.6 | 47 | 5 | 71 | 66 | 391 | 11.8 |
2003-04 | 31-31 | 1060 | 34.2 | 179-424 | .422 | 90-201 | .448 | 136-154 | .883 | 21 | 76 | 97 | 3.1 | 187 | 6.0 | 41 | 0 | 74 | 76 | 584 | 18.8 |
2004-05 | 23-22 | 783 | 34.0 | 131-312 | .420 | 68-168 | .405 | 124-148 | .838 | 15 | 75 | 90 | 3.9 | 160 | 7.0 | 31 | 1 | 58 | 46 | 454 | 19.7 |
Totals | 119-88 | 3746 | 31.5 | 506-1218 | .415 | 281-681 | .413 | 381-454 | .839 | 64 | 306 | 370 | 3.1 | 613 | 5.2 | 156 | 8 | 226 | 247 | 1674 | 14.1 |
No. 1 on the squad and No. 3 among C-USA players in assists (5.58 apg) … No. 8 among C-USA players in free throw percentage (.813, 74-of-91) and No. 4 in assist/turnover ratio (+2.59) … Ended the year tied for No. 3 in the conference in assists for league outings (5.50 apg) … Stood No. 3 on the team in scoring (11.8 ppg) … Totaled 21 contests of double-figure scoring including three performances of 20 or more points … Big effort in NCAA first and second rounds averaging 27.5 points and shooting 65.4 percent (17-of-26) from the floor … Sank a career-high nine-of-14 field goal attempts, including a career-high tying five three-point field goals en route to a career-high 29 points vs. Holy Cross (Mar. 20) … Followed that performance by sinking eight-of-12 from the field, (5-of-8 from three-point range) to a 26-point afternoon vs. Missouri (Mar. 2) … Led the team with eight assists and had no turnovers in 36 minutes vs. Pittsburgh (Mar. 27) in the NCAA Midwest Regional semifinals … Recorded a team-high 19 points and knocked down a career-high tying five three-point field goals vs. UAB (Mar. 13) … 14 points (four treys) and contributed 10 assists, tying his second highest career total, vs. UAB (Mar. 1) … Totaled 16 points, tied for the team lead with eight boards and doled out four assists in 37 minutes vs. Louisville (Feb. 27) … Picked up nine points, five assists and nine rebounds, his second highest career total, vs. TCU (Feb. 22) … Sank four-of-six from the floor and finished with 12 points along with a team-high seven assists vs. Charlotte (Feb. 20) … 13 points and a team-best eight assists vs. Louisville (Feb. 15) … Nine points and four assists, giving him 200 in his career, vs. Wake Forest (Feb. 9) … Outstanding game vs. Saint Louis (Feb. 5) that saw him post a then career-high 21 points, sinking eight-of-13 from the floor … Tied with Dwyane Wade for the team lead with six assists (no turnovers) and chipped in nine points vs. East Carolina (Jan. 29) … Led or shared for the team lead in assists in 15 of the last 22 games and a total of 21 times during the year including a six-assists performance vs. DePaul (Jan 25) that saw him chip in 11 points … Paced the squad with five assists and pulled down a career-high 10 rebounds at Charlotte (Jan. 18) … Recorded 16 points at Tulane (Jan. 14) that saw him knocked down a career-high eight-of-eight free throws in the Tulane game … Tied a Marquette record for a C-USA game with a career-high 12 assists vs. South Florida (Jan. 11), then his second career effort of double-digit assists … Hit a then season-high tying three treys against South Florida (Jan. 11) en route to 13 points … Played a career-long 43 minutes and recorded 10 points, along with seven assists vs. Dayton (Jan. 4) … Finished with 11 points while playing a then career-long 40 minutes at East Carolina (Dec. 30) … Picked up 12 points and doled out nine assists (then his second-highest career total) against Grambling (Dec. 28) … Doled out a team-high six assists and came up with a team-best three steals vs. Wisconsin (Dec. 14) … Turned in a 10-point, then career-high 10 assists outing vs. Appalachian State (Dec. 7) … Finished No. 2 on the team in steals with 47 and his 1.42 per-game mark in that category tied him for 10th among C-USA players … Had a 12-game streak of at least one steal snapped in the Charlotte (Feb. 20) contest … Ended the year with steals in nine of his last 10 games … Came through with 13 games of two or more thefts … Notched a then career-high 18 points vs. Notre Dame (Dec. 2) in a 39-minute stint … Chalked up a season-best four steals vs. Eastern Illinois (Nov. 26) … Opened the year with 12 points against Villanova (Nov. 15) while playing a then career-long 39 minutes. After two seasons, he played in 66 career contests and owns 33 outings of double-figure scoring and three performances of double-figure assists. Concluded the 2002-03 season holding down the No. 10 spot on the school's all-time list in three-point field goals with 126.
Ended the year No. 4 on the team in scoring average (7.9 ppg) and No. 3 in assists with 86 (2.6 apg) … Averaged 11.3 points and shot 56.3 percent (9-of-16) from beyond the arc during the C-USA Tournament … Hit a personal-best five three pointers and totaled a then career-high 15 points, his 12th double-digit performance of the year, vs. Cincinnati (Mar. 9) in C-USA Tournament championship game … 11 points and five rebounds vs. Louisville (Mar. 8) in C-USA Tournament … Eight points and six assists (tying his second-highest effort of season) vs. DePaul (Mar. 1) … 57 three-point field goals set a Marquette seasonal record for a freshman and paced the team … Three steals in 22 minutes vs. Louisville (Feb. 16) … Had three-point field goals in a total of 31 games this season and 19 games of two or more treys … No. 1 among C-USA players in three-point field goal percentage (.442) in overall action and finished No. 7 in conference play (.410) … 11 points, his ninth double-figure scoring effort of the year, against Cincinnati (Feb. 2) … Eight points and a season-high five steals, tying him for the team lead in that category, at Tulane (Jan. 29) … 19-game streak of recording a three-point field goal came to an end vs. SLU (Jan. 26) … Seven points along with three steals vs. TCU (Jan. 23) … Eight points, five boards and four assists in 25 minutes vs. UAB (Jan. 15) … 39 steals placed him fourth on MU's freshman seasonal ladder … Posted his eighth double-figure scoring game of the year when he finished with 13 points vs. Louisville (Jan. 9) … Also came up with a season-best seven boards against Louisville and hit two free throws with 26 seconds left that gave MU a 74-69 lead … Recorded a season-high tying seven assists (team high) vs. Wake Forest in 22 minutes of action … Either led or shared for the team's lead in assists on seven occasions … Dished out a team-best six assists (tying second highest total of season) vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff (Dec. 19) while making his first career start … Picked up 12 points vs. Fordham (Dec. 8) … Tallied 12 points vs. Dayton, hitting four-of-eight from the floor … Big outing vs. Gonzaga (Nov. 24) in the championship of of the Great Alaska Shootout with 14 points and seven assists while posting 6 rebounds … Hit four treys against Gonzaga … Six assists vs. Sam Houston State … 11 points (6-of-7 from foul line) in season opener vs. Loyola.
Points
29 vs. Holy Cross (3/20/03)
Rebounds
10 vs. Charlotte (1/18/03)
Field Goals
9 vs. Holy Cross (3/20/03)
Field Goal Attempts
15 vs. Dayton (1/4/03)
15 vs. Notre Dame (12/2/02)
3 pt. Field Goals
5 on four occasions
3 pt. Field Goal Attempts
10 on four occasions
Free Throws
8 vs. Tulane (1/14/03)
Free Throw Atts
9 vs. Louisville (2/27/03)
Assists
12 vs. South Florida (1/11/03)
Steals
5 vs. Tulane (1/29/02)
Blocks
2 vs. Cincinnati (2/1/03)
Minutes
43 vs. Dayton (1/4/03)
Travis was a second round draft choice (38th overall) of the Orlando Magic in the 2005 NBA Draft. His selection mystified some critics, who argued that the Magic were overloading on point guards, already having Steve Francis and Jameer Nelson on their roster. Diener made his NBA debut on December 2, 2005, playing 12 minutes and scoring three points in a loss to the Memphis Grizzlies. On December 3, 2005, Travis made his “hometown” debut in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (about 60 miles from his actual home town of Fond du Lac), where he played more than 22 minutes and scored 14 points, including 4-4 shooting from three-point range, but the Orlando Magic lost the game to the Milwaukee Bucks by a final score of 104-84. In the 2006 Pepsi Pro Summer League, Diener averaged 20.3 points, 6.5 assists, and 1.0 turnover per game. Diener finished with a 34 point outburst on 7-10 three point shooting to lead the Magic over the Chicago Bulls, before missing the final game with a slight foot injury.
After totaling just 75 minutes in five appearances in the Magic’s first 33 games, he saw action in 12 of the next 14 games and averaged 4.0 ppg in those outings…the remainder of the season, he scored a total of three points in six appearances…from 1/13 through 2/8, he scored six or more points four times and shot 16-39 FGS, 13-33 3-pt FGS and 3-4 FTS…returning to his home state of Wisconsin for the first time as a pro and playing on the court where he starred in college, he connected on 5-6 from the floor and 4-4 from 3-pt range on his way to a season-high 14 points at Milwaukee, 12/3…that was the first of his three games with 10+ points…he had 11 points on 4-7 FG and 3-6 3-pt FG in 15 minutes at Portland, 1/13…he went to the foul line six times on the season, including 3-4 on his way to 12 points at Charlotte, 1/20…his other two free throws came in a 15-minute appearance vs. the Bobcats, 1/7, in which he scored eight points…in 18 minutes vs. Sacramento, 1/21, he had just two points (1-5 FGS), but added a career-best six rebounds and a season-high four assists…his rebounds against the Kings all came at the defensive end and he had just four offensive rebounds all season…the game against the Kings was his only outing in which he had more than two assists.
In 26 appearances for the Orlando Magic, he averaged 3.8 ppg for the second straight season and handed out 1.3 apg…he made appearances in each of the team’s first three games, but totaled just eight minutes…then he made one appearance in the next 18 games, missing one with a sprained right ankle and the rest due to coaching decisions…he played in a season-high seven straight games from 12/11 to 12/23 and scored at least five points six times in that stretch with three games of 10+ points…he logged at least 10 minutes in each of those seven games, including a career-high 30 minutes at New Orleans/Oklahoma City, 12/20…in that seven-game stretch, he played 20+ minutes four times and totaled just two turnovers with 14 assists in 149 minutes…scoring 10+ points in consecutive games for the first time in his career, he averaged 13.3 ppg and shot 13-20 (.650) from the floor in a three-game span that included outings at Charlotte, 12/13; vs. Cleveland, 12/14, and vs. New Orleans, 12/16…he also shot 8-15 from 3-pt range in those three games…he scored a career-best 16 points at Charlotte, 12/14…against the Bobcats, he shot 5-6 FGS, 3-4 3-pt FG and 3-3 FTS…he also had three rebounds and three assists in that game…against the Cavs, 12/14, he had a team-high four assists off the bench and that was the only time he topped the Magic in assists…he had six games with three or more assists, including a career-best five at Cleveland, 1/22…in his first 13 appearances of the season, he had 18 assists and just seven turnovers (2.57:1) and then had nearly three assists for every turnover (2.83:1) in his last 13 outings…after logging six minutes at Charlotte, 3/12, he was on the Magic’s inactive list for the remaining 17 games…he totaled four steals on the season, three of which came in a five-game span from 12/11 to 12/20.
On July 19, 2007 Travis Diener signed a three-year, $4.86 million contract with the Indiana Pacers as a back up point guard to Jamaal Tinsley. Contract details: 2007-08, $1,500,000; 2008-09, $1,620,000; 2009-10, $1,740,000 (player option).
He made appearances in 22 of the first 38 games of the season, averaged just 1.3 apg and had an assists-to-turnover ratio of just 2.0:1…in his last 44 appearances, he averaged better than five assists a game (5.1) and posted a ratio of 5.44 assists to every turnover committed…for the season, his 4.56:1 assists-to-turnover ratio ranked fourth best in the NBA and second best among Eastern Conference players…in his 21 starts, he dealt 121 assists and committed just 23 turnovers for a ratio of 5.26:1…after averaging just 2.9 ppg in his first 16 outings, and scoring 10+ points once, he averaged 8.6 ppg and scored 10+ points 21 times in his last 50 games…he had his best game as a pro with 22 points on 6-10 FGS and 10-10 FTS vs. Chicago, 2/27…in that game against the Bulls, he shot 6-6 from 2-pt range…that game against Chicago was the first of a career-high five straight games in double figures and he averaged 13.8 ppg in those five games…in that five-game streak, he shot 25-50 FGS, 6-18 3-pt FGS and 13-13 FTS…one of only three Indiana players to record double-digit assists in 2007-08, he had a career-high 10 twice: vs. Orlando, 2/2, and in the Pacers' win at Toronto, 2/29…he added 10 points against the Raptors, for the first double-double of his NBA career…he and Jamaal Tinsley were the only Indiana players to have 10 or more assists in more than one game in 2007-08…in that game vs. Orlando, 2/2, the former Magic player added a then career-high tying six rebounds…he topped that figure with eight rebounds vs. New Jersey, 2/22…including three of the season's final five games, he had five or more rebounds six times in 2007-08 and averaged 1.7 rpg…he had more than one offensive rebound just four times, including four against the Nets, 2/22, and two vs. Charlotte, 4/12, and at Washington, 4/14…he had just five steals in his first 29 appearances, but then claimed 30 in his last 37 games and had more than one eight times…in his first four starts he had seven steals, including two in three straight games (1/26-2/1)…in his home state of Wisconsin, he snared a career-best four steals in 32 minutes…he made 74 3-pt FGS in 2007-08 and after making just 14 in his first 23 games, he connected on 5-7 from behind the arc on his way to 19 points in the Pacers' win at Sacramento, 1/12…that was one of seven games in which he made at least three 3-pt FGS…in the Pacers' win vs. Milwaukee, 4/6, he shot 6-8 from 3-pt range to account for all of his 18 points…in that game, the Pacers entered the fourth quarter trailing by 10 points…however, he and Mike Dunleavy keyed a 29-7 run in the first 7:09 of the final period by hitting a combined six 3-pt FGS…Diener alone hit 5-6 3-pt FGS in the fourth quarter of that game…though he only had 70 free throw attempts on the season, he shot a team-best 90.1 percent which was also his career-best…beginning with the second of his two FTS against the Raptors, 2/25, he made 32 straight free throws…that streak ended with his final attempt of the season vs. Charlotte, 4/12…he sat out four games with injuries, missing two straight in early December (12/4-7) with a sore shoulder, one in mid-February (2/13) with a sore right foot, and the final game of the season (4/16) with a sore left foot.
The only Pacers' player with more steals (26) than turnovers in 2008-09, he averaged one turnover every 34.2 minutes on the floor and his assists-to-turnover ratio of 5.81-to-1 would have been the best in the NBA, had he met the league minimums…he played in just eight of the Pacers' first 24 games and totaled 22 points in his first 10 appearances…he then scored 10+ points in consecutive games, hitting 7-12 FGS, 6-9 3-pt FGS and 3-3 FTS in games at Philadelphia, 12/20, and vs. New Jersey, 12/23…in those two games, he totaled more points (23) than he had in his first 10 combined…he would score in double figures just two more times the rest of the season, including a season-high 18 points at Sacramento, 3/3…against the Kings, he shot 5-6 from 3-pt range and 6-8 from the floor overall…in his last 13 appearances his best outing was a seven-point effort vs. Dallas, 3/20…in that game with the Mavericks, he shot 2-3 from beyond the 3-pt arc and hit 1-2 FTS…in a three-month span from 12/17 through 3/21, he made appearances in 42 of 47 games and had at least one assist in all but four of those games…though he played more than 600 fewer minutes than he had the previous year, he had just nine fewer steals…his 26 thefts in 2008-09 featured a season-high three in the Pacers' win at Minnesota, 2/3…that was one of just four games in which he had multiple steals…after committing two turnovers in the game at Utah, 1/12, he would have just one miscue in his next 12 games combined…in those 12 games, he logged a total of 161 minutes and registered an assists-to-turnover ratio of 30-to-1…his 122 assists on the season included a season-high eight at Utah, 1/12, and he handed out four or mre assists 15 times…he had at least five assists in each outing of a three-game span from 2/17 to 2/20…in those three games, he totaled 17 assists with just three turnovers in 59 minutes…after having no blocked shots in his 49 appearances for the Orlando Magic in 2005-06 and 2006-07, he has blocked nine shots in two seasons with the Pacers, including five in 2008-09…he had three blocked shots in his final nine appearances of the season, including one in the final game vs. Milwaukee, 4/15.
On July 6, 2009, Diener exercised his player option to remain with the Pacers for the 2009-10 NBA season. However, due to a left big toe injury sustained in late September and ensuing surgery, Diener saw limited action: 4 games for a total of about 25 minutes, in which he averaged 0.8 ppg and 1.9 apg. He was waived by Indiana on February 28. Pacers President of Basketball Operations Larry Bird had this to say about Diener: “We want to thank Travis for his time with us… Unfortunately, he struggled with injuries while with us and that held him back. He's a tough player who I'm sure will contribute somewhere in the NBA. We wish him the best.”
Diener was signed by the Portland Trail Blazers on March 2 so he could replace Steve Blake, who was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers. Furthermore, he would occupy Portland's 15th active roster spot and appear in 5 games totaling about 26 minutes and averaging 0.6 points and 0.8 assists per game.
Before deciding on taking his talents overseas, Diener had discussed possible deals with the Bulls, Cavaliers and Bucks.
He finally decided to sign with Dinamo Sassari, a team based on the island of Sardinia, which was preparing for a move up to Italy's top basketball league, Lega Basket Serie A or Serie A1.
Diener on his new team: “From everything I've heard, it's a first-class organization. The city itself, it's on an island, and it's absolutely beautiful. I'm looking forward to going over there.”
For the 2010-11 season, Travis saw action in all 28 games, averaging 13.2 points and 4.6 assists over 31.7 minutes per game. He was second in the league in assists per game and made the Lega Basket Serie A All-Star First Team.
He was extended an offer to continue to play for Dinamo during the 2011-12 season.
Son of Robert and Vicki Diener … Was coached in high school by his uncle, Dick Diener … Was an honor roll student in high school … Helped his Playground Warrior AAU team to three national tournament titles and was MVP of those tourneys.