Road to Duke
Nick Horvath was born on February 18, 1981 in Shoreview, Minnesota — the suburban St. Paul community on the Mississippi River corridor between Minneapolis and the Wisconsin border. The household was a science household. His father was a chemist with a serious love of physics theory; his mother stressed the importance of education. Neither parent was an athlete. The only thing they stressed as he was growing up was the importance of education. As Nick would later tell Physics World magazine in a long-form interview, "I never planned on physics as a career simply because I did not enjoy working in a lab. I have found that I like physics theory much more than the grind of true physics work."
The basketball entered his life by accident. "That's an easy one: I was tall," he told Physics World. "I had zero interest in sport at a young age and was pushed into basketball against my will when I was about eight. I hated it. The next year, however, I was so much taller than everyone else that in my first game, even though I had no idea what I was doing, I could simply hold the ball above my head and shoot over everyone. I fell in love with basketball after that first game. If I had played badly that day, it is likely that I would not have played again in my entire life."
The physics had a parallel arrival, also through his father:
> "My father was a chemist and science-lover, and while I was in high school, he and I read a whole pile of physics books by the likes of Carl Sagan, Richard Feynman, Stephen Hawking, Paul Davies and Timothy Ferris. My favourite was 'In Search of Schrödinger's Cat' by John Gribbin; I have great memories of walking the trails through the woods near my house reading that book and talking about the marvels of physics with my father."
He attended Mounds View High School in Arden Hills, Minnesota, the suburban St. Paul public high school whose Mustangs basketball program was, in the late 1990s, building toward the deepest run in the program's history. As a junior in 1998, Nick led Mounds View to its first state tournament appearance. As a senior in 1999, he led Mounds View to a second consecutive state tournament — and won the 1999 Minnesota Class AA State Championship. He was named 1999 Minnesota Mr. Basketball — the highest individual honor a Minnesota high-school basketball player can earn.
The same summer between his junior and senior years, he had been part of the United States gold-medal-winning U18 team at the 1998 World Youth Games in Moscow. He was Team USA's seventh-leading scorer (7.2 points per game) and fourth-leading rebounder (5.7 rebounds per game) at the international tournament — his first significant USA Basketball credential, and the first international-level competition that would, twelve years later, anticipate his eventual decision to represent New Zealand on the international stage.
The college recruiting trail produced multiple high-profile scholarship offers. He chose Duke. He arrived in Durham in fall 1999 as a 6'10", 250-pound forward with the kind of academic ambition — and the kind of family-instilled love of physics theory and English literature — that the Krzyzewski program had specifically built itself around recruiting. He took jersey No. 3. He was, on day one of his freshman season, a Mr. Basketball-type prospect with a five-year college plan, a redshirt year already in his future, and a double-major in English and Physics already in his head.
At Duke
The Nick Horvath Duke career, by the box score alone, runs 133 career games over five academic years, 2.6 points per game, 2.1 rebounds per game, 11 career starts. The full story is the kind of Krzyzewski-program five-year apprenticeship that, by the simple per-game line, undersells what the chapter actually included: chronic foot-and-ankle injuries that re-shaped his role year over year, a 2001 NCAA national championship as a sophomore, a senior-year tri-captaincy, a memorable game-winning shot, and one of the rarest academic-and-athletic combinations the program has ever sent to commencement.
Freshman year (1999-2000). Nick joined a Duke roster anchored by senior-class leaders Chris Carrawell and Shane Battier (with Carrawell as the senior-year ACC Player of the Year), junior Nate James, sophomore Jason Williams (the future No. 2 NBA pick), and a freshman class that included Carlos Boozer, Mike Dunleavy Jr., Casey Sanders, Andre Buckner, and Horvath. The team finished 29-5, won the ACC tournament, earned the No. 1 seed in the East Regional, and lost to Florida 87-78 in the 2000 Sweet Sixteen.
Sophomore year (2000-01) — NCAA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP. With Carrawell graduated, the team rebuilt around senior Shane Battier, sophomores Jason Williams, Carlos Boozer, Mike Dunleavy Jr., and freshman Chris Duhon. The team finished 35-4, won the ACC tournament, earned the No. 1 seed in the East Regional, and reached Minneapolis for the Final Four. They beat Maryland 95-84 in the national semifinal — the game in which Duke famously trailed the Terrapins by 22 points before mounting one of the great Final Four comebacks in tournament history. On April 2, 2001, in the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, Duke beat Arizona 82-72 in the national championship game — Krzyzewski's third national title, his first since 1992, and Nick Horvath's first as a member of the program. The championship had been won, fittingly, in his home state of Minnesota — the Metrodome sitting in Minneapolis, fifteen miles from the Mounds View High School gym where he had won his state championship two years earlier.
Junior year (2001-02). With the championship core of Battier graduated, the team Nick returned to was the most-loaded Duke roster of the dynasty2 era: Jason Williams, Mike Dunleavy Jr., Carlos Boozer, junior Casey Sanders, junior Chris Duhon, sophomore Daniel Ewing, Dahntay Jones, freshman Lee Melchionni, walk-ons Andy Means and Mark Causey. The team was ranked No. 1 in the country much of the season, finished 31-4, won the ACC tournament, and lost 74-73 to Indiana in the Sweet Sixteen — Krzyzewski's heartbreaking title-defense exit. Nick's per-game line that year: 1.4 PPG / 1.5 RPG over modest minutes, with chronic foot-and-ankle issues continuing to limit his playing time.
Senior year (2002-03) — his best statistical season. As Joe Alleva's 2002 GoDuke article "Horvath Writing A New Chapter" captured, this was the year Nick's body finally cooperated. The article's framing was direct:
> "English major and aspiring writer Nick Horvath spent part of his summer vacation working on a couple of short stories while he was back home in Minnesota. But as the 2002-03 college basketball season tips off this week, Horvath is more focused on writing a sports story than his other literary works. The first three chapters of his personal Duke basketball narrative contained a major plot flaw — his own inability to avoid foot and ankle maladies, which significantly impacted his role in the story of Duke's last three ACC titles and the 2001 NCAA crown. But Horvath says he feels healthy again as his fourth year begins."
The 2002-03 numbers reflected the recovered body: 30 games played, 8 starts, 3.9 points and 2.9 rebounds per game in 13.5 minutes, 50% from the field, 66.1% from the free-throw line. His top game came vs N.C. State: 13 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists. The team — anchored by Duhon, Daniel Ewing, Dahntay Jones, and a freshman class that included J.J. Redick, Shelden Williams, Shavlik Randolph, and Michael Thompson — finished 26-7, won the ACC tournament, and lost to Kansas in the Sweet Sixteen.
This was also the season Nick's most-remembered Duke moment occurred. He hit a game-winning shot vs DePaul — the buzzer-beater that the Duke Basketball Report would later describe in its decades-later Horvath retrospective: "This came in handy when he hit a winning shot against DePaul. Watching him bounce up and down after that shot, grinning wildly as his teammates mobbed him, is a great memory."
Fifth year (2003-04) — TRI-CAPTAIN. Nick chose to return for a fifth academic year — exactly because, as the November 2002 GoDuke article noted, "as a fourth-year player who's excelled academically, Horvath will have enough credits to graduate by the end of this semester. But he won't, because he still has courses to take to fulfill his double major in English and physics. So that will be one of his focal points the rest of this year and next — some independent study writing courses to go along with a sports story in need of a happy ending." He was named TRI-CAPTAIN of the 2003-04 Duke team — alongside his senior teammates from the Duhon-led graduating class. The team finished 31-6, won the ACC tournament, was awarded the No. 1 seed in the Atlanta Regional, and reached the 2004 Final Four in San Antonio, where it lost 79-78 to UConn in the national semifinal. Nick's per-game line that year: 34 games, 1.9 PPG / 1.5 RPG in 6.4 minutes per game, 51.2% from the field — the kind of veteran-leadership minutes a tri-captain provides on a Final Four roster.
He graduated from Duke in May 2004 with a Bachelor of Arts dual major in English and Physics. Per his own Physics World description:
> "I enjoyed physics at Duke University tremendously. No-one in the basketball programme thought it was possible to do a physics degree while playing basketball, but I never got to a point where I thought I would not be able to do it, even when I was studying quantum mechanics. I will admit, however, that trying to fit in hours of physics homework while playing basketball and studying English at the same time was a huge time-management challenge."
The five years had given him: a national championship ring, a Final Four roster spot, eleven career starts, a tri-captaincy, a memorable game-winning shot, a double major in English and Physics, the academic discipline to study quantum mechanics on the same week he was playing in ACC tournament games, and the kind of full Krzyzewski apprenticeship that would, in the eleven professional years that followed, anchor an international basketball career across two continents.
After Duke
Nick had not planned on playing basketball after Duke. The senior season ended in San Antonio at the Final Four; he turned to graduate school applications and creative writing projects. Then, as he later told Physics World, "when my senior season was over, I realized I did not want to retire from it. Therefore, I got an agent, trained hard during the summer of 2004 and finally ended up getting a two-week trial for the West Sydney Razorbacks in Australia. I had a great first year and have been playing there ever since."
West Sydney Razorbacks, Australia (2004-2006). Nick made his NBL debut at age 23, scoring 19 points in his first game. His first NBL season as a 23-year-old import: 20.4 PPG, 11.1 RPG, 1.0 APG — the Razorbacks finished 11-21 in ninth place. In July 2005, he joined the Minnesota Timberwolves for the 2005 NBA Summer League in his Twin Cities hometown, looking to earn a roster spot alongside Kevin Garnett and Wally Szczerbiak. He did not secure a contract. He re-signed with the Razorbacks for 2005-06 — a season that lasted two games before a dislocated kneecap and then a season-ending toe injury ended it.
Wellington Saints, New Zealand (2006-2008, 2010-present intermittent). Nick moved to New Zealand for the 2006 NZNBL season and joined the Wellington Saints — the move that would, by his own description, define the rest of his life. "My wife is a New Zealander and we will probably end up living here for rest of our lives," he later told Physics World. He earned a spot on the NZNBL All-Star Five in his debut season. In July 2006, he joined the Los Angeles Lakers for the 2006 NBA Summer League — his second NBA Summer League stint.
Adelaide 36ers (2006-07). A season-long stint in the Australian NBL with the South Australian franchise.
South Dragons, Australia (2007-2009) — 2009 NBL CHAMPION. Nick signed a two-year deal with the Melbourne-based South Dragons in April 2007. The relationship had a rocky start: he was replaced in the Razorbacks' squad by Bakari Hendrix following the Dragons' 0-6 start to the season. But he was not released — he continued to train with the team while his New Zealand citizenship paperwork made its way through the long bureaucratic process. On April 16, 2008, he was granted New Zealand citizenship, ending a year-long process and allowing him to play as a local rather than an import in both Australian and New Zealand leagues. He returned to the Dragons for 2008-09 — and the team won the 2009 ANBL championship.
The 2008 Olympics Qualifying Tournament — New Zealand Tall Blacks. Six months after gaining his New Zealand citizenship, Nick was named to the New Zealand Tall Blacks national team roster for the 2008 Olympic Qualifying Tournament. He played in three games, averaging 3.7 points and 5.7 rebounds. New Zealand did not qualify for the Beijing Olympics — but Nick had earned, by virtue of his Tall Blacks selection, a place on his adopted country's national basketball team at the qualification stage of an Olympic cycle.
Wedding day (March 28, 2008). Nick married Sheree Phillips — a former New Zealand Black Sticks national field hockey team player. They have two children. The Wellington wedding occurred during a leave of absence Nick took from the Saints' 2008 NZNBL season; the team had won 92-80 vs the Canterbury Rams the day he flew home to wed.
The 2009 burnout, the 2010 return, and the 2010 NZNBL CHAMPIONSHIP. After winning the South Dragons' 2009 ANBL championship — completing the second leg of what would become his historic three-championship trifecta — Nick "disappeared from the basketball scene in 2009, citing mental and physical exhaustion." He and Sheree traveled the United States together. In 2010, he returned to New Zealand, re-joined the Wellington Saints, and helped the team win its sixth NZNBL league title — their first since 2003.
The history-making achievement (2010). With the 2010 NZNBL title, Nick Horvath became the first person ever to win an NCAA championship (2001 Duke), an Australian NBL championship (2009 South Dragons), AND a New Zealand NBL championship (2010 Wellington Saints) — a basketball trifecta that no player from any country before him had assembled. The achievement is permanent; the historical first cannot be lost.
Manawatu Jets (2011-2015) — NZNBL MVP 2012. Nick signed with the Jets in January 2011. The 2011 season: led the NZNBL in rebounding at 11.7 RPG. The 2012 season — his best ever as a professional — averaged 19.5 PPG and a league-leading 15.8 RPG. He was awarded the NZNBL MVP, Kiwi MVP, Outstanding Forward, Outstanding NZ Forward/Centre, and Leading Rebounder awards, plus All-Star Five selection. In 2013 he averaged 17.6 PPG / 13.8 RPG / 1.1 APG and earned All-Star Five honors again. In 2014 he averaged 14.6 PPG / 15.5 RPG / 1.7 APG. Brief stints with the Sydney Kings (January 2015) and the Wellington Saints (May 2015) rounded out his career.
Retirement (April 2016). Nick announced his retirement from professional basketball in April 2016 after twelve years as a professional, citing "a combination of injury, family commitments and the Manawatu Jets pulling out of the NBL."
Where Is He Now
Nick Horvath is 45 years old and lives in New Zealand with his wife Sheree and their two children. He has built one of the most genuinely original post-Duke careers in the entire Brotherhood — one that combines the physics-theory love his father gave him as a child, the literary ambition that his English-major Duke years cultivated, the professional basketball journey that took him across two continents, and the kind of mid-life teaching-and-coaching commitment that his Krzyzewski apprenticeship had quietly prepared him for from the beginning.
He is a long-time physics teacher at Palmerston North Boys' High School in New Zealand, and head coach of the school's top basketball team. The Krzyzewski-trained five-year veteran of the most-decorated college basketball program of the 2000s now leads a New Zealand boys' high-school basketball program through its season — and teaches the same physics whose Schrödinger's Cat fascinated him on summer hikes with his father in Minnesota thirty years ago.
He is also a published novelist. Drawing on the English-major-and-physics-major brain that the Duke double major built and the basketball-fiction imagination that twelve professional years across two continents fed, Nick has written and published the Sledge Laukkanen action-mystery series under his own name. His own author bio captures the framing he has chosen for his second creative life:
> "Nick Horvath is the author of the Sledge vs. action-mystery series. A native of northern Minnesota, Nick double-majored in Physics and English at Duke University before embarking on a 12-year professional basketball career. Over that time he transformed himself from a timid finesse player into a rugged rebounding monster, much like his savage anti-hero, Sledge Laukkanen. Though he has yet to bludgeon anyone to death with his bare hands, anyone wishing to date his daughter should consider themselves forewarned. He currently resides in New Zealand with his wonderful woman and badass kids."
The arc — measured from the suburban St. Paul kid who hated being pushed into basketball at age eight, to the 1999 Minnesota Mr. Basketball, to the Duke five-year veteran of one of the most successful college basketball programs of the 2000s, to the Krzyzewski tri-captain whose senior year ended at the 2004 Final Four, to the West Sydney 23-year-old import who scored 19 in his NBL debut, to the Wellington Saints arrival that would define the rest of his life, to the historic basketball trifecta of NCAA + ANBL + NZNBL champion in 2010, to the 2012 NZNBL MVP, to the 2008 Olympic Qualifying Tournament for the Tall Blacks of his adopted country, to the Palmerston North Boys' High School physics teacher and head boys' basketball coach he is today, to the published novelist of the Sledge Laukkanen series — is one of the most distinctive Brotherhood post-graduation lives the program has produced. What he carries from Duke — the dual major in physics and English, the five-year apprenticeship to Krzyzewski, the 2001 national championship ring won fifteen miles from his Minnesota high school gym, the senior-year tri-captaincy, the 2004 Final Four roster spot — is the academic-and-athletic-and-creative toolkit that has, in the twenty-two years since his May 2004 commencement, anchored every chapter of the international life he has built.
If you played at Mounds View High School with Nick, were on the Duke practice court with him from 1999 to 2004, were a Razorbacks or Saints or Dragons or Jets teammate of his during his pro career, are a Palmerston North Boys' High School student who has had him as a physics teacher or basketball coach, or have read the Sledge Laukkanen series — the program would love to hear from you. Tip the site through the contact form. We will update the page.