Dan Cross was born August 16, 1973 in Chicago, Illinois to Daniel Curtis Cross Sr. and Lillian Cross. He was raised in Carbondale, Illinois where he came from a family of seven. He is the oldest of 5 children; Leinad, Joseph, Joshua, and Cathy. He attended Carbondale Community High School Where he help lead the terriers to the state finals.

In August of 1991, Dan began a new chapter in his life and embarked on what would be a memorable journey at the University of Florida. He was able to experience the highs and lows of college basketball and can certainly attest to the fact that hard work pays off. His junior season was unforgettable and he was fortunate enough to experience one of the great highs of college basketball, the Final Four. Dan was on the first team ever to advance to the Final Four in school history in 1993-1994. With this accomplishment, came many individual awards including 1st team All SEC, All American honors, nomination for the John Wooden Player of the Year Award, and many more. Dan is thankful to be part of a transition that has now become a Florida Gator basketball tradition.

Since college, he has gone on to make several transitions in his life that brings him great joy. Dan is blessed to have been able to experience life as a professional athlete. After unsuccessful tryouts with NBA teams he went on to play in the U.S. minor leagues including the CBA, ABA, and USBL still pursuing a dream to one day play in the NBA. He also continued to play in countries such as Greece, Italy, Turkey, Finland, Cyprus, Venezuela, Dominican Republic and most recently Israel. He received his degree in May of 2000 in Telecommunications from the University of Florida. In April, 2006 Dan was inducted into the University of Florida Hall of Fame, IN 2007 INDUCTED INTO THE REGIONS BANK HALL OF FAME BUSINESS SOLUTE AND 2008 HONORED AS AN SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE BASKETBALL LEGEND.

He has been blessed to see the world, experience different cultures, and live in countries that probably would not be afforded to him if it were not for basketball. He has learned through the years how to appreciate his own culture and the beliefs and rights of others which Americans sometimes take for granted.

Through his journeys in life, Dan has been able to accomplish some passions of his own. He runs successful basketball camps in Orlando Fl, Gainesville Fl and Carbondale IL. He has also started a new clothing line called Inspire Me Inc. which is designed to inspire, motivate, and encourage people through sayings.

The game of basketball has truly been a humbling experience for Dan which has caused him to focus on other important things besides basketball. The game of life has now recruited Dan and he must now prepare himself for the second half of life. He has experienced every emotion an athlete could face dealing with success, happiness, uncertainty, anxiety, depression, and now a sense of relief.

Through his own adversities Dan formed an organization called “Athlete Connections”. His vision is to help in the transition of the student athlete and connect him or her to potential employers and other networking possibilities. Through the research and experiences of so many current and former athletes, Dan and his staff feel obligated to assist in the transition of young men and women from sports to life after sports. There will come a point in every student athlete’s life that change and transition will take place and the question will be asked “Now What”? His mission is to make the “Now what?” phase as rewarding and successful as the athletic phase.

Andrew DeClercq played 3 years of varsity basketball at Countryside High School in Clearwater, Florida. Only played in 6 games his Senior year due to a broken elbow. Went on to become a four-year starter for the University of Florida from the 1991-92 to 1994-95 seasons, DeClercq help lead the Gators to a school-record 29 victories and helped them advance to the 1994 NCAA Final Four which was the first in school history…Named to the All-East Regional Team...Led the Gators in rebounding in each of his last three seasons and in blocked shots all four years.

DeClercq earned All-SEC honors in all four of his years getting named to the SEC All-Freshman squad in 1992, Third Team honors in 1992 (AP & Coaches), Second Team (AP and Coaches in 1993) and he was a First Team selection by the league coaches and Third Team by the AP his senior year. Nominated for the 1995 John Wooden and Naismith National Player-of-the-Year awards ...Finished his collegiate career as the first Florida player to ever accumulate more than 1,300 points, 950 rebounds and 175 blocks and set a school record at the time by playing and starting in all 128 games that he played...Ended his career at UF ranked second in blocked shots (176), third in rebounds (958)…Drafted in the Second Round by the Golden State Warriors in 1995, he recently concluded a successful 10 year NBA career that saw him play for the Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers and 6 years with the Orlando Magic.