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 (San Mateo, California)

| college = 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

| years1 = {{nbay|1985|start}}–{{nbay|1986|end}}

| team1 = Phoenix Suns

| highlights =

• 2× First-team All-WCC (1984, 1985)
• No. 32 retired by Santa Clara Broncos

}}

Nicolaas Peter Vanos (April 13, 1963 – 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 for Hillsdale High School and collegiately at Santa Clara University. He played for the Suns as a center on the team.{{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}}

His career with the Suns lasted only two years before his death. On August 16, 1987, Vanos and his fiancée, Carolyn Cohen, boarded Northwest Airlines Flight 255, after visiting his fiancée's parents, for a trip to Phoenix, Arizona.{{cite web|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1987/10/29/The-parents-of-Phoenix-Suns-basketball-player-Nick-Vanos/4256562482000/|title=The parents of Phoenix Suns basketball player Nick Vanos,...

|publisher=United Press International|date=October 29, 1987|access-date=July 25, 2019}} The plane crashed after takeoff from the Detroit Metropolitan Airport in Romulus, Michigan, killing 154 passengers and crew, including Vanos and his fiancée, as well as two motorists.{{cite web|url=http://flight255memorial.com/|title=Welcome to Northwest Flight 255 Memorial|publisher=Northwest|access-date=August 24, 2008}}