Devonte Upson

Devonte Upson
Upson during The Basketball Tournament 2019
No. 9 – PAOK Thessaloniki
PositionCenter
LeagueGBL
FEC
Personal information
Born (1993-03-23) March 23, 1993 (age 31)
Augusta, Georgia, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
Listed weight225 lb (102 kg)
Career information
High schoolHarrison
(Colorado Springs, Colorado)
College
NBA draft2015: undrafted
Playing career2015–present
Career history
2015–2016Starwings Basel
2016–2017Helsinki Seagulls
2017–2018Rapla KK
2018Beijing Bucks
2018–2019Start Lublin
2019Comunicaciones Mercedes
2019–2020Arka Gdynia
2020SIG Strasbourg
2020–2021Pallacanestro Trieste
2021–2022Merkezefendi
2022–2023Hapoel Haifa
2023–2024Büyükçekmece
2024Trepça
2024–presentPAOK Thessaloniki
Career highlights and awards

Zwencyl DeVonte Upson (born March 23, 1993) is an American professional basketball player for PAOK of the Greek Basketball League (GBL) and the FIBA Europe Cup (FEC).[1] He plays the center position.[2] He played college basketball for Trinidad State College and Southeastern Louisiana University.

Early life

Upson was born in Augusta, Georgia, to Zwencyl Upson and Lelinda Parksand, and lived in Amarillo, Texas.[3][2][4] He is 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) tall, and weighs 205 lb (93 kg).[4]

He attended Harrison High School ('11) in Colorado Springs, Colorado.[4][5] Playing basketball for the high school as a senior, Upson averaged 11.4 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 4.4 blocks per game.[2][6]

College career

In 2011–13, Upson attended and played basketball at Trinidad State College in Trinidad, Colorado.[4] In his freshman season, he averaged 9.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks per game, shooting 61.8% from the field.[7] In his sophomore year, he averaged 10.8 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks (2nd in NJCAA Region IX) per game.[2][8]

In 2013–15, he attended and played basketball at Southeastern Louisiana University ('15).[4][5] In 2013–14, Upson averaged 8.3 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 1.7 blocked shots per game.[2] In 2015, he averaged 10.8 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks per game and was All-Southland Conference Honorable Mention.[4]

Professional career

In 2015–16, Upson played for Starwings Basket Regio Basel of Switzerland's LNA.[4] He averaged 14.6 points, 9.6 rebounds (3rd in the LNA) and 1.0 blocks (3rd) per game.[9] In 2016–17, he played for Helsinki Seagulls of Finland's Korisliiga.[4] He averaged 19.6 points and 0.9 blocks (5th in the league) per game.[10]

In 2017–18, he played for Rapla BS of Estonia's Korvpalli Meistriliiga.[4] Upson averaged 10.9 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks (2nd in the league) per game.[10] In June 2018, he was signed by the Beijing Bucks in the Chinese National Basketball League.[11] Playing for them, he averaged 18 points, 14 rebounds, and 2.4 blocks per game.[12]

In 2018–19, Upson played for Polski Cukier Pszczolka Start Lublin of the Polish Basketball League, averaging 9.7 points, 6.4 rebounds (5th in the league), and 1.1 blocks (2nd) per game.[4] In 2019, he played for Comunicaciones Mercedes of Argentina's Liga, averaging 5.8 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 0.9 blocks per game.[4][13][14]

In 2019–20, he played for Asseco Arka Gdynia of the Polish Basketball League, averaging 7.6 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 1.0 blocks per game.[4][15][16][17] In 2020, Upson played one game for Strasbourg IG of France's Jeep Elite, before the pandemic ended the season.[4][18][19]

In 2020–21, he played for Pallacanestro Trieste 2004 of Italy's Lega Basket Serie A,[4][20] and averaged 7.1 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 0.4 blocks per game.[4] In 2021–22, he played for Merkezefendi Belediyesi Denizli Basket of Turkey's Basketbol Süper Ligi.[4] He averaged 8.8 points, 6.8 rebounds (9th in the league), and 0.8 blocks (6th) per game, while shooting 68% from the field.[4][21][22]

In 2022–23, Upson played for Hapoel Haifa of the Israeli Basketball Premier League.[4][23]

On the 8 February 2024, Upson signed for Trepça of the Kosovo Superleague.[24]

References

  1. ^ "Allianz Pallacanestro Trieste, ufficiale l'arrivo di Zwencyl DeVonte Upson". legabasket.it. March 7, 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d e "DeVonte Upson – Men's Basketball". Southeastern Louisiana University Athletics.
  3. ^ Goddard, Maria (February 10, 2015). "Athlete of the Week". The Lion's Roar.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r "Devonte Upson Player Profile, Southeastern Louisiana". RealGM.
  5. ^ a b "Devonte Upson Player Profile, Hapoel B Cure Lazxr Haifa, News, Stats". Eurobasket.
  6. ^ "Devonte Upson's (Colorado Springs, CO) Harrison High School Basketball Stats".
  7. ^ "Trinidad State Junior College – NJCAA Stats". NJCAA.
  8. ^ "Men's Basketball Preview: Southeastern Louisiana". Southland. October 16, 2013.
  9. ^ "Swiss LNA Stats". RealGM.
  10. ^ a b "Finnish Korisliiga Stats". RealGM.
  11. ^ "DEVONTE UPSON Profile | EuroCup". Euroleague Basketball.
  12. ^ "Devonte Upson joins TBV Start Lublin; The American recently performed in Chinese NBL with Beijing Bucks". Sportando. August 8, 2018.
  13. ^ "Upson: "No conocía mucho la Liga Nacional, es muy exigente"". Basquet Plus. May 15, 2019.
  14. ^ "Devonte Upson se sumó al plantel de Comunicaciones". Basquet Plus. May 6, 2019.
  15. ^ "Arka Gdynia adds big man Upson". 7DAYS EuroCup. June 24, 2019.
  16. ^ "Arka bez środkowego – Devonte Upson we Francji?". PolskiKosz.pl. February 19, 2020.
  17. ^ "Devonte Upson w Gdyni – nowy lotnik w Arce". PolskiKosz.pl. June 24, 2019.
  18. ^ Lupo, Nicola (July 2, 2020). "Trieste in advanced talks with Devonte Upson". Sportando.
  19. ^ "L'intérieur Devonte Upson va renforcer la SIG Strasbourg". BeBasket. February 19, 2020.
  20. ^ "La Pallacanestro Trieste punta il centro Devonte Upson," Basket Marche, July 2, 2020.
  21. ^ "Devonte Upson International Stats," Basketball Reference.
  22. ^ Halickman, Joshua (August 15, 2022). ""Amazing teammate and even more amazing talent" – Who are you Hapoel Haifa big man Devonte Upson?".
  23. ^ "המצטרף השני: דבונטה אפסון חתם בהפועל חיפה". וואלה!. June 30, 2022.
  24. ^ "Trepça firmos me amerikanin me përvojë". Koha (in Albanian). February 8, 2024. Retrieved February 8, 2024.