Brandon Gilbeck (born December 9, 1996) is an American-Taiwanese professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player for the

Formosa Dreamers The Formosa Dreamers ( zh, 福爾摩沙夢想家) are a Taiwanese professional basketball team based in Taichung City. They have competed in the Taiwan Professional Basketball League (TPBL) and play their home games at the Taichung Intercontinental ...

of the

Taiwan Professional Basketball League The Taiwan Professional Basketball League (TPBL, zh, 台灣職業籃球大聯盟) is a professional basketball List of basketball leagues, league in Taiwan composed of 7 teams. It is the fourth Taiwanese professional basketball league after the ...

(TPBL). He played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

for

Western Illinois Forgottonia (), also spelled Forgotonia, is the name given to a 16-county region in Western Illinois in the late 1960s and early 1970s. This geographic region forms the distinctive western bulge of Illinois (area west of 90° Longitude West) t ...

High school career

Gilbeck played basketball for River Valley High School in

Spring Green, Wisconsin Spring Green is a village in Sauk County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,566 at the 2020 census. The village is located within the Town of Spring Green. It is perhaps best known for the architect Frank Lloyd Wright's estate ...

. As a senior, he averaged 17.4 points, 10.7 rebounds and 3.9 blocks per game. Gilbeck was named Wisconsin Division 5 All-State Honorable Mention and graduated as his school's all-time leader in blocks.

College career

Gilbeck played for

for four years. As a sophomore, he set a single-season school record with 85 blocks and ranked fourth in the

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

with three blocks per game. In his junior season, Gilbeck was named

Summit League The Summit League, or The Summit, is an NCAA Division I intercollegiate athletic conference with its membership mostly located in the Midwestern United States, from Minnesota in the east, to the Dakotas, Nebraska and Colorado to the West, and Mis ...

Defensive Player of the Year and All-Summit League Honorable Mention. He became Western Illinois' all-time leader in blocks. Gilbeck averaged 10.8 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 2.6 blocks per game as a junior. On November 17, 2018, Gilbeck posted nine points and a career-high 19 rebounds in a 68–66 overtime loss to Eastern Illinois. On February 7, 2019, Gilbeck recorded 14 points, 16 rebounds and 10 blocks against Purdue Fort Wayne, the first triple-double in the Summit League since 2007. He averaged 3.42 blocks per game, which led NCAA Division I, repeated as Summit League Defensive Player of the Year and earned Second Team All-Summit League honors. Gilbeck also averaged 9.5 points and 8.5 rebounds per game as a senior.

Professional career

On August 8, 2019, Gilbeck signed his first professional contract with

Horsens IC Horsens Idræts Club Basketball, commonly known as Horsens IC or Horsens, is a professional basketball team based in Horsens, Denmark. The club plays at the Forum Horsens, which can accommodate 4,000 people. The team holds six titles in the Bask ...

of the Danish

Basketligaen The Basketligaen (English: The Basketball League) is the highest professional basketball league in Denmark. The men’s first division was originally founded in 1957. Over the years, the league has undergone several name changes due to sponsorsh ...

. He averaged 9.4 points, 6.7 rebounds and a league-high 2.9 blocks per game before the season was cut short due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. On July 30, 2020, Gilbeck signed with Latina Basket of the Italian

Serie A2 Basket Serie A2, known for sponsorship reasons as Serie A2 Old Wild West, is a men's basketball list of basketball leagues, league in Italy. It constitutes the second-tier of the Italian basketball league system, Italian league pyramid, below the firs ...

. On June 2, 2021, Gilbeck signed with the

Fraser Valley Bandits The Vancouver Bandits are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Langley, British Columbia, that competes in the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL). The Bandits play home games at Langley Events Centre, located in the Fraser Valle ...

of the

Canadian Elite Basketball League The Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL; ) is the premier men's professional basketball league in Canada, as recognized by Canada Basketball. The CEBL was founded in 2017 and began play in 2019 with six teams all owned and operated by owner ...

. He averaged 14.1 points, 7.7 rebounds, and a league-high 2.8 blocks per game. On August 18, he was named the league

Defensive Player of the Year Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY or DPOTY) is the name of an award given in sports for outstanding defensive play by a single player over the course of a season. Many sports leagues award this type of award. League awards for Defensive Player o ...

. Gilbeck signed with the

Formosa Taishin Dreamers The Formosa Dreamers ( zh, 福爾摩沙夢想家) are a Taiwanese professional basketball team based in Taichung City. They have competed in the Taiwan Professional Basketball League (TPBL) and play their home games at the Taichung Intercontinental ...

of the P. League+ on September 8. In July 2024, the

Chinese Taipei Basketball Association The Chinese Taipei Basketball Association (CTBA; ) is the governing body of basketball in Taiwan (Republic of China). Its official name in Chinese is Republic of China Basketball Association (). The CTBA is a member of FIBA and FIBA Asia. The fe ...

signed Gilbeck to a naturalized player's contract. Following ratification of the contract by the Taiwanese

Ministry of the Interior An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, the ...

and the

Sports Administration The Sports Administration (SA; ) is a sub-agency of the Taiwanese Ministry of Education. History The Sport Administration was initially established in 1932 as the Sports Council (體育委員會). On 12 January 1998, the Sports Affairs Council ...

, Gilbeck would be eligible to play for the

Chinese Taipei men's national basketball team The Chinese Taipei men's national basketball team is the men's basketball team representing the Republic of China on Taiwan in international competitions, organised and run by the Chinese Taipei Basketball Association (CTBA; ). The team was know ...

. On August 2, 2024, Gilbeck re-signed with the

of the

(TPBL). He was the league's blocks leader for the 2024–25 season. On June 2, 2025, Gilbeck awarded the Defensive Player of the Year and All-Defensive First Team of the TPBL in 2024–25 season. On June 6, Gilbeck was selected to the All- TPBL Second Team in 2024–25 season. On July 16, 2025, Gilbeck re-signed with the

of the

(TPBL).

References

External links

Western Illinois Leathernecks bio
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gilbeck, Brandon 1996 births Living people American men's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Canada American expatriate basketball people in Denmark American expatriate basketball people in Italy Basketball players from Wisconsin Western Illinois Leathernecks men's basketball players Horsens IC players Vancouver Bandits players People from Spring Green, Wisconsin Centers (basketball) American expatriate basketball people in Taiwan Formosa Dreamers players P. League+ imports Taiwan Professional Basketball League imports 21st-century American sportsmen Naturalized citizens of Taiwan Naturalised basketball players Taiwanese men's basketball players Taiwanese people of American descent