Darion Ray Atkins (born September 17, 1992) is an American 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 UnaHotels Reggio Emilia of the Italian

Lega Basket Serie A The Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) is a professional men's club (sport), club basketball list of basketball leagues, league that has been organised in Italy since 1920. Serie A is organised by Lega Basket, which is regulated by the Italian Basketball ...

(LBA). 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 the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

before playing professionally in Israel, France and Germany. Standing at , he primarily plays at the

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to center (basketball), centers and are typi ...

and

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

positions.

Early life and college career

Atkins attended the

Landon School Landon School is a private, college preparatory school for boys in grades 3–12, with an enrollment of approximately 710 students, in Bethesda, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C. Background Paul Landon Banfield and his wife, Mary Lee, ...

Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. Located just northwest of Washington, D.C., it is a major business and government center of the Washington metropolitan region ...

, where he averaged 15.2 points, 12 rebounds and 7.3 blocks per game as a senior, earning All-Interstate Athletic Conference honors. Atkins had offers from Notre Dame and Maryland, but he chose to attend the

, where he averaged 7.6 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in 23.9 minutes per game in his senior year. On March 8, 2015, Atkins was named

ACC Defensive Player of the Year The Atlantic Coast Conference honors players and coaches upon the conclusion of each college football season with the following individual honors as voted on by the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association. Coach of the Year *1953: Jim Tatum, Mar ...

. On April 3, 2015, Atkins was named Lefty Driesell Defensive Player of the Year Award.

Professional career

Westchester Knicks (2015–2016)

After going undrafted in the

2015 NBA draft The 2015 NBA draft was held on June 25, 2015, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. It was televised nationally in the U.S. by ESPN. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and other eli ...

, Atkins joined the

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

for the

2015 NBA Summer League The 2015 NBA Summer League consisted of three professional sports, pro basketball sports league, leagues organized by the National Basketball Association, NBA: the Orlando Magic, Orlando Pro Summer League, Utah Jazz Summer League, and Las Vegas S ...

. On September 10, 2015, Atkins signed with the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...

. However, he was later waived by the New York on October 23 after appearing in three preseason games. On November 2, he was acquired by the

Westchester Knicks The Westchester Knicks are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in White Plains, New York, and are affiliated with the New York Knicks. The Knicks play their home games at Westchester County Center in White Plains, N ...

of the

NBA Development League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is a professional basketball league in North America that serves as the developmental league of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league comprises 31 teams; as of the 2024–25 season, ...

as an affiliate player of New York.

Hapoel Holon (2016–2017)

On July 1, 2016, Atkins joined the

Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. Founded in 1946 i ...

for the

2016 NBA Summer League The 2016 NBA Summer League consisted of three pro basketball leagues organized by the National Basketball Association (NBA): the Orlando Pro Summer League, Utah Jazz Summer League, and Las Vegas Summer League. Ten teams participated in the week ...

. On August 5, 2016, Atkins signed a one-year deal with the Israeli team

Hapoel Holon Hapoel Holon Basketball Club (), is a professional basketball club based in Holon, Israel. The team plays in the Israeli Basketball Premier League (the top tier of Israeli basketball), and internationally in the Basketball Champions League. The ...

. On October 22, 2016, Atkins recorded a career-high 26 points, shooting 11-of-16 from the field, along with 13 rebounds in a 72–81 loss to

Maccabi Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv () is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such as football, basketball, j ...

. On November 3, 2016, Atkins was named Israeli League Player of the Month for games played in October. On April 18, 2017, Atkins participated in the 2017 Israeli League All-Star Game. Atkins helped Holon reach the 2017 Israeli League Playoffs as the first seed, but they eventually were eliminated by

Maccabi Haifa Maccabi Haifa () is one of the biggest sports clubs in Israel and a part of the Maccabi association. It runs several sports clubs and teams in Haifa which have competed in a variety of sports over the years, such as Football, Basketball, Weightl ...

in the Quarterfinals. On June 9, 2017, Atkins earned a spot in the 2017 All-Israeli League Second Team.

SIG Strasbourg (2017–2018)

On July 3, 2017, Atkins joined the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Suns compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA), We ...

for the

2017 NBA Summer League The 2017 NBA Summer League consisted of three pro basketball leagues organized by the National Basketball Association (NBA): the Orlando Pro Summer League, Utah Jazz Summer League, and Las Vegas Summer League. Eight teams participated in the ...

. On July 21, 2017, Atkins signed with the French team

SIG Strasbourg Strasbourg Illkirch-Graffenstaden Basket, most commonly known as SIG Basket or SIG Strasbourg, is a French professional basketball club that is based in Strasbourg. The club, founded in 1929, competes domestically in the French Pro A League. The ...

for the 2017–18 season. On December 5, 2017, Atkins recorded a season-high 23 points, shooting 10-of-12 from the field, along with four rebounds in an 87–72 win over Banvit. He was subsequently made the Champions League Team of the Week. Atkins went on to win the 2018 French Cup with Strasbourg.

Return to Hapoel Holon (2018–2019)

On July 28, 2018, Atkins returned to

for a second stint, signing a one-year deal with an option for another one. On March 16, 2019, Atkins recorded a double-double of 25 points and 12 rebounds, shooting 10-of-13 from the field, along with two assists in a 101–82 win over

Hapoel Jerusalem Hapoel Jerusalem is a sport organization in Jerusalem as a local branch of the Hapoel movement. The branch was established in the 1920s and represents the city in more sports than any other sport organization in Jerusalem. Today, the club's lead ...

. He was subsequently named Israeli League Round 22 MVP. Atkins helped Holon reach the 2019 FIBA Europe Cup Semifinals, where they eventually were eliminated by

Dinamo Sassari Polisportiva Dinamo, commonly known as Dinamo Sassari and currently known as Dinamo Banco di Sardegna Sassari for sponsorship reasons, is an Italian professional basketball club that is based in Sassari, Sardinia. They are the 2018–19 European ...

Iberostar Tenerife (2019)

On July 19, 2019, Atkins signed with Spanish club

Iberostar Tenerife Club Cantera Base 1939 Canarias S.A.D., commonly known as CB Canarias and known as La Laguna Tenerife for sponsorship reasons, is a professional basketball team that is based in La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain. Domestically, the team plays in the top- ...

. On December 18, 2019, he parted ways with Tenerife after appearing in 17 games.

Brose Bamberg (2019–2020)

On December 19, 2019, Atkins signed with

Brose Bamberg Bamberg Baskets is a German professional basketball team from Bamberg, Franconia/North Bavaria. The club has won the German Championship title nine times and the German Cup six times. The club currently plays in the German top tier Basketball ...

of the German

Basketball Bundesliga The Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) (English language: ''Federal Basketball League''), for sponsorship reasons named easyCredit BBL, is the German basketball league system, highest level Sports league, league of professional club basketball in German ...

for the rest of the season. He averaged 8.0 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game.

AEK (2020)

On September 22, 2020, Atkins signed with

AEK Athens A.E.K. (; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople'') is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadelfeia, Attica. The club is more commonly known in European competitions as A.E.K. Athens. Establishe ...

of the

Greek Basket League The Greek Basketball League (GBL), and also known as the Stoiximan Greek Basketball League (GBL) for sponsorship reasons, is the Greek basketball league system, first tier level professional basketball league in Greece. It is run by the ...

and the

Basketball Champions League The Basketball Champions League (BCL), also commonly known as the FIBA Champions League, is an annual professional basketball competition for European sports club, clubs, organised by FIBA. It is the European professional club basketball system ...

Fethiye Belediyespor (2020–2021)

On October 15, 2020, he has signed with Lokman Hekim Fethiye Belediyespor of the Turkish BSL.

Niners Chemnitz (2021–2022)

On July 24, 2021, he has signed with

Niners Chemnitz Niners Chemnitz e.V., also named Chemnitz 99, is a German basketball club based in Chemnitz, Saxony. Currently, the team plays in the Basketball Bundesliga. Since its foundation in 1999, the team has played in Germany's lower divisions but mov ...

of the

Aquila Basket Trento (2022–2023)

On July 26, 2022, he has signed with

Dolomiti Energia Trento Aquila Basket Trento, also known for sponsorship reasons as Dolomiti Energia Trento, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Trent, Trentino. It was founded in 1995 as an amalgamation of two local clubs, going from the amateur divisi ...

of the Italian

(LBA).

Personal life

The son of Minnette Atkins, he has a twin brother, Darius (a professional dancer in New York City) and majored in sociology. Atkins claims soccer as his favorite sport other than basketball, and cites

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...

as his favorite soccer team.

Career statistics

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2011–12 , style="text-align:left;",

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

, 27 , , 0 , , 10.2 , , .581 , , .000 , , .579 , , 2.3 , , .1 , , .4 , , .7 , , 2.3 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 26 , , 12 , , 15.7 , , .491 , , .000 , , .600 , , 3.1 , , .3 , , .4 , , 1.1 , , 4.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2013–14 , style="text-align:left;",

, 37 , , 3 , , 10.4 , , .484 , , .000 , , .583 , , 2.2 , , .3 , , .2 , , .5 , , 3.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2014–15 , style="text-align:left;",

, 33 , , 27 , , 23.9 , , .511 , , .000 , , .520 , , 6.0 , , .7 , , .8 , , 1.1 , , 7.6 , -class="sortbottom" , colspan=2 style="text-align:center;", Career , 123 , , 42 , , 15.1 , , .508 , , .000 , , .562 , , 3.4 , , .4 , , .5 , , .8 , , 4.4

Domestic Leagues

, - , style="text-align:center;" rowspan=1, 2015–16 , style="text-align:left;" rowspan=1,

, style="text-align:center;" rowspan=1,

NBDL The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is a professional basketball league in North America that serves as the developmental league of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league comprises 31 teams; as of the 2024–25 season, ...

, 50 , , 29.4 , , .462 , , .167 , , .562 , , 7.3 , , 1.7 , , .9 , , 1.3 , , 8.7 , - , style="text-align:center;" rowspan=1, 2016–17 , style="text-align:left;" rowspan=1,

, style="text-align:center;" rowspan=1, IPL , 37 , , 27.2 , , .590 , , .375 , , .616 , , 8.2 , , .6 , , .7 , , .7 , , 13.6 , - , style="text-align:center;" rowspan=1, 2017–18 , style="text-align:left;" rowspan=1,

, style="text-align:center;" rowspan=1, Pro A , 41 , , 21.2 , , .497 , , .260 , , .697 , , 4.7 , , 1.2 , , .6 , , .6 , , 8.8 , - , style="text-align:center;" rowspan=1, 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;" rowspan=1,

, style="text-align:center;" rowspan=1, IPL , 37 , , 24.3 , , .596 , , .394 , , .737 , , 7.2 , , 1.0 , , .7 , , 1.0 , , 12.4 , - , style="text-align:center;" rowspan=1,

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, style="text-align:left;" rowspan=1, Canarias , style="text-align:center;" rowspan=1, ACB , 10 , , 13.5 , , .209 , , .125 , , .500 , , 2.5 , , .5 , , .0 , , .1 , , 2.4 , - Source
RealGM
/small>

References

External links

RealGM profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Atkins, Darion 1992 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in France American expatriate basketball people in Germany American expatriate basketball people in Israel American expatriate basketball people in Spain American men's basketball players Aquila Basket Trento players Bamberg Baskets players CB Canarias players Centers (basketball) Fethiye Belediyespor players Hapoel Holon B.C. players Liga ACB players Niners Chemnitz players People from Clinton, Maryland Basketball players from Prince George's County, Maryland Power forwards SIG Strasbourg players Virginia Cavaliers men's basketball players Westchester Knicks players 21st-century American sportsmen