Dererk Pardon (born October 1, 1996) 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

Altiri Chiba The Altiri Chiba is a professional basketball team that competes in the first division of the Japanese B.League. They are based in Chiba, Chiba. Domestic *B.League(B2) **Champions (1): 2024–25 **Conference Champions (3): 2022-23,2023-24,202 ...

of the

B.League The B.League is a men's professional basketball league in Japan. The league is operated by the Japan Professional Basketball League and was formed as a result of a merger between the National Basketball League that was operated by the FIBA-affi ...

. 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

Northwestern Wildcats The Northwestern Wildcats are the athletic teams that represent Northwestern University, located in Evanston, Illinois. Northwestern is a founding member of the Big Ten Conference and one of two private universities in the conference, the other ...

Early life and high school career

Pardon did not start playing basketball until seventh grade. As a freshman at

Villa Angela-St. Joseph High School Villa Angela-St. Joseph High School is a private Roman Catholic college-preparatory high school located in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. The school's name is commonly abbreviated VASJ. It was formed by the 1990 merger of Villa Angela Academy ...

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

, he played for the

junior varsity team A varsity team is the highest-level team in a sport or activity representing an educational institution. Varsity teams train to compete against each other during an athletic season or in periodic matches against rival institutions. At high schools ...

, despite being recruited by the football coach. He moved up to varsity in his sophomore season and won a Division III state title alongside five-star recruit Carlton Bragg Jr., though in a limited role. He averaged 11.5 points and 10.5 rebounds per game as a junior. As a senior, Pardon averaged 12.3 points and 11 rebounds per game, while recording a school-record 101 blocks, and led his team to a second Division III state championship. In the title game, he posted 15 points, 12 rebounds, and nine blocks. On June 7, 2014, Pardon committed to play

for Northwestern over offers from Xavier and

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

, among others. He was a three-star recruit.

College career

Pardon initially redshirted his true freshman season at Northwestern. However, he burned his redshirt in December due to a rash of injuries. In his second game with Northwestern, on December 30, 2015, Pardon recorded a career-high 28 points and 12 rebounds in an 81–72 win over

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

. In his freshman season, he averaged 6.7 points and 4.2 rebounds per game. On January 26, 2017, in a 73–61 victory over Nebraska, Pardon posted 19 points and a career-high 22 rebounds, the most single-game rebounds by a Northwestern player since Jim Pitts in 1965. On March 1, he made a game-winning layup as time expired from a full-court inbound pass to defeat

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

, 67–65. The victory helped Northwestern secure its first-ever NCAA tournament berth. As a sophomore, Pardon averaged 8.6 points, eight rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game. In his junior season, he averaged 11.3 points, 7.1 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game, with a school-record .619 field goal percentage, and was an honorable mention All-

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

selection by the media. On December 1, 2018, Pardon recorded a senior season-high 24 points and 10 rebounds in a 68–66 loss to

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

. As a senior, he averaged 14 points, 7.8 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game and was an honorable mention All-Big Ten selection by the media and coaches. Pardon finished as Northwestern's all-time leader in career field goal percentage at .603.

Professional career

Pardon played for the

Orlando Magic The Orlando Magic are an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NB ...

2019 NBA Summer League The 2019 NBA Summer League was held at the Thomas and Mack Center and Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas, Nevada on the campus of University of Nevada, Las Vegas. It began on July 1 and ended on July 15. All 30 teams and two national teams, China and Cr ...

. On July 17, 2019, he signed with

Grissin Bon Reggio Emilia Pallacanestro Reggiana, also simply known as Reggiana or Reggio Emilia, currently known for sponsorship reasons as Unahotels Reggio Emilia, is an Italian professional basketball team based in Reggio Emilia, Emilia-Romagna. It plays in the LBA as ...

of the

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). On December 29, Pardon recorded a season-high 16 points, shooting 6-of-6 from the field, and five rebounds in a 96–88 win over

Virtus Roma Virtus Roma 1960, commonly known as Virtus Roma, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Rome, Lazio. The club, named Pallacanestro Virtus Roma competed in the first division of Italian basketball, the LBA, for decades until 2020, whe ...

. On March 1, 2020, it was announced that he would miss about two months of action with a left hand injury suffered in practice. Pardon parted ways with Reggio Emilia two days later to undergo hand surgery in the United States. He finished the season averaging 6.1 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. On June 30, 2020, Pardon signed with

Medi Bayreuth Medi Bayreuth, official stylized as medi bayreuth, is a German professional basketball club that is based in Bayreuth, Germany. It was re-founded as BBC Bayreuth in 1999. The team plays in the ProA, the second-highest division of basketball in Ge ...

of the

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 ...

. On July 4, 2021, Pardon signed with

Hapoel Be'er Sheva Hapoel Be'er Sheva Football Club (, ''Moadon HaKaduregel Hapoel Be'er Sheva'') is an Israeli professional association football, football club from the city of Beersheba, Be'er Sheva, that competes in the Israeli Premier League. The club was estab ...

of the

Israeli Premier League The Israeli Premier League (, Ligat HaAl, ) is a professional association football league in Israel and the highest level of the Israeli football league system. The league is contested by 14 clubs, and operates on a system of promotion and rele ...

. On June 15, 2022, Pardon signed with the

New Zealand Breakers The New Zealand Breakers (also known as the Bank of New Zealand, BNZ Breakers for sponsorship reasons) are a New Zealand professional basketball team based in Auckland. The Breakers are the only non-Australian side currently competing in Austral ...

for the

2022–23 NBL season The 2022–23 NBL season was the 45th season of the National Basketball League since its establishment in 1979. A total of ten teams contested in the 2022–23 season. Australian broadcast rights to the season are held by ESPN in the second sea ...

. On March 21, 2023, he signed with Cangrejeros de Santurce of the

Baloncesto Superior Nacional The Baloncesto Superior Nacional, abbreviated as BSN, is the first-tier-level professional men's basketball list of basketball leagues, league in Puerto Rico. It was founded in 1929 and is organized by the Puerto Rican Basketball Federation. T ...

(BSN). On June 28, 2023, Pardon signed with

of the Japanese

Personal life

Pardon is the son of Cynthia and Donald Pardon.

References

External links

Northwestern Wildcats bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pardon, Dererk 1996 births Living people Altiri Chiba players American expatriate basketball people in Italy American expatriate basketball people in New Zealand American men's basketball players Basketball players from Cleveland Hapoel Be'er Sheva B.C. players New Zealand Breakers players Northwestern Wildcats men's basketball players Pallacanestro Reggiana players Power forwards 21st-century American sportsmen Medi Bayreuth players Cangrejeros de Santurce basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Germany American expatriate basketball people in Israel American expatriate basketball people in Japan