Marek Klassen (born June 11, 1992) is a Canadian 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

ESSM Le Portel Étoile Sportive Saint-Michel Le Portel Côte d'Opale, commonly known as ESSM Le Portel or simply Le Portel, is a professional basketball team based in Le Portel, France. The team currently plays in the LNB Pro A, Pro A, the first tier in France. ...

of the

LNB Pro A LNB may refer to: Sport * Liga Nacional de Baloncesto, a professional basketball league in the Dominican Republic * Liga Nacional de Básquetbol, an Argentine basketball league * Liga Nacional de Básquetbol (Paraguay), Liga Nacional de Básquetb ...

. He played college basketball for Point Loma Nazarene.

Highschool career

Klassen attended

Yale Secondary School Yale Secondary is a public High school#Canada, high school in Abbotsford, British Columbia part of School District 34 Abbotsford. There are approximately 1250 full-time students in grades 9 through 12. The current principal of the school is Stan W ...

from 2007–2010. He won two provincial championships with the Yale Lions (2008-2010). In his senior year in 2010 the Yale Lions won the

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

provincial championship. Klassen averaged 33

points per game Points per game, often abbreviated PPG, is the average number of points scored by a player or team per game played in a sport, over the course of a series of games, a whole season, or a career. It is calculated by dividing the total number of poi ...

and was named MVP of the tournament, final game MVP, and Player of the Year in British Columbia. Upon graduation he ranked as a top 5 Canadian point guard.

College career

Klassen started every game of his college career including 31 starts as a freshman leading to the Freshman of the Year award for the

Pacific West Conference The Pacific West Conference (also known as the PacWest) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. Member institutions are located in California and Hawaii. T ...

. As a senior at

Point Loma Point Loma ( Spanish: ''Punta de la Loma'', meaning "Hill Point"; Kumeyaay: ''Amat Kunyily'', meaning "Black Earth") is a seaside community in San Diego, California, United States. Geographically it is a hilly peninsula that is bordered on the ...

in 2014-15 Klassen averaged 12.67 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists in 27.8 minutes in 29 appearances. Other notable accomplishments include Klassen shooting a career 43% from 3 point range, being named as a two sport

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

(Basketball and Track and Field) and

Academic All-American. During his senior year Klassen enrolled in the Point Loma one year

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

program to complete his masters in business before starting his professional career.

Professional career

In 2015 Klassen began his professional career with

CSU Sibiu BC CSU Sibiu is a Romanian professional basketball club, based in Sibiu, Romania. The club competes in the Liga Națională, winning the championship in 1995 and 1999. The home arena is Transilvania Hall, a 1850-seat arena in Sibiu. History In ...

in the Liga Națională. He stayed with CSU Sibiu until January 2016 when he moved to

Leeds Force Leeds Force were an English professional basketball team based in Leeds, West Yorkshire. The Force played in the British Basketball League, the top flight of British basketball. They played their home games at the Carnegie Sports Arena, located ...

of the

British Basketball League The British Basketball League (BBL) was a men's professional basketball sports league, league in Great Britain. Since its establishment in 1987 the BBL represented the highest level of basketball competition within the United Kingdom. The orga ...

. His influence on and off the court helped the Force to make the Playoffs for the first time. Averaging 17.7 points 5.8 rebounds 8.1 assists 2.3 steals per game he led the league in assists, steals, fouls drawn, 5th in

and was named to the BBL team of the year. Following his campaign in Leeds, Klassen joined the

Worcester Wolves The Worcester Wolves are a basketball club in Worcester, England, Worcester, England. The team plays in the National Basketball League (England), NBL Division 2, the third tier of British basketball. The club was formed in 2000, and from 2006 u ...

a top performing club in the British Basketball League during the summer of 2016. Klassen was made Captain of the Wolves. It was a successful season in which the Wolves made it to the BBL Cup Final and BBL Championship Semi-final falling eventually to the

Newcastle Eagles The Newcastle Eagles are a professional basketball club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. They play in Super League Basketball, the top-tier professional basketball league in Britain for men and women, and the European North Basketball Leag ...

by 2 points on aggregate score. Klassen led the team and league in assists averaging 12.3 points, 4.1 rebounds, 6.3 assists per game. Klassen next transitioned to the

Turkish Basketball First League Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The w ...

where he signed with

İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi B.K. İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi B.K. (English: Istanbul Technical University Basketball Club), commonly abbreviated as İTÜ BK or simply İTÜ, is a Turkish professional basketball club that is based in Istanbul, Turkey. It is one of the most succe ...

in August 2017. A successful season in which Klassen averaged 15.12 points, 5.58 rebounds, 6.58 assists per game. He played in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

for the duration of the 2017–2018 season. He finished leading his team in assists and top 3 in the Turkish Basketball league standings. Returning for his second season in the Turkish Basketball First League Klassen signed with

Aliağa Petkim Aliağa Gençlik S.K., known as Aliağa Petkim for sponsorship reasons, was a professional basketball team from the district of Aliağa in İzmir, Turkey. Their home arena was the Enka Sport Hall with a capacity of 2,500 seats. The team competes ...

for the 2018–2019 season. He helped the team reach the league quarterfinals and semi-finals of the Turkish Cup. Klassen averaged 11.5 points and 5.5 assists while shooting 42% from 3 point range. He helped his team to a semi-final appearance and finished top 3 in the Turkish Basketball League in assists. After finishing in early June in Turkey, Klassen returned home to Canada to play in the CEBL. A newly minted

FIBA The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French language, French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. FIBA defines the rules of basketball, specifies the Basketball equipment ...

league. He was drafted 12th overall in the inaugural 2019 CEBL Entry Draft to 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 ...

. Klassen was an all star with the Bandits during the summer season that lasted until late August 2019. He finished the season as CEBL assist leader and set the record for most assists in a game at 15. Klassen signed his next contract with the Erie Bayhawks of the

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

in November 2019. He only stayed in the G League for a limited time as he was tabbed by

Kyiv-Basket Kyiv-Basket () is the Ukrainian basketball club based in Kyiv. Originally founded in 1992 and refounded in 2017, the team plays in the Ukrainian Basketball SuperLeague (UBL). The re-established club made its debut in the Ukrainian Basketball Supe ...

in early January 2020. He is currently averaging 12 points and 8 assists, good enough to lead the league in assists. He has helped the team qualify for the semi-finals of the Ukrainian Cup, and the top 8 of

FIBA Europe Cup The FIBA Europe Cup (FEC) is an annual professional club basketball competition organised by FIBA for eligible European clubs. It is FIBA Europe's second level competition. Clubs mainly qualify based on their performance in national leagues an ...

. On June 25, 2021, he has signed with

Czarni Słupsk Czarni Słupsk, more commonly known as Icon Sea Czarni Słupsk because of sponsorship reasons, is a Polish basketball team, based in Słupsk, playing in Polish Basketball League (PLK). The home arena of the club was Hala Gryfia. History In July ...

of the PLK. On October 12, 2022, he signed with ERA Nymburk of the National Basketball League. On December 28, 2022, he signed with Prometey of the Latvian-Estonian Basketball League. On February 27, 2023, he signed with

Limoges CSP Limoges Cercle Saint-Pierre, commonly referred to as Limoges CSP or CSP, is a French professional basketball club based in the city of Limoges. History The club was founded in 1929, but its peak was during the 1980s and 1990s, when they became t ...

of the

. On August 7, 2023, Klassen signed with Greek club

Karditsa Karditsa ( ) is a city in western Thessaly in mainland Greece. The city of Karditsa is the capital of Karditsa regional unit of the region of Thessaly. Climate Karditsa has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification: '' ...

. On January 5, 2024, his contract was bought out by EuroCup club

Śląsk Wrocław Wrocławski Klub Sportowy Śląsk Wrocław Spółka Akcyjna, commonly known as WKS Śląsk Wrocław (), is a Polish professional Association football, football club based in Wrocław that plays in , the second level of the Polish football leagu ...

. On February 3, 2025, he signed with

of the

References