DeAngelo Marquis Collins (born November 21, 1982) is an American former professional basketball player.

High school career

The son of single mother Loretta Marie Taylor, he grew up in

Stockton, California Stockton is a city in and the county seat of San Joaquin County, California, San Joaquin County in the Central Valley (California), Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. It is the most populous city in the county, the List of municipal ...

, in a low-income neighborhood and since the beginning of his high school career Collins was a promising basketball player whose career was often slowed down by discipline issues. During his first year at Tustin High he was involved in a fight with a teammate, during which Collins caused serious injuries to the other student and was sentenced to 6 months in juvenile hall. After several more issues with the law (including another sentence for 2 months to be served in juvenile detention), Collins and his mother moved to

Inglewood, California Inglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States, in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the city had a population of 107,762. ...

, in an attempt to change the violent attitude of the teenager. This decision proved beneficial to the young Collins, who reportedly started to improve his behavior, helped by the guidance of Inglewood high school coach Patrick Roy.BEST In, Upperclassmen, Foreigners, Underclassmen, Junior College, High
ESPN.com. While he averaged 12 points and 12 rebounds in his 29 games of his freshman season at Tustin, he improved his numbers and recorded averages of 20 points and 15 rebounds in his sophomore year. Collins became nationally known during his last year of high school, during which he reached the first positions of most rankings:
/ref>
, Hoop Scoop. throughout his senior year he was consistently ranked among the top 10 players of his class, going as high as 7th in the nation.Mark Mayemura

ESPN.com. During the 2001

ABCD Camp The ABCD Basketball Camp was a youth basketball camp founded by Sonny Vaccaro that was held from 1984 to 2006. The camp gathered the highest ranked high school players of the United States, and was considered one of the top events of high school ...

he was ranked among the top 10 players and was named MVP of the Seniors All-Star Game with 23 points and 10 rebounds.Final Ranking of the Top Players at the adidas ABCD Camp
Hoop Scoop. He also played during the Youth Development Festival organized by

USA Basketball USA Basketball (USAB) is a non-profit organization and the governing body for basketball in the United States. The organization represents the United States in FIBA, and the men's and women's national basketball teams in the United States ...

. According to various experts who watched him play during his high school days, his skillset was unusual: while his 6-9 frame (several sources listed him at 6–10) generally made him play as a

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 ...

during his high school games, he was capable of playing 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 ...

position thanks to his shooting skills and his quickness: he was frequently described as having the body of a big man and the skills of a

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison gu ...

.Draft Tracker - DeAngelo Collins
/ref> This also represented one of his weaknesses: while he had good skills in several parts of the game, he did not truly excel in any of them. After averaging 24.5 points and 17.4 rebounds, Collins was selected as a Third-team ''Parade'' All-American and as a

McDonald's All-American McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American multinational fast food chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese chain Mixue Ice Cream & Tea. Brothers ...

. During the

2002 McDonald's All-American Boys Game The 2002 McDonald's All-American Boys Game was an All-star basketball game played on Thursday, April 4, 2002 at the Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. The game's rosters featured the best and most highly recruited high school boys ...

he scored 15 points and recorded 6 rebounds. On May 1, 2002, Collins announced that he was going to skip college and enter the

2002 NBA draft The 2002 NBA draft was held on June 26, 2002, at The Theater at Madison Square Garden. In this draft, National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting 57 amateur college basketball players and other first-time eligible players, ...

as an early entrant.Roseto: ingaggiato DeAngelo Collins
/ref>

Professional career

During the 2002 draft, no NBA team selected Collins, who was then allowed to sign for any team as an unrestricted free agent. Despite having participated in the

Toronto Raptors The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), E ...

preseason camp, he did not receive any offers from the Raptors or any NBA team, and he decided to start his professional career in Europe. His first professional club was

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 ...

-based Darüşşafaka S.K., and he played 1 game in the

2002–03 ULEB Cup The 2002–03 ULEB Cup was the inaugural season of Europe's secondary level professional club basketball tournament, the ULEB Cup, which is organised by Euroleague Basketball. The 2003 ULEB Cup Finals were played between Pamesa Valencia and Kr ...

: in 14 minutes of play he scored both of his field goals, scoring 4 points and recording 3 rebounds. Collins briefly played for several teams and struggled to find stability: in January 2004 he signed for Central Entrerriano, in the Argentine

Liga Nacional de Básquet Liga (Spanish and Portuguese: ''League'') or LIGA may refer to: Sports Basketball * Liga ACB, men's professional basketball league in Spain * Liga Femenina de Baloncesto, women's professional basketball league in Spain Football Latin Amer ...

, as a temporary replacement for Anthony Bishop, and played only 4 games there, averaging 20.5 points, 12.8 rebounds and 2.5 blocks. After the short stint in Argentina he transferred to

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, where he played for the Juarez Gallos. In 2004 he was called by the

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, also known colloquially as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlan ...

to be part of their Summer League squad, but he had to move to another country once more to find playing time: he signed for

Red Bull Barako Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–750 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondary ...

of the Philippine league. He came back to the United States to play for the Florida Flame, where he appeared in 12 games, averaging only 2.3 points and 4.3 rebounds.Chris Wang
SBL Imports Situation
Jumpshot.sg, November 21, 2011. At the beginning of 2005 he signed for Yunnan Honghe in the

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

CBL, where he played 16 games with drastically improved averages of 28.9 points and 16.6 rebounds. After a brief experience at Grises de Humacao in

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

, Collins came back to Europe and in July 2005 he signed for Italian club Roseto, but during his three months there he only played 4 games, averaging 3.8 points and 6.3 rebounds in 15 minutes of play. The Italian team released him on October 22, 2005, following to several disciplinary issues, among which an argument with teammate

Jack Michael Martínez Jack Michael Martínez (born October 12, 1981) is a Dominican former professional basketball player. High school career Jack Martinez attended Artesia High School (Lakewood, California), Artesia High School in Lakewood, California, playing along ...

that almost escalated in a fight. After Italy, Collins decided to play for the Dodge City Legend in the

USBL The United States Basketball League (USBL) was a professional men's spring basketball league. The league was formed in 1985 and ceased operations in 2008. The USBL started in 1985 as one of the first basketball leagues to play a late-spring to ...

, appearing in 13 games. Another NBA team gave Collins a chance during the 2007

Summer Pro League The Summer Pro League (SPL), formerly known as the Southern California Summer Pro League, was a basketball league held every summer in Long Beach, California. The SPL moved to the Walter Pyramid on the campus of Long Beach State in 1995. Before t ...

: the

Dallas Mavericks The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Divisi ...

. He was not included in the final roster and had again to go abroad, this time in

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

when he averaged 10 points per game with Orthodox, and in March 2007 he moved to

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

where he played 5 games with

Cocodrilos de Caracas Cocodrilos de Caracas () is a Venezuelan professional basketball club based in Caracas. Established in 1990, the club competes in the Superliga Profesional de Baloncesto (SPB), and has won the national championship six times. The Cocodrilos' home ...

, averaging 8.4 points, 9.2 rebounds, 0.6 assists and 1 block per game in 26.4 minutes of playing time. After two short stints in

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

and in the American WCBL, Collins found a relatively stable role as a starter in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

, where he joined the

Seoul SK Knights The Seoul SK Knights () is a professional basketball club in the Korean Basketball League. The club was originally founded by Jinro Group in 1997 as Cheongju Jinro McCass. Before the official launch of the basketball club, Jinro Group filed fo ...

for 33 games, averaging 11.6 points and 10.3 rebounds. In January 2010 he came back to China, signing for the

Jilin Northeast Tigers The Jilin Northeast Tigers () or Jilin Tonggang, Jilin Tonggang Northeast Tigers () or Jiutai Rural Commercial Bank are a professional basketball team based in Changchun, Jilin, China, which plays in the North Division of the Chinese Basketball A ...

, where he appeared in 14 games. He played again in Puerto Rico and Venezuela and in 2011 he signed for Shenyang Dongjin, posting averages of 23.1 points and 12.5 rebounds in 19 games.

Notes

References

External links