Delroy James (born June 4, 1987) is a Guyanese-born, naturalized American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player who plays for

Real Estelí Baloncesto Real Estelí Baloncesto is a Nicaraguan basketball team based in Estelí. Founded in 2018, it is the basketball section of the Real Estelí FC Association football, football club, which was founded in 1959. The team entered the Liga Superior de Ba ...

of the BCL Americas. At a height of 2.03 m (6'8") tall, and a weight of 105 kg (232 lbs.), he can play 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. When on Of ...

and

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three or swingman, is one of the five positions in a regulation basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular c ...

positions, with power forward being his main position.

High school career

James only started playing basketball whilst in his sophomore high school year, he left Brooklyn that same year, moving to National Christian Academy (

Fort Washington, Maryland Fort Washington is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. It borders the Potomac River, situated 20 miles south of the downtown Washington, DC. As of the 2020 census it had a p ...

). For his junior year he moved to Florida Prep ( Lake Suzy, Florida) before again transferring the same year, to

Laurinburg Institute Laurinburg Institute is a historic African American preparatory school in Laurinburg, North Carolina. The school was founded in 1904 by Emmanuel Monty and Tinny McDuffie at the request of Booker T. Washington. Emmanuel McDuffie was a graduate ...

. He stayed at Laurinburg for his senior season as they accrued a 24-1 record in 2004–05. During high school he also played in the AAU for New York City sides Aneesa Sports, and the Student-Athlete Broncos,

College career

James was ranked a three star player by both

Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heck ...

and Scout.com, respectively seen as the 30th and 35th best in his position nationally for 2005. He committed to

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020, but i ...

, playing in the

Atlantic 10 Conference The Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I. The A-10's member schools are located in states mostly on the United States Easte ...

of the

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level 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 athleti ...

, in August 2005, signing a letter of intent in November, over other scholarship offers. However, after NCAA Initial-Eligibility issues, he had to sit out the entire 2006–07 season. Later he "violated a team academic rule" according to coach

Jim Baron James Edward Baron (born March 20, 1954) is a retired American college basketball coach. He previously held the position of head coach at Saint Francis University, St. Bonaventure University, the University of Rhode Island and Canisius College ...

, leading to him also missing the first semester of the 2007–08 season. Making his belated debut in the first game of the second semester in December 2007, he had little impact in his freshman season, playing less than 10 minutes on average (3.3 points, 2.4 rebounds) though he had some more notable games. He came to the fore during his first full season the next year as a sophomore. Playing nearly 25 minutes per game, he averaged 9.9 points and 6.1 rebounds (12th in the Atlantic 10), being awarded as A-10 Sixth Man of the Year. During his junior season, he started all games, was second best for Rhode Island in scoring (13.2 ppg), rebounding (5.3 rpg) and steals (1.4 spg) and best in blocks (1.2 bpg), on his way to a selection in the All-Atlantic 10 Third Team and

NABC NABC is an initialism that may refer to any of the following: *North American Bridge Championships, North American contract bridge tournaments * National Association of Basketball Coaches, an American trade association of men's college basketball c ...

All-District 4 Second Team. His performances in the

2010 National Invitation Tournament The 2010 National Invitation Tournament was a single-elimination tournament of 32 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I teams that were not selected to participate in the 2010 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. Th ...

led to a selection to the All-Tournament Team as the Rams made the semi-finals. These included a career high 34 points against

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

, a game in which he was credited for restricting Luke Babbitt, the eighth-leading scorer in the nation at the time with 22.1 points per game, to two field goals made (out of fourteen attempted) for 14 points. In 2010–11, the senior led the Rams in scoring (17.6, 5th in A-10), rebounding (7.8, 6th), steals (1.6, 6th) and blocks, he was only player in the country averaging at least 17.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.0 blocks per game, leading to a selection to the All-Atlantic 10 Second Team, also making the 2011 NABC All-District 4 Second Team and

USBWA The United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) was founded in 1956 by National Collegiate Athletic Association director Walter Byers to serve the interests of journalists who cover college basketball. Scholarships The USBWA annually awar ...

All-District 1 Team. He scored the first

triple-double In basketball, a double-double is a single-game performance in which a player accumulates ten or more in two of the following five statistical categories: points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocked shots. The first "double" in the term ...

in Rhode Island history against Miami (Ohio) in the

2011 College Basketball Invitational The 2011 College Basketball Invitational (CBI) was a single-elimination tournament of 16 NCAA Division I teams that did not participate in the 2011 NCAA Tournament nor the 2011 National Invitation Tournament. The opening round began Tuesday, Marc ...

during his penultimate college game, finishing his Rams career after a loss in the quarterfinals. As of 2014, he was 16th on the URI career scoring list (1,460 points), 8th in career blocks (104), steals (146) and games played (123) and 6th in minutes (1,160).

Professional career

2011–12 season

James attended the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament, organised in April 2011 by the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United ...

prior to the draft. He also enthusiastically attended workouts with different NBA teams to overcome the predictions that saw him undrafted in the

2011 NBA draft The 2011 NBA draft was held on June 23, 2011, at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The draft started at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (23:00 UTC), and was broadcast in the United States on ESPN. Kia Motors was the presenting sponsor ...

. He would go undrafted in the end. Furthermore, the 2011 NBA lockout canceled summer leagues and free agent camps, meaning he would have to move abroad to start his professional career. He joined Israeli team

Bnei Hasharon Bnei Herzliya Basket (, lit. ''Sons of Herzliya''), is a professional basketball club that is based in Herzliya, in the Sharon district in Israel. The club plays in the Israeli Basketball Premier League, the top division of Israeli basketball. It ...

– a team his elder brother Shawn had just left after 3 successful years – signing his first professional contract, a reported six figure deal. He adapted quickly, starting all but one game including three from start to finish, to finish with 16.1 points and 7.7 rebounds on average in 10 games, including a double-double against Shawn's new team, league leaders

Maccabi Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv ( he, מכבי תל אביב) 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 ...

. He also earned an Israeli League player of the week award during his time in the league. However, he was released in January 2012, returning to the U.S. to finish the season with

NBA D-League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official List of developmental and minor sports leagues, minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development ...

team

Tulsa 66ers Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma and List of United States cities by population, 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. ...

, posting 8.8 points and 4.8 rebounds per game.

2012–13 season

After one game in May 2012 for IBA side Jersey G-Force, he attended NBA free agent camps, before playing in the Las Vegas Summer League for the

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays its home games at ...

. There he played totals of 21 minutes in 4 games, for 9 points with 2 rebounds. With the Summer League over, James returned to Europe, this time to Italy with second tier

LegaDue Serie A2, known for sponsorship reasons as Serie A2 Old Wild West, is a men's basketball league in Italy. It constitutes the second-tier of the Italian league pyramid, below the first division LBA and above the third division Serie B, with pro ...

side Basket Ferentino . He signed a one-year deal in August 2012 after General Manager Pierfrancesco Betti – who had seen him play in Portsmouth the year before – persuaded him through an exposé of the club's achievements in propelling foreign players, such as

Manu Ginóbili Emanuel David Ginóbili Maccari (, , ; born 28 July 1977) is an Argentine former professional basketball player. Over a 23-year professional career, he became one of only two players (along with Bill Bradley) to have won a EuroLeague title, an ...

, to stronger sides. He impressed at Ferentino and dominated in the league, leading to a call up to the Legadue All-Star Game, on which occasion he was nominated game MVP.

2013–14 season

After an unfruitful

2013 NBA Summer League The 2013 NBA Summer League is a pro basketball league run by the NBA just after the 2013 NBA draft. It gives newly drafted players a chance to test their skills against each other, and to give them a feel for professional basketball. All 30 NBA ...

with the Utah Jazz, with James not playing a single minute, he joined

Enel Brindisi New Basket Brindisi, for sponsorship reasons named Happy Casa Brindisi or shortly Brindisi, is a professional Italian basketball based in Brindisi, Apulia. It plays in the first division LBA in the 2022–23 season. Founded in 2004, the well- ...

in August 2013, signing a one-year deal with the first division

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Copp ...

side. James had no problem adapting to the higher level of competition and when he was called up to the Serie All-Star Game he was described as "one of the keys to Brindisi's success". In nearly 30 minutes per game, he contributed 12.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game, (the last two respectively 5th and 4th best in the league) as Brindisi finished in fifth place at the end of the regular season. However they were swept in the

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eit ...

, with James missing three free-throws in the dying seconds of the first game 73-75 defeat to

Banco di Sardegna 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 current European Cu ...

. His stats dipped in the playoffs, with 8 points, 7.3 rebounds and 0.3 blocks in more than 31 minutes, with his free throw shooting a measly 55.6%.

2014–15 season

Despite offers from around Europe, James stayed in Apulia for 2014–15, the only foreigner to do so, in order to "finish his work" after the previous season's playoff defeat. He would make his European debut, along with the club, in the Europe-wide third tier

EuroChallenge FIBA EuroChallenge (called the FIBA Europe League in 2003–05, and FIBA EuroCup in 2005–08) was the 3rd-tier level transnational men's professional continental club basketball competition in Europe, from 2003 to 2015. It was organized and run ...

, ending with 10.7 points, 6 rebounds, 0.5 blocks against 3.2 fouls (the latter 3 in the tournament top 20) as Brindisi reached the

quarterfinals A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final mat ...

. In

, Brindisi would finish 6th of the regular season, with James again the 4th best shot blocker after contributing 1.1 blocks per game in around 29 minutes, adding 10.2 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.1 assists against 3.1 fouls and 2.7 turnovers. Brindisi obtained a historic first playoff win during the series against Grissin Bon Reggio Emilia, James' duel with

Achille Polonara Achille Polonara (born November 23, 1991) is an Italian professional basketball player for Virtus Bologna of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) and the EuroLeague. He primarily plays at the power forward position. Professional career Ter ...

was cited as a determinant factor in the following game 3 win, however they would go on to lose the series 3-2.

2015–16 season

During the 2015 offseason, James participated in the Ball Up Million Dollar Summer Challenge

streetball Streetball (or street basketball) is a variation of basketball, typically played on outdoor courts and featuring significantly less formal structure and enforcement of the game's rules. As such, its format is more conducive to allowing players ...

tournament, winning the tournament with New York-based Sean Bell All-Stars and also collecting the MVP prize (along with the prize money). In August 2015, he signed with Russian side Yenisey Krasnoyarsk of the

VTB United League VTB United League (russian: Единая Лига ВТБ) is an international professional men's club basketball league that was founded in 2008. It is made up of mostly Russian clubs, along with one each from Belarus and Kazakhstan. Since 2013, i ...

2016–17 season

On August 10, 2016, James signed with Italian club

Pallacanestro Reggiana Pallacanestro Reggiana, also 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 2022-23 season. History 1970s Pallacanestro ...

. On January 11, 2017, he left Reggiana and signed with Turkish club Best Balıkesir.

2017–18 season

On August 9, 2017, James signed a one-year contract with Greek club

AEK Athens A.E.K ( el, AEK , formally Αθλητική Ένωσις Κωνσταντινουπόλεως; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople''), known as A.E.K, is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadelf ...

. With AEK, he won the

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup ( el, Κύπελλο Ελλάδος Ποδοσφαίρου), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Kypello Elladas is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second most i ...

title, in 2018.

2018–19 season

On August 10, 2018, James signed with

Gaziantep Gaziantep (), previously and still informally #Name, called Aintab or Antep (), is a major city and capital of the Gaziantep Province, in the westernmost part of Turkey's Southeastern Anatolia Region and partially in the Mediterranean Region, Turk ...

of the

Turkish Basketball Super League Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and ...

. On January 2, 2019, James returned to

signed contract until the summer of 2020.

2019–20 season

On August 3, 2019, he has signed with Seoul Samsung Thunders of the

Korean Basketball League The Korean Basketball League (KBL; ) is a professional men's basketball league in South Korea which was established in 1997. The league consists of ten teams and each team plays a total of 54 games (27 home and 27 away) in the regular season. H ...

. On February 9, 2020, he has signed with

UCAM Murcia UCAM Universidad Católica de Murcia Club de Baloncesto, S.A.D., more commonly referred to as UCAM Murcia, is a professional basketball team based in Murcia, Spain. It plays their home games at Palacio de Deportes. History Founded in 1985 ...

of the Liga ACB.

2020–21 season

On September 9, 2020, James signed with Promitheas Patras of the

Greek Basket League The Greek Basket League (GBL), often also referred to as the Greek A1 Basketball League, or Greek Basketball Championship (originally called Panhellenic Basketball Championship), and also known as the Stoiximan Basket League for sponsorship reaso ...

. In January 2021, he signed with

in Nicaragua.

2022–2023 season

In 2022, James signed with Team Cali of the

Baloncesto Profesional Colombiano Baloncesto Profesional Colombiano (in English: Professional Colombian Basketball), currently known as the Liga WPlay de Baloncesto for sponsorship reasons, is the premier professional basketball championship in Colombia. The championship was e ...

The Basketball Tournament (TBT)

In the summer of 2017, James, for the second year, competed in

The Basketball Tournament The Basketball Tournament (TBT) is an open-application, single-elimination tournament played each summer in the United States. The 2022 edition features 64 teams with a $1 million winner-take-all prize, broadcast by ESPN. TBT was founded in 201 ...

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

for Team Fancy. In three games, he averaged 14.0 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists to help lead his team to the Super 16 Round where they lost 65-61 to Boeheim's Army; a team composed of

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

basketball alum. James also competed in TBT in 2015 for the Sean Bell All-Star's. In four games that summer, he averaged 9.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game. In TBT 2018, James averaged 10.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 1.5 steals per game for Team Fancy. They reached the second round before falling to Boeheim's Army. name

Player profile

James is a versatile left-handed combo forward. A hustle player, he does the little things that help his team with a physical and high-energy style. In attack, he starts from the perimeter, working off the dribble or moving without the ball to set up a scoring opportunity. He is deceptively fast and can burst past defenders, using shot fakes and step throughs on the way, though he can lose control of his run and the ball or try low percentage shots. His size and strength allow him to muscle his way to the hoop, shielding the ball with ease, he can finish even through contact. With a good mid-range jump shot, he's hard to guard due to his size, adding his play in the paint it makes him an all-around scoring threat when in form. He shines more in defense, where his hustle play and non-stop effort allow him to make an impact, most notably in rebounding on a statistical front. His physical attributes allow him to guard anyone, from point guard to power forward, though he has been noted to struggle against perimeter players. Never afraid to mix it up he uses his athleticism to keep his man off-balance. Observers feel that for him to play in the

, as a 3, he needs to consistently and confidently make shots from the three point line, getting his shot off quicker and smoother. Finishing college at 24, he was not foreseen at the time to change his playing style radically or develop exponentially, though his work ethic was expected to ensure a long, sustained career.

Personal life

The son of Gordon and Marva James, Delroy has seven siblings, including three sisters and four brothers. Three of his older brothers played basketball at a professional or collegiate level: :- Shawn James played with

club EA7 Emporio Armani Milano. :-Gordon has played professionally in Japan and Latin America. :-Lex played for St. Francis without going professional. His parents moved to the United States from Guyana in 1990 along with four children. They left Delroy with two siblings whilst they made arrangements for them to join them, something that proved possible about 3 years later. Arriving in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, behi ...

aged 7, he struggled to adapt to a completely different environment. Though he skipped classes, he also avoided getting involved in the gangs that were rife in his neighbourghood. He has a son, Jaylen, he cites fatherhood as one of his greatest accomplishments, another is graduating and a declared future goal of his would be to use his sociology degree to become a guidance counselor or mentor to children.

Career statistics

, - , align=center , 2015-16 , align=left , Enisey Krasnoyarsk , align=center , VTB United , 30 , , 27.6 , , .436 , , .341 , , .791 , , 6.5 , , 2.8 , , 1.1 , , .9 , , 12.5 , - , align=center , 2016-17 , align=left , Best Balikesir , align=center ,

TBL Part of the troff suite of Unix document layout tools, tbl is a preprocessor that formats tables in preparation for processing with troff/nroff. Overview Mike Lesk is the original author of tbl. Like the main troff program, it uses command li ...

, 16 , , 32.1 , , .497 , , .426 , , .776 , , 5.7 , , 2.4 , , 1.3 , , .9 , , 15.8 , - , align=center , 2016-17 , align=left , Grissin Bon Reggio Emilia , align=center ,

LBA LBA or lba may refer to: Science * Live blood analysis, the observation of live blood cells through a dark field microscope * Long branch attraction, an error in molecular phylogeny * Ligand binding assay, an assay whose procedure relies on the b ...

, 15 , , 18.1 , , .337 , , .188 , , .571 , , 3.5 , , 1.5 , , .9 , , .9 , , 5.1 , - , align=center , 2017–18 , align=left , A.E.K. , align=center , GBL , 25 , , 20.5 , , .404 , , .227 , , .691 , , 3.5 , , 1.7 , , 1.0 , , .4 , , 7.1 , - , align=center , 2017-18 , align=left , A.E.K. , align=center , BCL , 20 , , 22.0 , , .453 , , .312 , , .700 , , 4.4 , , 1.6 , , 1.1 , , .8 , , 8.7 , - , align=center , 2018-19 , align=left , A.E.K. , align=center , GBL , 27 , , 20.0 , , .456 , , .184 , , .853 , , 3.3 , , 1.5 , , .6 , , .6 , , 7.0 , - , align=center , 2018-19 , align=left , A.E.K. , align=center , BCL , 9 , , 17.3 , , .455 , , .300 , , .800 , , 3.6 , , 1.8 , , 1.0 , , 1.1 , , 5.7 , - , align=center , 2018-19 , align=left , Royal Hali Gaziantep , align=center , T-BSL , 11 , , 24.8 , , .364 , , .333 , , .708 , , 4.4 , , 1.1 , , .6 , , .5 , , 9.1 , - , align=center , 2018-19 , align=left ,

Meralco Bolts The Meralco Bolts is a professional basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association. The team began in 2010 after the Manila Electric Company (MERALCO) acquired the PBA franchise of the Sta. Lucia Realtors. The team is one of three ...

, align=center , PBA , 3 , , 41.2 , , .485 , , .409 , , .650 , , 8.7 , , 6.7 , , 1.7 , , 2.0 , , 28.7 , - , -class=sortbottom , align="center" colspan=2 , Career , All Leagues , 169 , , 22.0 , , .437 , , .310 , , .736 , , 4.3 , , 1.8 , , .9 , , .7 , , 8.9

Honours

Greek Basketball Super Cup The Greek Basketball Super Cup or Greek Basket League Super Cup is the top-tier level professional basketball national super cup competition in Greece. The first edition of the tournament, was organized by the Hellenic Basketball Federation (E. ...

: (

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in ...

)

References

External links

RealGM.com ProfileEurobasket.com ProfileGreek Basket League ProfileItalian League Profile

TBLStat.net Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:James, Delroy 1987 births Living people AEK B.C. players American expatriate basketball people in Greece American expatriate basketball people in Israel American expatriate basketball people in Italy American expatriate basketball people in the Philippines American expatriate basketball people in South Korea American men's basketball players American sportspeople of Guyanese descent Basket Ferentino players Basketball players from New York City Best Balıkesir B.K. players BC Enisey players Bnei HaSharon players CB Murcia players Gaziantep Basketbol players Guyanese men's basketball players Israeli Basketball Premier League players Lega Basket Serie A players Liga ACB players Meralco Bolts players New Basket Brindisi players Pallacanestro Reggiana players Philippine Basketball Association imports Power forwards (basketball) Real Estelí Baloncesto players Rhode Island Rams men's basketball players Seoul Samsung Thunders players Sportspeople from Brooklyn Tulsa 66ers players