Derek Ryan Needham (born October 20, 1990) is an American-born naturalized Montenegrin 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 Beşiktaş Emlakjet of the

Basketbol Süper Ligi The Basketball Super League (; TBSL), also known as the Türkiye Sigorta Basketbol Süper Ligi for sponsorship reasons, is the top men's professional basketball division of the Turkish basketball league system. It replaced the former Turkish Bas ...

(BSL). Standing at , he plays the

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the Basketball positions, five positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position and is usually the shortest player ...

position. Needham played college basketball for

Fairfield University Fairfield University is a private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit university in Fairfield, Connecticut. It was founded by the Jesuits in 1942. In 2023, the university had about 5,000 full-time undergraduate students and 1,200 gra ...

where he was named to the CollegeInsider.com Freshman All-America team in 2010 and was All- MAAC for four straight years between 2010 and 2013. Since 2017, Needham represents the senior

Montenegrin national basketball team The Montenegro men's national basketball team () represents Montenegro in international basketball tournaments. The supervising body is the Basketball Federation of Montenegro. Montenegro joined FIBA in 2006, following the restoration of 2006 ...

in international competitions.

Player career

High school

Needham is a native of

Dolton, Illinois Dolton () is a village in Thornton Township, Illinois, Thornton Township, Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 21,426 at the 2020 census. Dolton is located just west of the expressway Interstate 94 in Illinois, Interstate 94 ...

and attended the

De La Salle Institute De La Salle Institute is a private, Catholic, coeducational high school run by the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools in the Bronzeville neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois. It was founded by Brother Adjutor o ...

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. During his senior season in 2009, Needham helped the

Meteors A meteor, known colloquially as a shooting star, is a glowing streak of a small body (usually meteoroid) going through Earth's atmosphere, after being heated to incandescence by collisions with air molecules in the upper atmosphere, creating a ...

basketball team reach the Class 4A sectional final while earning All-

Chicago Catholic League The Chicago Catholic League (CCL) is a high school athletic conference based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. All of the schools are part of the Illinois High School Association, the governing body for Illinois scholastic sports. While some ...

and All-State second team honors. Needham also received the

George Eastman George Eastman (July 12, 1854March 14, 1932) was an American entrepreneur who founded the Kodak, Eastman Kodak Company and helped to bring the photographic use of roll film into the mainstream. After a decade of experiments in photography, he ...

Young Leaders Award and was named to the

All-Academic team.

College career

Needham played college basketball for

Fairfield, Connecticut Fairfield is a New England town, town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. It borders the city of Bridgeport, Connecticut, Bridgeport and towns of Trumbull, Connecticut, Trumbull, Easton, Connecticut, Easton, Weston, Connecticut, W ...

from 2010 to 2013. During his freshman season with the

Fairfield Stags The Fairfield Stags are the athletic programs representing Fairfield University in Fairfield, Connecticut. Most of the programs are members of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) and classified as Division I (non-football) in the Nat ...

, Needham earned MAAC Rookie of the Year after receiving a then league record 10 Rookie of the Week awards and setting Fairfield freshman records with 543 points and 172 assists. He was also named to the CollegeInsider.com Freshman All-America team. Needham is third on the all-time scoring list at Fairfield, with 1,875 points and 535 assists. He set a new record for three-pointers in a season, with 74 in his senior year. He earned All- MAAC honors during all four seasons, and earned spots on the NABC Division I All-District 1, All-Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association (MBWA) and All-Jesuit teams.

Professional career

During the 2013–2014 season, Needham played for

BC Šiauliai BC Šiauliai () is the professional basketball club of Šiauliai, Lithuania. The club competes in the Lithuanian Basketball League. It has won the 3rd place award (behind Lithuanian basketball giants BC Lietuvos Rytas, Lietuvos Rytas and BC Žalgi ...

in the

Lithuanian Basketball League Lithuanian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Lithuania, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe ** Lithuanian language ** Lithuanians, a Baltic ethnic group, native to Lithuania and the immediate geographical region ** L ...

and

Baltic Basketball League Baltic Basketball League (BBL) was the Baltic states basketball league founded in 2004. The league mainly focused on teams from the Baltic states, but teams from Sweden, Russia, Kazakhstan, Finland, and Belarus Belarus, officially the Rep ...

. During the 2014–2015 season, Needham led

BC Khimik Khimik Yuzhne () is a Ukrainian professional basketball club that is based in Pivdenne. The club plays in the Ukrainian Basketball SuperLeague. In 2006, the club reached the final of the EuroCup Challenge, where they were defeated by Ural Great ...

to a perfect 36–0 season and the

Ukrainian Basketball SuperLeague The Ukrainian Basketball SuperLeague (USL) () is the first-tier level of professional basketball league in Ukraine. Established in 1992, the league is currently contested by 10 clubs. It is a tier above the Ukrainian Higher League and allows for o ...

championship. He was named the most valuable player of the championship. During the 2015–2016 season, Needham first played for

Basketball Löwen Braunschweig Basketball Löwen Braunschweig () is a basketball club based in Braunschweig, Germany. The club currently plays in the Basketball Bundesliga, the top tier of German basketball. The club's home arena is Volkswagen Halle. Founded in 2001 as Metabox ...

in 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 ...

and then joined

Pallacanestro Reggiana 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 ...

in 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 ...

. He helped lead

to the

championship game where he competed against his former

teammate Rakim Sanders of

Olimpia Milano Pallacanestro Olimpia Milano, commonly known as Olimpia Milano or as EA7 Emporio Armani Milan after its title sponsor, is an LBA Italian professional basketball team, based in Milan, Italy. Its colors are white and red, and the team is sometimes ...

. On July 12, 2017, Needham signed with Montenegrin club Mornar. Following the 2017–2018 season, EuroBasket.com named Needham to its FIBA All-Imports team after finishing 5th in scoring (17.2 ppg) and leading Mornar to the quarterfinals of 2017–18 FIBA Europe Cup Play-offs. On June 30, 2021, he has signed with Frutti Extra Bursaspor of the

. On June 29, 2023, he signed with

Beşiktaş Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 18 km2 and its population is 175,190 (2022). It is located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and ...

of the

International career

Needham is a citizen of

Montenegro , image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg , coa_size = 80 , national_motto = , national_anthem = () , image_map = Europe-Mont ...

and is a member of the Montenegro national team since 2017. He was part of the Montenegro team that qualified for the 2019 FIBA World Cup.

References

External links