Derrick Dowell (born September 8, 1965) is an American former 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.

Career

Dowell emerged as a promising prospect while playing for

Benjamin Bosse High School Benjamin Bosse High School, referred to as Evansville Bosse High School by the IHSAA, is a public high school of the Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation in Evansville, Indiana, United States. Bosse is the third smallest high school by enroll ...

in his hometown of

Evansville, Indiana Evansville is a city in, and the county seat of, Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States. The population was 118,414 at the 2020 census, making it the state's third-most populous city after Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, the largest city in ...

, leading his team to a 51–2 record during his final two years with the team. He played collegiately with the

USC Trojans The USC Trojans are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Southern California (USC), located in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California. While the men's teams are nicknamed the ' ...

while earning two first-team All-Pac-10 nominations in his final two seasons. Dowell was selected in the

1987 NBA draft The 1987 NBA draft was held on June 22, 1987, in New York City. This draft included two future members of the NBA 50 Greatest Players list, David Robinson and Scottie Pippen, as well as fellow Hall of Famer Reggie Miller, who was named to th ...

by the

Washington Bullets The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays ...

as the 37th overall pick although he never played in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball sports league, 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 i ...

(NBA). He spent one season with the

Rapid City Thrillers The Rapid City Thrillers were a semi-professional basketball team in Rapid City, South Dakota, that competed in the Continental Basketball Association beginning in the 1987 season. They were reincarnated in 1998 as an International Basketball Ass ...

of the

Continental Basketball Association The Continental Basketball Association (CBA) (originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, and later as the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association) was a men's professional basketball m ...

(CBA) before an achilles tendon injury ended his career.

Career statistics

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 1983–84 , style="text-align:left;", USC , 27 , , 10 , , 22.4 , , .434 , , – , , .600 , , 4.6 , , 1.1 , , 1.2 , , .6 , , 6.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1984–85 , style="text-align:left;", USC , 29 , , – , , 32.0 , , .560 , , – , , .617 , , 8.3 , , 2.0 , , 1.6 , , .4 , , 11.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1985–86 , style="text-align:left;", USC , 25 , , 19 , , 31.0 , , .519 , , – , , .698 , , 7.8 , , 1.8 , , 1.5 , , .7 , , 15.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1986–87 , style="text-align:left;", USC , 28 , , 28 , , 36.8 , , .491 , , .273 , , .630 , , 8.8 , , 2.3 , , 2.2 , , .3 , , 20.9 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 109 , , 57 , , 30.6 , , .504 , , .273 , , .640 , , 7.4 , , 1.8 , , 1.6 , , .5 , , 13.6

Personal life

Dowell's sister, Cheryl, was a fellow basketball standout at Bosse High School and played for the

Long Beach State 49ers Long Beach State athletics, or simply Beach athletics (previously known as the 49ers), are the athletic teams that represent California State University, Long Beach. Teams compete in 19 sports at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NC ...

. His daughter, Jalaya, plays

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

for the Oakland City Mighty Oaks and previously for the

Bellarmine Knights The Bellarmine Knights are the athletic teams that represent Bellarmine University, located in Louisville, Kentucky, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the NCAA Division I ranks, primarily competing in the ASUN Conference for most sports s ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dowell, Derrick 1965 births Living people American men's basketball players Basketball players from Indiana Power forwards (basketball) Rapid City Thrillers players Small forwards Sportspeople from Evansville, Indiana USC Trojans men's basketball players Washington Bullets draft picks 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople