Keron Melique DeShields (born December 4, 1992) is an American 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 Al-Ittihad Jeddah of the

Saudi Basketball League The Saudi Basketball League (SBL) is the highest tier of men's and women's basketball in Saudi Arabia. Current clubs Men's league Women's League Former teams Champions of the Saudi Premier League The elite Championship Cup P ...

(SBL). He played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

for the

University of Montana The University of Montana (UM) is a public research university in Missoula, Montana, United States. UM is a flagship institution of the Montana University System and its second largest campus. Fall 2024 saw total enrollment hit 10,811, marki ...

and

Tennessee State University Tennessee State University (Tennessee State, Tenn State, or TSU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, it is the only state-funded historically black university in Tennes ...

before playing professionally in Italy, Hungary, Israel, Greece and Lithuania. DeShields was named the Israeli National League Finals MVP in 2019.

Early life and college career

DeShields attended Vermont Academy in Saxtons River, Vermont, where he averaged a team-high 20 points and 5.0 assists per game, and was a first team all-conference selection as a senior. Deshields played three years at

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

. He helped the Grizzlies to reach the Big Sky Tournament Championships and NCAA Tournament berths in 2012 and 2013. On March 10, 2014, DeShields was named Honorable Mention All- Big Sky, alongside his teammate Jordan Gregory. On May 30, 2014, Deshields was transferred from Montana to Tennessee State, but sat out first season at Tennessee State per NCAA Transfer rules. In his senior year at Tennessee State, DeShields led the team and ranked seventh in the

Ohio Valley Conference The Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States. It participates in Division I of the NCAA; the conference's football programs compete in partnership with ...

with 16.5 points per game and also averaged 3.3 rebounds and 3.0 assists in 32.8 minutes per game. DeShields was named First Team All-OVC, OVC All-Newcomer Team and NABC First Team All-District 19.

Professional career

2016–17 season

On July 16, 2016, DeShields started his professional career with Latina Basket of the Italian

Serie A2 Basket Serie A2, known for sponsorship reasons as Serie A2 Old Wild West, is a men's basketball list of basketball leagues, league in Italy. It constitutes the second-tier of the Italian basketball league system, Italian league pyramid, below the firs ...

, signing a one-year deal. On December 11, 2016, DeShields recorded a season-high 30 points, shooting 12-of-21 from the field, in a 93–90 win over

Viola Reggio Calabria Viola Reggio Calabria is an Italian professional basketball club based in Reggio Calabria, Calabria. At its heyday the club was renowned for discovering talented players who would go on to play at the highest level, for example five former player ...

. In 30 games played for Latina, DeShields averaged 15.5 points, 4.7 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.1 steals per game.

2017–18 season

On September 11, 2017, DeShields signed a one-year deal with the Hungarian team Jászberényi KSE. On January 12, 2018, DeShields parted ways with Jászberényi to join Debreceni EAC. On February 6, 2018, he parted ways with Debreceni after appearing in four games. On February 19, 2018, DeShields signed with the Israeli team Hapoel Afula for the rest of the Israeli National League season, as injury cover for

Tre Simmons Chester Simmons III (born July 24, 1982), better known as Tre Simmons, is an American former professional basketball player and current coach. He played college basketball for Odessa, Green River CC and Washington before playing professionally i ...

. On March 20, 2018, DeShields recorded a career-high 32 points, shooting 11-of-18 from the field, along with nine rebounds and eight assists in a 93–86 win over Maccabi Hod HaSharon. On April 30, 2018, DeShields signed with the Greek team Rethymno Cretan Kings for the rest of the season, replacing Malcolm Armstead.

2018–19 season

On June 28, 2018, DeShields returned to Israel for a second stint, signing a two-year deal with

Maccabi Haifa Maccabi Haifa () is one of the biggest sports clubs in Israel and a part of the Maccabi association. It runs several sports clubs and teams in Haifa which have competed in a variety of sports over the years, such as Football, Basketball, Weightl ...

. On April 23, 2019, DeShields recorded a season-high 30 points, shooting 11-of-22 from the field, along with four rebounds and seven assists in an 85–82 playoff win over

Maccabi Ra'anana Maccabi Ra'anana () is a professional basketball club that is based in Ra'anana, Israel. The club plays in the Liga Leumit (basketball), Israeli National League, the second-tier division league of Israel. History Maccabi Ra'anana was founded in 19 ...

. On May 24, 2019, DeShields led Haifa to win the 2019 Israeli National League Championship after averaging 18.2 points in four games played in the final series against

Hapoel Galil Elyon Hapoel Galil Elyon (), also known as Hapoel Nofar Energy Galil Elion for sponsorship reasons, is an Israeli basketball club. The team competes in the Israeli Basketball Premier League, the top tier of Israeli basketball, and internationally in t ...

. He was subsequently named the Finals MVP.

2019–20 season

On October 7, 2019, DeShields signed a one-year deal with

Šiauliai Šiauliai ( ; ) is a city in northern Lithuania, the List of cities in Lithuania, country's fourth largest city and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, sixth largest city in the Baltic States, with a population of 112 581 in 202 ...

of 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 ...

. He averaged 7.4 points and 2.9 assists per game. On March 6, 2020, he has signed with Hapoel Afula of the Israeli National League.

2020–21 season

On July 19, 2020, DeShields signed with

Ironi Ramat Gan Maccabi Ironi Ramat Gan (, formerly Ironi Ramat Gan) is a professional basketball club based in Ramat Gan in the Tel Aviv District. The team currently plays in the Israeli Basketball Premier League, the top division of Israeli basketball. It plays ...

in Israel.

2021–22 season

On September 22, 2021, DeShields signed with Cestistica San Severo on the

. He subsequently joined Trotamundos B.B.C. of the Venezuelan league and averaged 20.8 points, 4.8 assists, 3.8 rebounds, and 1.2 steals per game. On January 5, 2022, DeShields signed with Hapoel Afula of the Israeli National League.

References

External links

Montana Grizzlies bio

Tennessee State Tigers bio

RealGM profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Deshields, Keron 1992 births Living people Vermont Academy alumni American expatriate basketball people in Greece American expatriate basketball people in Hungary American expatriate basketball people in Israel American expatriate basketball people in Italy American expatriate basketball people in Lithuania American expatriate basketball people in Venezuela American men's basketball players Basketball players from Baltimore BC Šiauliai players Debreceni EAC (basketball) players Hapoel Afula players Jászberényi KSE players Maccabi Haifa B.C. players Montana Grizzlies basketball players Point guards Rethymno B.C. players Shooting guards Tennessee State Tigers basketball players 21st-century American sportsmen Maccabi Ironi Ramat Gan players Trotamundos de Carabobo players Héroes de Falcón players Hapoel Hevel Modi'in B.C. players Metros de Santiago players Club Comunicaciones (Mercedes) basketball players Maccabi Rishon LeZion basketball players Al-Ittihad Jeddah basketball players