Kyle Jordan Weems (born August 23, 1989) 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

Derthona Basket Derthona Basket, known for sponsorship reasons as Bertram Derthona Tortona, is an Italian professional basketball team of the city of Tortona, in the province of Alessandria, Piedmont. The team has achieved the promotion to the Lega Basket Serie ...

of the Italian LBA. He played collegiately for

Missouri State University Missouri State University (MSU or MO State), formerly Southwest Missouri State University, is a public university in Springfield, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1905 as the Fourth District Normal School, it is the state's second-largest u ...

and was named

Missouri Valley Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year The Larry Bird Missouri Valley Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year is an annual award given to the Missouri Valley Conference's most outstanding player. The award was first given following the 1968–69 season. It was renamed to honor ...

and an

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

in 2011.

College career

Weems, a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

from

Topeka, Kansas Topeka ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, in northeastern Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2020 cen ...

, came to Missouri State in 2007. He

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

the 2007–08 season and played his freshman season in 2008–09 season. As a freshman, Weems started 19 games and averaged 10.2

points A point is a small dot or the sharp tip of something. Point or points may refer to: Mathematics * Point (geometry), an entity that has a location in space or on a plane, but has no extent; more generally, an element of some abstract topologica ...

and 4.9

rebounds per game 'Rebound' is a term used in sports to describe the ball (or puck or other object of play) becoming available for possession by either opponent after an attempt to put the ball or puck into the goal has been unsuccessful. Rebounds are generally ...

and was named to the

Missouri Valley Conference The Missouri Valley Conference (also called MVC or simply "The Valley") is the fourth-oldest collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the Midwestern Unite ...

(MVC) all-freshman team. As a sophomore, Weems helped lead the Bears to the 2010 CollegeInsider.com Tournament (CIT) championship as he averaged 13.6 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. In the CIT final, Weems scored 14 points, grabbed eight rebounds and blocked four shots against

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

. In his junior season, Weems became a force in the MVC. He upped his averages to 16.0 points and 6.8 rebounds per game and led the

Bears Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family Ursidae (). They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout most o ...

to their first MVC regular season championship. At the end of the season, Weems was named the MVC Player of the Year and an

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

honorable mention

— the first player so honored in MSU's Division I history. The Bears played in the

2011 National Invitation Tournament The 2011 National Invitation Tournament was a single-elimination tournament of 32 NCAA Division I teams that were not selected to participate in the 2011 NCAA tournament. The 74th annual tournament began March 15 on campus sites ended on March ...

, defeating

Murray State Murray State University (MSU) is a public university in Murray, Kentucky, in the Southern United States. In addition to the main campus in Calloway County in southwestern Kentucky, Murray State operates extended campuses offering upper-level an ...

in the first round before falling to

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

in the second round. Prior to the start of his senior season, Weems was named to the preseason candidate list for the

Lowe's Senior CLASS Award The Senior CLASS Award is awarded to the most outstanding senior student-athlete in 10 National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA Division I (NCAA), Division I sports. An acronym for "Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School," ...

. He was also named the preseason MVC Player of the Year.

Professional career

Germany, France and Turkey (2012–2019)

Weems went undrafted in the

2012 NBA draft The 2012 NBA draft was held on June 28, 2012, at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The draft started at 7:00 pm Eastern Daylight Time (2300 UTC), and was broadcast in the United States on ESPN. In this draft, National Basketball A ...

. On July 26, 2012, he signed his first professional contract with Telekom Baskets Bonn in Germany's top professional league. On August 19, 2013, he signed with

BBC Bayreuth Medi Bayreuth, official stylized as medi bayreuth, is a German professional basketball club that is based in Bayreuth, Germany. It was re-founded as BBC Bayreuth in 1999. The team plays in the ProA, the second-highest division of basketball in Ge ...

. On June 10, 2014, he signed with

JSF Nanterre Nanterre 92 is a professional basketball club from the city of Nanterre (a western suburb of Paris), France. The club has played in the top-tier level basketball league in France, the Pro A, since 2011. Founded in 2011 as JSF Nanterre, the club ...

of the French

LNB Pro A LNB may refer to: Sport * Liga Nacional de Baloncesto, a professional basketball league in the Dominican Republic * Liga Nacional de Básquetbol, an Argentine basketball league * Liga Nacional de Básquetbol (Paraguay), Liga Nacional de Básquetb ...

for the 2014–15 season. On July 5, 2015, he signed with

Strasbourg IG Strasbourg Illkirch-Graffenstaden Basket, most commonly known as SIG Basket or SIG Strasbourg, is a French professional basketball club that is based in Strasbourg. The club, founded in 1929, competes domestically in the French Pro A League. The ...

for the 2015–16 season. On July 15, 2016, Weems signed a 1+1 deal with Turkish team

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 ...

. In the 2017–18 season he averaged 8.6 points per game. Weems signed with

Tofaş S.K. Tofaş Spor Kulübü (), or simply Tofaş S.K., is a professional basketball team that is based in Bursa, Turkey. Their home arena is the Tofaş Nilüfer Spor Salonu, with a capacity of 7,500 seats. The team is sponsored by Turkish car manufacture ...

on July 10, 2018.

Virtus Bologna (2019–2023)

On July 20, 2019, he signed with

Virtus Bologna Virtus Pallacanestro Bologna, known for sponsorship reasons as Virtus Segafredo Bologna, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna. The club was founded in 1929, which makes it the oldest club in Italy and one ...

of the Italian

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 ...

(LBA). On April 7, 2020, after more than a month of suspension, the

Italian Basketball Federation The Italian Basketball Federation () is the governing body of basketball in Italy. It is based in Rome. It organises national competitions in Italy and the Italian basketball leagues, which operate the country's two professional leagues, Lega B ...

officially ended the 2019–20 season, due to the

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

that severely hit Italy. Virtus ended the season first, with 18 wins and only 2 defeats, but the title was not assigned. On May 5, the EuroCup season ended too. In the following season, in April 2021, despite a winning record of 19–2, Virtus was defeated in the EuroCup's semifinals by

UNICS Kazan BC UNICS () is a professional basketball club in Kazan, Russia, that plays in the VTB United League, and formerly played in the EuroLeague. On February 28, 2022, EuroLeague Basketball suspended the team because of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukr ...

. However, the season ended with a great success. In fact, after having knocked out 3–0 both Basket Treviso in the quarterfinals and

New Basket Brindisi New Basket Brindisi, for sponsorship reasons named Valtur Brindisi or shortly Brindisi, is a professional Italian basketball based in Brindisi, Apulia. They compete in Serie A2 (basketball), Serie A2, second level of Italian basketball system. F ...

in the semifinals, on 11 June Virtus defeated 4–0 its historic rival

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 ...

in the national finals, winning its 16th national title and the first one after twenty years. On 30 June, Weems signed another two-year deal with Virtus. On September 21, the team won its second Supercup, defeating Olimpia Milano 90–84. Moreover, after having ousted

Lietkabelis BC Lietkabelis (), commonly known as Lietkabelis Panevėžys, also known as 7bet-Lietkabelis for sponsorship reasons, is a Lithuanian professional basketball club based in Panevėžys, Lithuania, participating in the Lietuvos krepšinio lyga, Lit ...

Ulm Ulm () is the sixth-largest city of the southwestern German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with around 129,000 inhabitants, it is Germany's 60th-largest city. Ulm is located on the eastern edges of the Swabian Jura mountain range, on the up ...

and

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

in the first three rounds of 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 eithe ...

, on 11 May 2022, Virtus defeated Frutti Extra Bursaspor by 80–67 at the Segafredo Arena, winning its first EuroCup and qualifying for the

EuroLeague The EuroLeague is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier and the most prestigious men's basketball league in Europe. The league consists of 20 teams, of which 16 are given lon ...

after 14 years. However, despite having ended the regular season at the first place and having ousted 3–0 both

Pesaro Pesaro (; ) is a (municipality) in the Italy, Italian region of Marche, capital of the province of Pesaro and Urbino, on the Adriatic Sea. According to the 2011 census, its population was 95,011, making it the second most populous city in the ...

and

Tortona Tortona (; , ; ) is a ''comune'' of Piemonte, in the Province of Alessandria, Italy. Tortona is sited on the right bank of the Scrivia between the plain of Spinetta Marengo, Marengo and the foothills of the Ligurian Apennines. Its ''frazione'' of ...

in the first two rounds of playoffs, Virtus was defeated 4–2 in the national finals by Olimpia Milan. On 29 September 2022, after having ousted Milano in the semifinals, Virtus won its third Supercup, defeating 72–69

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 2018–19 FIBA Euro ...

and achieving a back-to-back, following the 2021 trophy. However, despite good premises Virtus ended the EuroLeague season at the 14th place, thus it did not qualify for the playoffs. Moreover, the team was defeated in the

Italian Basketball Cup The Italian Basketball Cup (Italian: Coppa Italiana di Pallacanestro), or Coppa Italia, is an annual professional basketball competition between pro clubs from the Italian Basketball League (LBA). It is Italy's first-tier cup competition, and is ...

final by

Brescia Brescia (, ; ; or ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the region of Lombardy, in Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Lake Garda, Garda and Lake Iseo, Iseo. With a population of 199,949, it is the se ...

. In June, after having ousted 3–0 both Brindisi and Tortona, Virtus was defeated 4–3 by Olimpia Milan in the national finals, following a series which was widely regarded among the best in the latest years of Italian basketball.

Derthona Basket (2023–present)

On July 11, 2023, he signed with

of the Italian LBA.

References

External links

FIBA profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weems, Kyle 1989 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in France American expatriate basketball people in Germany American expatriate basketball people in Italy American expatriate basketball people in Turkey American men's basketball players Basketball players from Kansas Beşiktaş men's basketball players Derthona Basket players Lega Basket Serie A players Medi Bayreuth players Missouri State Bears basketball players Nanterre 92 players Small forwards Sportspeople from Topeka, Kansas SIG Strasbourg players Telekom Baskets Bonn players Tofaş S.K. players Virtus Bologna players