Marcus Edward Denmon II (born March 20, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for

Peristeri Peristeri (Greek language, Greek: Περιστέρι, meaning "pigeon/dove" in Greek) is a suburban municipality in the western part of the Athens agglomeration, Greece. With 139,981 inhabitants (2011 census), it is the seventh-largest municipali ...

of the Greek Basket League. He played for the University of Missouri. He was taken 59th overall by the San Antonio Spurs 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 Asso ...

High school career

In his senior season at

Hogan Preparatory Academy Hogan Preparatory Academy is a charter school at 1221 East Meyer Boulevard in Kansas City, Missouri. Although a public school it is not part of the Kansas City, Missouri School District since it is a charter school. As of March 2022 it had an e ...

, Denmon averaged 28.5 points and 5.8 rebounds while leading Hogan Prep to the Class 3 State Championships. He won the 2008 DiRenna Award as the top high school player in Kansas City.

College recruitment

College career

Denmon committed to attend the University of Missouri on August 20, 2007. A reserve his freshman and sophomore seasons, Denmon started 33 out of 34 games his junior season. As a junior, Denmon averaged 16.9 points per game while earning All-Big 12 First Team, NABC All-District, and USBWA All-District honors. On August 3, 2011, Denmon was named to the 2011 USA Basketball Men's World University Games roster. As a senior, Denmon 17.7 points per game and 5 rebounds per game, earning second-team Consensus All-American, All-Big 12 First team, and USBWA All-District honors. Denmon was also a finalist for the

John R. Wooden Award The John R. Wooden Award is an award given annually to the most outstanding men's and women's college basketball players. The program consists of the men's and women's Player of the Year awards, the Legends of Coaching award, and recognizing the ...

. With 107 victories, teammates Denmon,

Kim English Kim English (September 6, 1970 – April 2, 2019) was an American electronic, soul, gospel and house music singer. Early life On September 6, 1970, English was born in Chicago, Illinois, U.S. English's parents were Ronald English and Ann ...

, Laurence Bowers, and Steve Moore won more games than any senior class in Mizzou basketball history.

Professional career

Europe

On July 25, 2012, Denmon signed a one-year contract with the

French Pro A League The LNB Pro A, currently known for sponsorship reasons as Betclic Élite, is the top-tier men's professional basketball league in France. The competition has existed since 1921. Since 1987, the Ligue Nationale de Basket has governed the league. ...

club

Élan Chalon Élan Sportif Chalonnais, commonly known as Élan Chalon, is a French professional basketball club that is based in Chalon-sur-Saône, France. The team's main colors are red and white, and their mascot is a moose. The team's home arena is called ...

. On October 5, 2012, Denmon suffered a broken foot in the team's opening game against

ASVEL Basket ASVEL Basket, commonly known as ASVEL or sometimes as ASVEL Lyon-Villeurbanne, and also known as LDLC ASVEL for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional basketball team that is located in the city of Villeurbanne, which is a suburb of Lyon ...

. After undergoing surgery, Denmon returned to play on January 26, 2013 against JDA Dijon Basket. After the season, he then signed a 1-year contract with the Tofas S.K. of the Turkish Basketball League. On August 16, 2014, Denmon was signed by Italian team

New Basket 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-s ...

. On August 3, 2015, Denmon returned to Turkey and signed with

İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyesi S.K., shortly Istanbul BB SK or IBBSK, is a multi-sports club of the metropolitan municipality of Istanbul in Turkey. Branches The club has following sport branches: *Volleyball (Arome Men's League), *Basket ...

. On September 27, 2016, Denmon signed with Gaziantep Basketbol. On July 12, 2017, Denmon signed a two-year (1+1) contract with Greek club

Panathinaikos Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos ( el, Παναθηναϊκός Αθλητικός Όμιλος, literally in English: "Panathenaic Athletic Club" or Panathinaikos A.C.), also known simply as Panathinaikós , is a major Greek multi-sport club ba ...

. His team option was picked up on June 25, 2018, and he was bound to remain with the Euroleague team for another campaign. However, his contract was bought out by Chinese club Zhejiang Golden Bulls a month later. On June 25, 2019, Denmon's return option to

was exercised by the EuroLeague club, after his successful stint in China. The new, two-year contract was put into dispute by Denmon's manager,

Miško Ražnatović Miodrag "Miško" Ražnatović ( sr-cyr, Миодраг Мишко Ражнатовић; born September 16, 1966) is a Serbian lawyer and sports agent and former professional basketball player. He is the chairman, CEO, and founder of the BeoBas ...

and Panathinaikos accepted to accommodate the player's demand, providing that he pays the designated 250.000€ contract buy-out.

China

On July 25, 2018, Denmon signed with the Zhejiang Golden Bulls of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). He averaged 33.5 points per game in the 2018–2019 season and 28.4 points per game in the 2019–2020 season. On September 10, 2020, Denmon signed with the Shanghai Sharks. He averaged 17.7 points, 3.7 assists, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.1 steals per game. On January 23, 2022, Denmon signed with the Beijing Royal Fighters.

Return to Europe

On February 24, 2022, Denmon signed with

Petkim Spor Petkim Spor Kulübü, more commonly known as Socar Spor is a Turkish professional basketball club based in İzmir which currently competes in the Turkish Basketball Super League (BSL). The team was founded by Petkim in 2013 and got promoted to th ...

of the Turkish Basketball Super League. On July 6, 2022, Denmon returned to Greece, signing with

of the Greek Basket League and the Basketball Champions League.

NBA draft rights

Denmon was drafted on June 28, 2012 by the San Antonio Spurs with the 59th selection in the draft. The Spurs retained his draft rights until they renounced them on September 23, 2016.

Career statistics

EuroLeague

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Personal life

On December 7, 2010, Denmon's cousin, Marion, known as "Lil Daddy" died three days after being shot while riding in a car.