Marcus Johnny Rashaan Keene (born May 6, 1995) is an American professional basketball player who plays for BC UNICS of the

VTB United League The VTB United League () is an international professional men's club basketball league that was founded in 2009. It is made up of mostly Russian clubs, along with one each from Belarus and Kazakhstan. Since 2013, it is the first tier of Russian ...

. He gained national prominence in 2016–17 season as a

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Sports * Redshirt (college sports) 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 ...

junior while at

Central Michigan University Central Michigan University (CMU) is a Public university, public research university in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, United States. It was established in 1892 as a private normal school and became a state institution in 1895. CMU is one of the eigh ...

, having been profiled by ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

'', the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

, and

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

because of his prolific scoring ability. Keene is a 5'9"

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 ...

who averaged 30.0 points per game his junior year at Central Michigan, the highest average in NCAA Division I men's basketball that season.

High school career

Keene born in a

military hospital A military hospital is a hospital owned or operated by a military. They are often reserved for the use of military personnel and their dependents, but in some countries are made available to civilians as well. They may or may not be located on a m ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, where his parents were serving in the

Air Force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

. Keene attended Earl Warren High School in

San Antonio, Texas San Antonio ( ; Spanish for "Anthony of Padua, Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the List of Texas metropolitan areas, third-largest metropolitan area in Texa ...

, where scored over 1,600 points in his career and graduated as the school's all-time leading scorer. During Keene's sophomore and junior years combined he scored 781 points, and in his senior season alone he scored 869. Keene's junior year saw him get named to the all-state, all-city, and Super-City Team. In Keene's senior season, he averaged 25 points, four rebounds, and four assists per game. He only had one Division I scholarship offer heading into his senior year, Youngstown State, which he accepted.

College career

Youngstown State

Keene's freshman season at Youngstown State (2013–14) saw him have moderate success. He averaged 6.5 points per game in 22 games played, including one start. He totaled 149 points on the year. In 2014–15, his season was "up and down," but he performed well by averaging 15.6 points per game, which led the team and was sixth-highest in the

Horizon League The Horizon League is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I. Headquartered in Indianapolis, the league's eleven member schools are located in ...

. At one point he was suspended for breaking a teammate's nose, and his overall satisfaction was not high; Keene wanted to play

but had been designated as a spot-up

shooting guard The shooting guard (SG), also known as the two, two guard or off guard,Shooting guards are 6'3"–6'7"BBC Sports academy URL last accessed 2006-09-09. is one of the five traditional basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game ...

. After a game against

Central Michigan Central Michigan, also called Mid Michigan, is a region in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, Lower Peninsula of the United States, U.S. state of Michigan. As its name implies, it is the middle area of the Lower Peninsula. Lower Michigan is said t ...

, whose up-tempo offense and "free-wheeling" style of play appealed to Keene, he had a conversation with a Central Michigan assistant coach. Keene then chose to transfer shortly thereafter.

Central Michigan

In 2015–16, Keene had to sit out his first season at Central Michigan due to NCAA transfer eligibility rules. During that season he played as a

scout team The following terms are used in American football, both conventional and indoor. Some of these terms are also in use in Canadian football Canadian football, or simply football, is a Sports in Canada, sport in Canada in which two teams of ...

er against the starters but he frequently dominated them. One time, Keene scored 37 points against them in a scrimmage. Fellow

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison gu ...

Braylon Rayson said, "We couldn’t do nothing with him. It was to the point where we just had to live with it." Keene exploded onto the national college basketball scene when he became eligible in 2016–17. Through

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

-worthy highlights, ''

SportsCenter ''SportsCenter'' (SC) is an American television sports news broadcasting show broadcast by ESPN. Originally anchored by Chris Berman, George Grande, Greg Gumbel, Lee Leonard, Bob Ley, Sal Marchiano and Lou Palmer, it premiered on Septem ...

'' Top 10 game-winning shots, and his nation-leading scoring average, sports media have paid attention to him. On January 21, 2017, Keene scored 50 points against Miami (Ohio), including 10 made three-point field goals. It was the highest single game scoring output by anyone in Division I that season. On February 9, he was named as a top-20 finalist for the John R. Wooden Award, given annually to the nation's best player. Keene finished the 2016–17 season averaging 30.0

points per game Points per game, often abbreviated PPG, is the average number of points scored by a player or team per game played in a sport, over the course of a series of games, a whole season, or a career. It is calculated by dividing the total number of poi ...

, becoming the first player to average at least 30 points since

LIU Brooklyn LIU Brooklyn is a private university in Brooklyn, New York. It is the original unit and first of two main campuses of the private Long Island University system. Campus LIU Brooklyn is located at the intersection of Flatbush and DeKalb Aven ...

's Charles Jones during the 1996–97 season 20 years earlier. On March 14, it was announced that Keene would test his

2017 NBA draft The 2017 NBA draft was held on June 22, 2017, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players. ...

stock, with him having the option to return to Central Michigan before the NBA draft lottery is set. One month later, Keene signed an agent, thus ending his collegiate eligibility.

College statistics

, - , align="left" , 2013–14 , align="left" , Youngstown State , 22 , , 1 , , 16.3 , , .370 , , .324 , , .757 , , 1.9 , , 2.2 , , .5 , , .0 , , 6.5 , - , align="left" , 2014–15 , align="left" , Youngstown State , 32 , , 32 , , 34.9 , , .449 , , .419 , , .787 , , 3.5 , , 2.8 , , 1.1 , , .1 , , 15.6 , - , align="left" , 2016–17 , align="left" ,

, 32 , , 32 , , 36.8 , , .447 , , .368 , , .819 , , 4.5 , , 4.9 , , .8 , , .0 , , style="background:#cfecec;" , 30.0* , - , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 86 , , 65 , , 30.9 , , .440 , , .381 , , .805 , , 3.5 , , 3.4 , , .8 , , .0 , , 18.6

Professional career

Dinamo Academy Cagliari (2017–2018)

After going undrafted in the

, he joined the

Washington Wizards 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 Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays i ...

for the 2017 NBA Summer League. After failing to be signed to a regular season contract with the Wizards, Keene signed to play in Italy's

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 ...

league for the Cagliari Dinamo Academy. He averaged 18.8 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.9 assists over 30 games in his first season.

Memphis Hustle (2018–2019)

On December 7, 2018, Keene signed with the Memphis Hustle of the

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is a professional basketball league in North America that serves as the Minor league#Basketball, developmental league of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league comprises 31 teams; as of ...

KCC Egis (2019–2020)

On March 1, 2019, Keene signed with the KCC Egis of the

Korean Basketball League The Korean Basketball League () or simply KBL is a professional men's basketball league in South Korea which was established in 1997. The league consists of ten teams and each team plays a total of 54 games (27 home and 27 away) in the regular s ...

(KBL).

Sideline Cancer (2019–present)

Keene participated in

The Basketball Tournament The Basketball Tournament (TBT) is an open-invitation, single-elimination tournament, single-elimination tournament played each summer in the United States, with the stakes being a cash prize (the most recent tournament in The Basketball Tournam ...

with Sideline Cancer. He started all 3 games leading the team to the Sweet 16 and to The Basketball Tournament 2019 Wichita Regional Championship Game. Keene returned to Sideline Cancer in 2020 and was the catalyst behind it advancing to its first TBT championship game. He was named to his first ever All TBT team. In 2021, Keene advanced his team as a #1 seed to the Elite 8 and he earned his 2nd All TBT selection.

Yulon Luxgen Dinos (2019–2020)

Keene signed with Yulon Luxgen Dinos of the Super Basketball League in Taiwan. He was named the Player of the Week for January 12–19, 2020.

Kalev/Cramo (2020–2021)

On August 27, 2020, Keene signed with Kalev/Cramo in the top tier Latvian–Estonian Basketball League.

Cedevita Olimpija (2021)

On July 4, 2021, Keene signed with KK Cedevita Olimpija in the top tier Slovenian Basketball League. After playing in 11 games in which he averaged 11.6 points and 3.1 assists per game, he parted ways with the team on November 14.

Pallacanestro Varese (2021–2022)

On November 16, 2021, Keene signed with

Pallacanestro Varese Pallacanestro Varese, also called by its current sponsor's name, the Openjobmetis Varese, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Varese, Lombardy. Founded in 1945, the team plays in the Italian basketball league system, Italian first ...

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 ...

SIG Strasbourg (2022–2023)

On July 1, 2022, Keene signed with SIG Strasbourg 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 ...

Prometey (2023)

On June 29, 2023, Keene signed with Prometey of the Latvian-Estonian Basketball League.

Beijing Ducks (2023–2024)

On November 30, 2023, Keene signed with Beijing Ducks of the

Chinese Basketball Association The Chinese Basketball Association (), often abbreviated as the CBA, is the first-tier men's professional basketball league in China. The league is commonly known by fans as the CBA, and this acronym is even used in Chinese on a regular basis ...

Maroussi (2024–2025)

On November 5, 2024, Keene signed with

Maroussi Marousi or Maroussi (), also known as Amarousio (), is a city and a suburb in the northeastern part of the Athens urban area, Greece. Marousi dates back to the era of the ancient Athenian Republic; its ancient name was '' Athmonon'' () and it r ...

of the

Greek Basketball League The Greek Basketball League (GBL), and also known as the Stoiximan Greek Basketball League (GBL) for sponsorship reasons, is the first tier level professional basketball league in Greece. It is run by the Hellenic Basketball Associat ...

(GBL) and the FIBA Europe Cup (FEC).

References