Marek Klassen (born June 11, 1992) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

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 for

Limoges CSP Limoges Cercle Saint-Pierre, commonly referred to as Limoges CSP or CSP, is a French professional basketball club based in the city of Limoges. History The club was founded in 1929, but its peak was during the 1980s and 1990s, when they became t ...

of the

LNB Pro A 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 ...

Highschool career

Klassen attended

Yale Secondary School Yale Secondary is a public high school in Abbotsford, British Columbia part of School District 34 Abbotsford. There are approximately 1250 full-time students in grades 9 through 12. The current principal of the school is Rob Sloboda. History Yal ...

from 2007–2010. He won two provincial championships with the Yale Lions (2008-2010). In his senior year in 2010 the Yale Lions won the

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include ...

provincial championship. Klassen averaged 33

points per game Points per game, often abbreviated PPG, is the average number of points scored by a player 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 points by ...

and was named MVP of the tournament, final game MVP, and Player of the Year in British Columbia. Upon graduation he ranked as a top 5 Canadian point guard.

College career

Klassen started every game of his college career including 31 starts as a freshman leading to the Freshman of the Year award for the

Pacific West Conference The Pacific West Conference (also known as the PacWest) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. Member institutions are located in California and Hawaii. T ...

. As a senior at

Point Loma Point Loma ( Spanish: ''Punta de la Loma'', meaning "Hill Point"; Kumeyaay: ''Amat Kunyily'', meaning "Black Earth") is a seaside community within the city of San Diego, California. Geographically it is a hilly peninsula that is bordered on the ...

in 2014-15 Klassen averaged 12.67 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists in 27.8 minutes in 29 appearances. Other notable accomplishments include Klassen shooting a career 43% from 3 point range, being named as a two sport

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and ...

All-American (Basketball and Track and Field) and

Academic All-American. During his senior year Klassen enrolled in the Point Loma one year

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accoun ...

program to complete his masters in business before starting his professional career.

Professional career

In 2015 Klassen began his professional career with CSU Sibiu in the Liga Națională. He stayed with CSU Sibiu until January 2016 when he moved to

Leeds Force Leeds Force were an English professional basketball team based in Leeds, West Yorkshire. The Force played in the British Basketball League, the top flight of British basketball. They played their home games at the Carnegie Sports Arena, located ...

of the

British Basketball League The British Basketball League (BBL) is a men's professional basketball league in Great Britain and represents the highest level of play in the countries. The league is contested by 10 teams from England and Scotland. There are no clubs howev ...

. His influence on and off the court helped the Force to make the Playoffs for the first time. Averaging 17.7 points 5.8 rebounds 8.1 assists 2.3 steals per game he led the league in assists, steals, fouls drawn, 5th in

and was named to the BBL team of the year. Following his campaign in Leeds, Klassen joined the

Worcester Wolves The Worcester Wolves are a basketball club in Worcester, England. The team plays in the NBL Division 2, the third tier of British basketball. The club was formed in 2000, and from 2006 until 2021 competed in the British Basketball League, the ...

a top performing club in the British Basketball League during the summer of 2016. Klassen was made Captain of the Wolves. It was a successful season in which the Wolves made it to the BBL Cup Final and BBL Championship Semi-final falling eventually to the

Newcastle Eagles The Newcastle Eagles are a professional basketball team based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Playing in the top-tier British Basketball League and holding the franchise for Tyne & Wear, they are the most successful team in the League's histor ...

by 2 points on aggregate score. Klassen led the team and league in assists averaging 12.3 points, 4.1 rebounds, 6.3 assists per game. Klassen next transitioned to the

Turkish Basketball First League The Turkish Basketball First League, also called TBL, is the second-tier level league of professional club basketball in Turkey. The league was previously known as Turkish Basketball Second League (TB2L). Format and promotion and relegation The ...

where he signed with İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi B.K. in August 2017. A successful season in which Klassen averaged 15.12 points, 5.58 rebounds, 6.58 assists per game. He played in

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

for the duration of the 2017–2018 season. He finished leading his team in assists and top 3 in the Turkish Basketball league standings. Returning for his second season in the Turkish Basketball First League Klassen signed with

Aliağa Petkim Aliağa Gençlik S.K., known as Aliağa Petkim for sponsorship reasons, was a professional basketball team from the district of Aliağa in İzmir, Turkey. Their home arena was the Enka Sport Hall with a capacity of 2,500 seats. The team competes ...

for the 2018–2019 season. He helped the team reach the league quarterfinals and semi-finals of the Turkish Cup. Klassen averaged 11.5 points and 5.5 assists while shooting 42% from 3 point range. He helped his team to a semi-final appearance and finished top 3 in the Turkish Basketball League in assists. After finishing in early June in Turkey, Klassen returned home to Canada to play in the

CEBL The Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) is a men's professional minor league basketball organization. The CEBL was founded in 2017 and began play in 2019 with six teams competing all owned and operated by ownership group Canadian Basketball ...

. A newly minted

FIBA The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. Originally known as the (hence FIBA), in 1989 it dropped the word ''amateur'' from its nam ...

league. He was drafted 12th overall in the inaugural

2019 CEBL Entry Draft The 2019 CEBL Entry Draft was the inaugural CEBL Entry Draft, held on March 23, 2019, at the Art Gallery of Hamilton in Hamilton, Ontario. Six Canadian Elite Basketball League The Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) is a men's profession ...

to the

Fraser Valley Bandits The Vancouver Bandits are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Langley, British Columbia (district municipality), Langley, British Columbia, that compete in the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL). The Bandits play home games at L ...

. Klassen was an all star with the Bandits during the summer season that lasted until late August 2019. He finished the season as

assist leader and set the record for most assists in a game at 15. Klassen signed his next contract with the Erie Bayhawks of the

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) from 2001 to 2005, and the NBA De ...

in November 2019. He only stayed in the G League for a limited time as he was tabbed by

Kyiv-Basket ) , leagues = , conference = , division = , founded = 1992 (reestablished in 2017) , dissolved = 1998 , history = , arena = Palace of Sports , capacity = 7,000 , location ...

in early January 2020. He is currently averaging 12 points and 8 assists, good enough to lead the league in assists. He has helped the team qualify for the semi-finals of the Ukrainian Cup, and the top 8 of

FIBA Europe Cup The FIBA Europe Cup (FEC) is an annual professional club basketball competition organised by FIBA for eligible European clubs. It is FIBA's European-wide second level. Clubs mainly qualify for the competition based on their performance in natio ...

. On June 25, 2021, he has signed with

Czarni Słupsk Czarni Słupsk, more commonly known as Grupa Sierleccy Czarni Słupsk because of sponsorship reasons, is a Polish basketball team, based in Słupsk, playing in Polish Basketball League (PLK). The home arena of the club was Hala Gryfia. History ...

of the PLK. On October 12, 2022, he signed with

ERA Nymburk Basketball Nymburk, also known as ERA Nymburk due to sponsorship reasons, is a professional basketball team that is based in the town of Nymburk. The club plays in the top-tier level professional Czech National League (NBL). Nymburk regularly ...

of the National Basketball League. On December 28, 2022, he signed with Prometey of the

Latvian-Estonian Basketball League The Latvian-Estonian Basketball League is the highest professional men's club basketball league in Latvia and Estonia; it has been organised since 2018, run by the Latvian Basketball Association and the Estonian Basketball Association. History ...

. On February 27, 2023, he signed with

of the

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Klassen, Marek 1992 births Living people Basketball Nymburk players Basketball players from Vancouver BC Prometey players Canadian expatriate basketball people in Poland Canadian expatriate basketball people in Romania Canadian expatriate basketball people in the Czech Republic Canadian expatriate basketball people in the United Kingdom Canadian expatriate basketball people in the United States Canadian expatriate basketball people in Turkey Canadian expatriate basketball people in Ukraine Canadian expatriate sportspeople in England Canadian men's basketball players CSU Sibiu players Czarni Słupsk players Fraser Valley Bandits players İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi B.K. players Kyiv-Basket players Petkim Spor players Point guards Point Loma Nazarene Sea Lions men's basketball players Worcester Wolves players