Ruben Enrique Douglas (October 30, 1979 – April 12, 2024) was an American-Panamanian professional basketball player. He was a ,

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 ...

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 ...

High school

Douglas was born in

Altadena, California Altadena () is an unincorporated area, and census-designated place in the San Gabriel Valley and the Verdugos regions of Los Angeles County, California. Directly north of Pasadena, California, Pasadena, it is located approximately from Downtow ...

. He played high school basketball at

Bellarmine-Jefferson High School Bellarmine-Jefferson High School was a private, Roman Catholic high school in Burbank, California. It was located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles. The school was reopened in 2019 as St. John Paul II STEM Academy, which later clos ...

Burbank, California Burbank is a city in the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Burbank had a Census-estimated population of 102,755 as of 2023. The city was ...

. He is ranked as one of the most prolific high school scorers in California state history.

College career

After high school, Douglas 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 ...

at the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...

with the

Arizona Wildcats The Arizona Wildcats are the sport, athletic teams that represent the University of Arizona, located in Tucson, Arizona, Tucson. The Wildcats compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I (NCAA Divis ...

in the 1998–99 season. Douglas led 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. ...

in scoring with a 28.0 points per game average during the 2002–03 season as a senior at the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; ) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1889 by the New Mexico Territorial Legislature, it is the state's second oldest university, a flagship university in th ...

while playing with the

New Mexico Lobos The New Mexico Lobos are the sport, athletic teams that represent the University of New Mexico, located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Albuquerque. The university participates in the NCAA Division I in the Mountain West Conference (MW) since 1999 ...

. He was also named the

Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference (MW) is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States, participating in NCAA Division I. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The MW officially began operations on Ja ...

MVP.

Professional career

After going

undrafted In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

by any

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

teams, Douglas played for

Panionios Panionios G.S.S. Football Club (Greek: ΠΑΕ Πανιώνιος Γ.Σ.Σ.), the ''Pan-Ionian Gymnastics Club of Smyrna'' (Πανιώνιος Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος Σμύρνης, ''Panionios Gymnastikos Syllogos Smyrnis''), ...

of the Greek league (2003–04),

Virtus Roma Virtus Roma 1960, commonly known as Virtus Roma, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Rome, Lazio. The club, named Pallacanestro Virtus Roma competed in the first division of Italian basketball, the LBA, for decades until 2020, whe ...

and

Fortitudo Bologna Fortitudo Pallacanestro Bologna 103, commonly known as Fortitudo Bologna and currently known as Fortitudo Flats Service Bologna for sponsorship reasons, is a basketball club based in Bologna, Italy and currently plays in the second division. H ...

(2004–05) of the Italian league, the latter with whom he won the Italian national championship, as well as

Dynamo Moscow MGO VFSO "Dynamo" (), commonly known as Dynamo Moscow (), is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. Founded by Felix Dzerzhinsky on 18 April 1923, Dynamo Moscow was the first institution created from the All-Union Dynamo Sports Club. Dynamo Mosco ...

of the Russian league (2005–06), 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 ...

of the Spanish league (2006–09). In 2010, he returned to Panionios. Douglas won the EuroCup championship in 2006 with Dynamo Moscow, and he was also named the EuroCup Finals MVP. Douglas last played with Uşak Üniversitesi Belediyespor, a Turkish team playing in the Turkish Second Division, starting in January 2012. He played against Tenis Eskrim Dağcılık in his first game with Uşak Belediyespor, on January 8, 2012.

National team career

Douglas was also a member of the senior men's

Panama national basketball team The Panama men's national basketball team () represents Panama in men's international basketball competitions, The team represents both FIBA and FIBA Americas. With four qualifications to the Basketball World Cup, one qualification to the Basketb ...

that competed at the

2006 FIBA World Championship The 2006 FIBA World Championship was the 15th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's national teams. The tournament was hosted by Japan and held from 19 August to 3 September 2006. It was co-organised b ...

Career statistics

Domestic leagues

Personal life and death

Douglas had two children. He lived in

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

and Costa Rica. Douglas died on April 12, 2024, in Costa Rica, at the age of 44, after experiencing an undisclosed medical issue.

References

External links

College statistics
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Douglas, Ruben 1979 births 2024 deaths 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen 2006 FIBA World Championship players American expatriate basketball people in Greece American expatriate basketball people in Italy American expatriate basketball people in Russia American expatriate basketball people in Spain American expatriate basketball people in Turkey American men's basketball players American sportspeople of Panamanian descent Arizona Wildcats men's basketball players Basketball players from Pasadena, California BC Dynamo Moscow players Bellarmine-Jefferson High School alumni Fortitudo Pallacanestro Bologna players Liga ACB players New Mexico Lobos men's basketball players Panamanian men's basketball players Panionios B.C. players Naturalized citizens of Panama Point guards Real Betis Baloncesto players Shooting guards Uşak Sportif players Valencia Basket players Virtus Roma players