Blake Schilb (born December 23, 1983) is an American-born naturalized Czech former 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 who last played for

USK Praha USK Praha (, University Sports Club Prague), formerly known as Slavia VŠ Praha (), is a Czech Republic, Czech professional basketball Club (organization), club that was founded in 1953 in the city of Prague. USK Praha plays in the National Bas ...

of the Czech NBL. Standing , he plays the

point forward Point forward is an unorthodox offensive position in basketball in which a forward, usually a small forward, adds the responsibilities of a point guard to their play. More rarely, a power forward can also assume the position. The purpose of the po ...

position.

College career

Prior to Loyola University, Schilb was a

postgraduate Postgraduate education, graduate education, or graduate school consists of academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications usually pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor' ...

student at

Brewster Academy Brewster Academy is a co-educational independent boarding school located on in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, United States. It occupies of shoreline along Lake Winnipesaukee. With around 350 students, it serves grades nine through twelve and po ...

in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, during the 2002–2003 academic year. A

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 ...

(during his college days), Schilb played at

Loyola University Chicago Loyola University Chicago (Loyola or LUC) is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1870 by the Society of Jesus, Loyola is one of the largest Catholic Church, ...

, with the

Loyola Ramblers The Loyola Ramblers (also called the Loyola Chicago Ramblers) are the varsity sports teams of Loyola University Chicago. Most teams compete in the Atlantic 10 Conference, which the school joined in 2022 after leaving the Missouri Valley Confere ...

, from 2003 to 2007. In 2006, he became Loyola's first player since Alfredrick Hughes in 1985 to earn

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 ...

All-America 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 ...

n honors after averaging 19.1 points, 5.2

rebounds '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 3.9 assists per game. He graduated from Loyola as the school's fourth all-time leading scorer (1,879 points) and all-time leader in

three-point field goal A three-point field goal (also 3-pointer, three, or triple) is a field goal in a basketball game made from beyond the three-point line, a designated arc surrounding the basket. A successful attempt is worth three points, in contrast to the two ...

s (204). After his junior season, Schilb became an early entry candidate for the

2006 NBA draft The 2006 NBA draft was held on June 28, 2006, at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City and was broadcast in the United States on ESPN. In this draft, National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. c ...

, but he withdrew his name before the deadline so he could return for his senior year. Schilb went

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 after his senior year.

Professional career

Schilb signed with the

French league The French League (: "French League for Purge, purging, mutual aid (politics), mutual aid and European integration, European collaboration") was a Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, collaborationist French movement founded by Pier ...

team

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 ...

in 2009. In his third season with the team, he was named

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 ...

2011–12 season French League Foreign Player MVP. In the final, he helped his team win the title with 20 points, 10 assists and 5 rebounds, earning the Final MVP award. On August 2, 2012, Schilb extended his contract with Élan Chalon for one more season. In January 2013,

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club''), more commonly referred to as simply Galatasaray and familiarly as Cimbom, is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul including basketball, wheelchair ...

offered 300,000 euros for a buyout of his contract and a salary that was three times larger than his current one, but Schlib turned down the offer. In his first

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 ...

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

, he averaged 15.5 points, 4.6 rebounds and 4 assists over 10 games. On June 23, 2013, he signed a three-year contract with the Serbian team

Crvena zvezda Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club), commonly referred to as Crvena zvezda () and colloquially referred to as Red Star Belgrade in anglophone media, is a ...

. On January 29, 2014, he officially parted ways with Crvena zvezda. The next day, he returned to France and signed with Paris-Levallois. On April 15, 2015, he parted ways with Paris. On July 23, 2015, Schilb signed a one-year deal with the Turkish club

. On July 28, 2016, he re-signed with Galatasaray for one more season. On September 30, 2017, Schilb signed with Spanish club Real Betis Energía Plus.

Career statistics

EuroLeague

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2012–13 , style="text-align:left;",

, 10 , , 10 , , 32.5 , , .449 , , .341 , , .850 , , 4.6 , , 4.0 , , 1.3 , , .3 , , 15.5 , , 17.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2013–14 , style="text-align:left;",

, 10 , , 10 , , 28.6 , , .495 , , .379 , , .773 , , 3.2 , , 3.5 , , .7 , , .2 , , 12.0 , , 11.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2016–17 , style="text-align:left;",

, 27 , , 19 , , 25.6 , , .497 , , .310 , , .870 , , 3.9 , , 4.0 , , .7 , , .1 , , 9.3 , , 12.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan=2 , Career , 47 , , 39 , , 27.7 , , .483 , , .333 , , .835 , , 3.9 , , 3.9 , , .8 , , .2 , , 11.2 , , 13.2

International career

On August 20, 2015, Schilb obtained Czech Republic citizenship and became a naturalized player for the

Czech Republic national basketball team The Czech Republic men's national basketball team (), recognised by FIBA as Czechia, represents the Czech Republic in international basketball. The team is controlled by the Czech Basketball Federation (ČBF). Following the dissolution of Cze ...

. He represented the Czech Republic at the

2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup The 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup was the 18th tournament of the FIBA Basketball World Cup for men's national basketball teams, held from 31 August to 15 September 2019. The tournament was hosted in China and was rescheduled from 2018 to 2019, b ...

and the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

College career

Professional career

Career statistics

EuroLeague

International career

References

External links