Taqwa Pinero (born Taquan Dean on August 6, 1983) is an American 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 lastly played for

Élan Béarnais Pau-Lacq-Orthez Elan Corporation plc was a major drugs firm based in Dublin, Ireland, which had major interests in the United States. It was listed on the New York Stock Exchange as ELN, the Irish Stock Exchange as ELN.I, and the London Stock Exchange as ELN. ...

of the

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 ...

Amateur career

He was born in

Red Bank, New Jersey Red Bank is a borough in Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Incorporated in 1908, the community is on the Navesink River, the area's original transportation route to the ocean and other ports. Red Bank is in the New York metro ...

and attended

Neptune High School Neptune High School is a comprehensive four-year community public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from Neptune Township, in Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, operating as part of the Neptune ...

Neptune Township, New Jersey Neptune Township is a Township (New Jersey), township in Monmouth County, New Jersey, Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 28,061, an increase of 126 (+0.5%) from t ...

Dean was a star

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 ...

player for the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public university, public research university in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. Chartered in 1798 as the Jefferson Seminary, it became in the 19t ...

through 2006, where he majored in justice administration. Throughout his four-year college career, he scored 1,657 career points, and made 361

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. After helping lead Louisville to the

2005 Final Four The 2005 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 65 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 15, 2005, and ended with the 2005 NCAA ...

as a junior, he decided to stay for his senior season, finishing his career as the school's career leader in three-point field goals made.

Professional career

He 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 ...

in 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 ...

, and signed with Angelico Biella of the Italian League. Midway through the season, he transferred to the

Russian Super League The Russian Superleague (, ''Russian Championship Superleague''), commonly abbreviated as RSL, was the highest division of the main professional ice hockey league in Russia. It was considered the second-best league in the world, after the Nation ...

club

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 ...

. In 2007, he signed with the Italian 2nd Division team Junior Casale Monferrato. In July 2008, Dean played for the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Suns compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA), We ...

in the

Las Vegas NBA Summer League The NBA Summer League, also known as the Las Vegas Summer League, is an off-season basketball competition organized by the National Basketball Association (NBA). NBA teams come together to try out different summer rosters instead of their regula ...

. That same year, he signed with the Spanish

Liga ACB The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administered by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, w ...

club

Murcia Murcia ( , , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the Capital (political), capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the Ranked lists of Spanish municipalities#By population, seventh largest city i ...

. In 2009, he joined the

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 ...

club

Unicaja Málaga Unicaja is a Spanish savings bank based in Málaga and chartered as a caja de ahorros providing retail banking services. The banks full name is ''Monte de Piedad y Caja de Ahorros de Ronda, Cádiz, Almería, Málaga y Antequera'' after the ...

of SpainUnicaja inks scoring machine Taquan Dean
/ref> by signing a one-year contract. He moved for a short time to

Saski Baskonia Club Deportivo Saski-Baskonia, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D commonly known as Saski Baskonia () and also simply as Baskonia, is a professional basketball team based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain. The team plays in the Liga ACB and the EuroLea ...

before finishing the 2009–10 season with Greek

Kavala B.C. Kavala B.C. is a Greek professional basketball club that is located in Kavala, Greece. The club is also known as E.K. Kavalas, with the club's full name being Enosi Kalathosfairisis Kavalas, which means Kavala Basketball Union (). The club compe ...

He then signed with Italian club

Air Avellino S.S. Felice Scandone was an Italian professional basketball club based in Avellino, Campania. Founded in 1948, the team has been a regular in the Lega Basket Serie A (LBA), the first tier of basketball in Italy, for 19 years (2000/01 to 2018/19). ...

for the 2010–11 season. In August 2014, he signed with Spanish club San Sebastián Gipuzkoa. On April 9, 2015, he left San Sebastián, On and on April 27, he signed with

Mahram Tehran Mahram Tehran Basketball Club is an Iranian professional basketball club based in Tehran, Iran. They compete in the Iranian Basketball Super League. Mahram is considered one of the giants of Iranian Basketball and were Champions of Asia in 2009 a ...

of the Iranian Super League. On July 11, 2015, Dean signed with Socar Petkim of the

Turkish Basketball Second League The Turkish Basketball Second League, also called TB2L, is Turkish basketball league system, the third-tier level league of professional club basketball in Turkey. The league was previously called the Turkish Basketball Third League (TB3L). For ...

. On April 19, 2016, he signed with his former team San Sebastián Gipuzkoa for the rest of the season. On October 10, 2016, after legally changing his name to Taqwa Pinero, he signed with

Hoops Club Hoops Club () is a Lebanese sports club. It is based in Beirut, Lebanon, with branches in Antelias, Tyre, and southern suburbs of Beirut ( Dahieh). The basketball team is part of the Lebanese Basketball League The Lebanese Basketball League ...

of the

Lebanese Basketball League The Lebanese Basketball League is recognized as the top-tier professional men's basketball list of basketball leagues, league in Lebanon. It is organized annually as a national championship with playoffs and a national cup by the Lebanese Basketb ...

. Two months later, Pinero signed with Spanish team

Iberostar Tenerife Club Cantera Base 1939 Canarias S.A.D., commonly known as CB Canarias and known as La Laguna Tenerife for sponsorship reasons, is a professional basketball team that is based in La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain. Domestically, the team plays in the top- ...

. In February 2017, Pinero left the team. Later that month, he signed with French club

for the rest of the

2016–17 Pro A season The 2016–17 Pro A season was the 95th season of the Pro A, the top basketball league in France organised by the Ligue Nationale de Basket (LNB). The season started on 24 September 2016 and ended on 24 June 2017. A total of 330 games were playe ...

. On June 2, 2017, he signed a two-year contract extension with Pau-Orthez. He officially retired as a player in 2023.

Personal life

In October 2016, he changed his name from Taquan Dean to Taqwa Pinero, after a DNA test uncovered that the man he knew as his father was not his biological father. He also converted to Islam, taking an Arabic given name.

References

External links