Tasmin Olajuwon Mitchell (born June 25, 1986) is an American basketball coach and former professional player, currently serving as an assistant coach for the

LSU Tigers The LSU Tigers and Lady Tigers are the athletic teams representing Louisiana State University (LSU), a state university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. LSU competes in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as a ...

. A 5-star prospect in high school, Mitchell had a successful career at

Denham Springs High School Denham Springs High School is a State school, public high school located in Denham Springs, Louisiana, Denham Springs, Louisiana, United States. Denham Springs High School is a part of the Livingston Parish Public Schools, Livingston Parish School ...

, being named first-team All-State for four years and he was a first-team ''Parade'' All-American and

McDonald's All-American McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hamburge ...

after his senior season in 2005. He committed to play for LSU and he stayed with the Tigers for a total of five years, having missed one season due to injury, and reached the NCAA Tournament Final Four in 2006. He ended his career at LSU in 2010 as the 3rd best all-time scorer with 1,989 total points. After going undrafted in the

2010 NBA draft The 2010 NBA draft was held on June 24, 2010, at the Theatre at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The draft, which started at 7:00 pm Eastern Daylight Time (2300 UTC), was broadcast in the United States on ESPN. In this draft, Nationa ...

, Mitchell has played professional basketball in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

High school career

Mitchell was born in

Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of count ...

and grew up in nearby Denham Springs, in the Livingston Parish area. Since his freshman year at

, playing as a

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

, he gained recognition at state and national level, being selected as a first-team All-State and All-District and named Livingston Parish MVP. In 2002

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

named him National Freshman of the Year. He again received all-state honors in his sophomore season, and in 2003 he participated in the

ABCD Camp The ABCD Basketball Camp was a youth basketball camp founded by Sonny Vaccaro that was held from 1984 to 2006. The camp gathered the highest ranked high school players of the United States, and was considered one of the top events of high school b ...

, a camp for the best high school players in the United States, and won the Underclassmen co-MVP award with

Brandon Rush Brandon Leray Rush (born July 7, 1985) is an American former professional basketball player. He was drafted in the first round of the 2008 NBA draft by the Portland Trail Blazers, before being traded to the Indiana Pacers on draft day, after pla ...

after a 20-point, 12-rebound performance in the Underclassmen All-Star Game. By his junior year in 2004, Mitchell was regarded as one of the best juniors in the nation, and one of the top players of the 2005 class. That year, basketball magazine ''Hoop Scoop'' named him the second best player in the 2005 class behind Martell Webster and ahead of players like

Lou Williams Louis Tyrone Williams (born October 27, 1986) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was drafted directly out of high school by the Philadelphia 76ers ...

Monta Ellis Monta Ellis ( ; born October 26, 1985) is a former American professional basketball player. Ellis attended Lanier High School in Jackson, Mississippi, where he was a McDonald's All-American and first-team ''Parade'' All-American. He entered the ...

, while

Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heck ...

named him the no. 1 player of his class. Mitchell averaged 24 points per game in his junior season, and for the third year in a row he was selected in the All-State and All-District first team, Livingston Parish MVP, and he was also selected in the ''Parade'' All-America Fourth Team. In 2004 he also participated in the USA Basketball Men's Youth Development Festival, a camp organized by

USA Basketball USA Basketball (USAB) is a non-profit organization and the governing body for basketball in the United States. The organization represents the United States in FIBA and the men's and women's national basketball teams in the United States Olymp ...

for the best players in the nation. Mitchell's senior season at Denham Springs saw him average 26.9 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists, 3.5 blocks and 2.3 steals per game, shooting 67% from the field, and he received multiple awards and honors. He was named

Louisiana Mr. Basketball Each year the Louisiana Mr. Basketball award is given to the person chosen as the best high school boys basketball player in the U.S. state of Louisiana, in the United States. Award winners References High school basketball in Louisiana Mr ...

, Louisiana Gatorade Player of the Year, first-team All-State and All-District, Livingston Parish MVP, and he was selected in the ''Parade'' All-America First Team, being named a

, an ESPN Rise All-American, and being selected to play in the 2005 Roundball Classic. In the 2005 McDonald's game, which was played in

South Bend, Indiana South Bend is a city in and the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, on the St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total of 103,453 residents and is the fourt ...

, he scored 6 points, shooting 3/5 from the field, 2005 game and rosters at page 86. and added 1 rebound in 13 minutes of play. In the 2005 Roundball Classic Mitchell scored 17 points and had 3 assists and 1 steal playing for the West team.

ranked Mitchell as the 20th best player in the nation and the 4th best small forward in the class of 2005, while other services ranked him as high as the 5th best player in the nation: the Recruiting Services Consensus Index (RSCI) has him ranked as the 8th best player of the 2005 class. In 2015 he was inducted in the Denham Springs High School Hall of Fame.''2017-18 LSU Men's Basketball Media Guide'', 2017, p. 15.

Recruiting

College career

Mitchell was being recruited by LSU since his junior season, and he committed to play for the Tigers in early September 2004 after narrowing his choice between LSU and

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virgini ...

. He chose to wear jersey number 1, and as a true freshman he was selected as a starter by coach John Brady, playing 34.4 minutes per game (2nd on the team behind senior guard Darrel Mitchell): he averaged 11.4 points (4th on the team), 5.6 rebounds (3rd behind Glen Davis and

Tyrus Thomas Tyrus Wayne Thomas (born August 17, 1986) is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for Louisiana State University (LSU) before being drafted fourth overall by the Portland Trail Blazers in the 2006 NBA dr ...

) and 2.8 assists (2nd behind Darrel Mitchell); he recorded three double-doubles during the season, and he was named SEC Freshman of the Week after recording 19 points and 12 rebounds against

Southern Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, M ...

on November 18, 2005, the first game of the season. Mitchell played 36 games in his first season (all starts), and was named Player of the Game for LSU in the losing effort against

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a Normal school, teachers colle ...

during the 2006 Final Four (12 points and 6 rebounds). At the end of the season he was named in the SEC All-Freshman team. Mitchell was again a regular in LSU's starting lineup for his sophomore season, and played 34.1 minutes per game (3rd on his team), averaging 14.5 points (the second leading scorer behind Glen Davis), 5.9 rebounds (again second to Davis) and 1.8 assists (4th), ranking 12th in the whole conference for scoring average and 13th for rebounding average. Mitchell's junior season ended after 3 games due to a shin fracture and ankle injury that required surgery; he was granted a

medical redshirt 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, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

and missed the rest of the season. After Mitchell took his junior season off, recovering from the injury, he came back to LSU in 2008. Newly appointed coach

Trent Johnson Trent Aubrey Johnson (born September 12, 1956) is an American college basketball coach who is currently head coach at Cal State Northridge. Johnson had previously been the head coach at Texas Christian University, Louisiana State University, Stanf ...

kept Mitchell in the starting five, moving him to the

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to center (basketball), centers. When on Of ...

position. Mitchell was the second best scorer on his team behind senior guard Marcus Thornton at 16.3 points per game and was the leading rebounder with 7.2 rebounds per game. He ranked 8th in the SEC in scoring and 11th in rebounding, and shot a career-high 52.2% from the field (52.6% from three). On February 11, 2009 he scored 41 points in 49 minutes (double overtime) against

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Univer ...

, the first LSU player to score more than 40 points since 1995. On February 28, 2009 he scored the game winner against Kentucky, making LSU the SEC regular season winner. At the end of the season he was named in the All-SEC First Team and in the

NABC NABC is an initialism that may refer to any of the following: *North American Bridge Championships, North American contract bridge tournaments * National Association of Basketball Coaches, an American trade association of men's college basketball c ...

All-District Second Team. Mitchell initially declared for the

2009 NBA draft The 2009 NBA draft was held on June 25, 2009, at the WaMu Theatre at Madison Square Garden in New York City. In this draft, the National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and other el ...

, but he later withdrew his name and decided to come back to LSU for his fifth and final season in

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

. Before the start of the season,

Andy Katz Andrew D. Katz (born April 7, 1968) is a college basketball analyst for the Big Ten Network and a college basketball correspondent for the NCAA. He formerly worked as a senior college basketball journalist for ESPN.com, and was a regular spor ...

of ESPN.com included Mitchell in his list of possible John R. Wooden Award nominees for the 2009–10 season. Mitchell retained his starting role for the fifth consecutive season, and he led the team in scoring (16.8), rebounding (9.4) and steals per game (1.3). On December 14, 2009 he recorded his career high for rebounds in a game with 18 against Southeastern Louisiana; on January 20, 2010 Mitchell scored 38 points (a conference high) against Auburn. He ranked 4th in the SEC for scoring and 3rd for rebounding, and led the conference in minutes per game with a career-high 37.3. At the end of the season he was named in the All-SEC Second Team, the NABC All-District First Team, and he received the Pete Maravich Award for the best player of the state of Louisiana. His 1,989 career points rank 3rd all-time in LSU history behind

Pete Maravich Peter Press Maravich ( ; June 22, 1947 – January 5, 1988), known by his nickname Pistol Pete, was an American professional basketball player. Maravich was born in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area, and raised i ...

and Rudy Macklin, while his 950 rebounds rank him 6th all-time.

College statistics

, - , align="left" , 2005–06 , align="left" ,

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

, 36 , , 36 , , 34.4 , , .444 , , .295 , , .741 , , 5.6 , , 2.8 , , 1.5 , , 0.5 , , 11.4 , - , align="left" , 2006–07 , align="left" ,

, 32 , , 32 , , 34.1 , , .466 , , .376 , , .750 , , 5.9 , , 1.8 , , 1.1 , , 0.8 , , 14.5 , - , align="left" , 2007–08 , align="left" ,

, 3 , , 3 , , 22.0 , , .333 , , .000 , , .800 , , 5.7 , , 2.0 , , 2.3 , , 0.3 , , 7.3 , - , align="left" , 2008–09 , align="left" ,

, 35 , , 34 , , 32.5 , , .522 , , .526 , , .725 , , 7.2 , , 1.9 , , 1.6 , , 0.7 , , 16.3 , - , align="left" , 2009–10 , align="left" ,

, 31 , , 31 , , 37.3 , , .433 , , .340 , , .729 , , 9.4 , , 1.9 , , 1.3 , , 0.5 , , 16.8 , - , align="left" , Career , align="left" , , 137 , , 136 , , 34.2 , , .465 , , .345 , , .736 , , 6.9 , , 2.1 , , 1.4 , , 0.6 , , 14.5 , -

Professional career

After the end of his last season at LSU, Mitchell was automatically eligible for the

, but he was not selected by an NBA franchise. He joined the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers (often referred to as the Cavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

for the 2010 Las Vegas Summer League, playing 5 games (1 start) and averaging 5.8 points, 5.4 rebounds, 0.6 assists and 1.2 steals per game in 20.5 minutes of playing time. Mitchell signed with the Cavaliers on September 27, 2010 but was waived on October 13, 2010; he then joined the Erie Bayhawks of the

NBA D-League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official List of developmental and minor sports leagues, minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development ...

. In the

2010–11 NBA Development League season The 2010–11 NBA Development League season is the tenth season of the NBA Development League (NBA D-League). The NBA D-League is the official minor league basketball organization owned and run by the National Basketball Association (NBA). The leag ...

Mitchell averaged 16.3 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game in 33.1 minutes, starting 20 of his 50 games. He ranked first in the D-League for total fouls with 191, and at the end of the season he was selected in the All-Rookie Second Team. In March 2011 Mitchell played for the

Quebec Kebs The Quebec Kebs (french: Kebs de Quebec) were a professional basketball team located in Laval, Quebec, formerly based in Quebec City, Quebec. The Kebs were part of the National Basketball League of Canada. They also played in the Atlantic Div ...

of the

Premier Basketball League The Premier Basketball League, often abbreviated to the PBL, is an American professional men's basketball minor league that began play in January 2008. The league folded after the 2017 season. It was announced that the league would be revived u ...

. After leaving the Kebs, Mitchell signed for

Hapoel Holon Hapoel Holon Basketball Club ( he, מועדון הכדורסל הפועל חולון), known for sponsorship reasons as Hapoel Atsmon Playgrounds Holon (), is a professional basketball club based in Holon, Israel. The team plays in the Israeli ...

in the

Israeli Basketball Premier League Ligat HaAl ( he, ליגת העל, lit., ''Supreme League or Premier League''), or the Israeli Basketball Premier League, is the top-tier level league of professional competition in Israeli club basketball, making it Israel's primary basketball ...

, and in 25 regular season games he averaged 14.9 points and 6.5 rebounds in 31.7 minutes per game during the 2011–12 season. His team reached the playoffs, and Mitchell averaged 16.7 points and 4.7 rebounds per game during postseason play. In 2012 Mitchell signed for

n team

Triumph Lyubertsy BC Zenit Saint Petersburg (russian: БК Зенит Санкт Петербург), formerly known as BC Dynamo Moscow Region (2003–2007) and BC Triumph Lyubertsy (2007–2014), is a Russian professional basketball team that is located in Sain ...

, and played 14 games in the

Russian Basketball Super League 1 The Russian Basketball Super League 1, or Super Liga 1, (russian: Баскетбольная Cуперлига 1), formerly known as the Russian Basketball Super League A or the Russian Basketball Super Liga A, is a men's professional basketball ...

and 20 in the

VTB United League VTB United League (russian: Единая Лига ВТБ) is an international professional men's club basketball league that was founded in 2008. It is made up of mostly Russian clubs, along with one each from Belarus and Kazakhstan. Since 2013, i ...

. That season he also had the chance to debut in an international competition, and appeared in 12 games of the 2012–13 Eurocup, averaging 12.3 points and 3.8 rebounds per game. In 2013 Mitchell moved back to

and signed for

Maccabi Rishon LeZion Maccabi Rishon LeZion is a sport club in Rishon LeZion, Israel. The professional teams associated with it include: *Maccabi Rishon LeZion (basketball) *Maccabi Rishon LeZion (handball) * Maccabi Rishon LeZion (badminton) There was also a footb ...

. During the 2013–14 Super League he averaged 13.9 points and 4.9 rebounds in 29 games, and he was named a member of the International team for the 2014 Israeli All-Star game. In 2014 he left Israel for

and joined Champagne Châlons-Reims in 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 ...

, the top level of French basketball. In the

2014–15 Pro A season The 2014–15 LNB Pro A season was the 93rd season of the French Basketball Championship and the 28th season since inception of the LNB. The season started on September 26, 2014 and ended on June 20, 2015. This season the number of teams was in ...

Mitchell averaged 10.8 points and 5.4 rebounds per game in 30 appearances, averaging 28.9 minutes per game. In 2015 he joined

JSF Nanterre Nanterre 92 is a professional basketball club from the city of Nanterre (a western suburb of Paris), France. The club plays in the top-tier level basketball league in France, the Pro A, since 2011. Founded in 2011 as JSF Nanterre, the club play ...

, another Pro A team, and averaged 8.4 points and 3.8 rebounds per game. He also played during the 2015–16 Eurocup, averaging 7.6 points and 3.8 rebounds per game.

Coaching career

In 2017 Mitchell was named Director of Student-Athlete Development at LSU under head coach Will Wade; in May 2019 the Tigers announced his promotion to assistant coach.

References

External links

Stats at Proballers.comStats at RealGM.com

Israeli league stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, Tasmin 1986 births Living people African-American basketball coaches African-American basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Canada American expatriate basketball people in France American expatriate basketball people in Israel American expatriate basketball people in Russia American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball players from Baton Rouge, Louisiana BC Zenit Saint Petersburg players Champagne Châlons-Reims Basket players Erie BayHawks (2008–2017) players Hapoel Holon players Israeli Basketball Premier League players LSU Tigers basketball coaches LSU Tigers basketball players Maccabi Rishon LeZion basketball players McDonald's High School All-Americans Nanterre 92 players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Power forwards (basketball) Small forwards 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American people