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 (also known as the Fighting 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 Collegiat ...

. A five-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 Schoo ...

, 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, doing business as McDonald's, is an American multinational fast food chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese chain Mixue Ice Cream & Tea. Brothers ...

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 third-best scorer of all time 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 Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The draft, which started at 7:00 pm Eastern Time Zone, Eastern Daylight Time (2300 Coordinated Universal Time, UTC), was broadcast in the ...

, Mitchell played professional basketball in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

and

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

High school career

Mitchell was born in

Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; , ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It had a population of 227,470 at the 2020 United States census, making it List of municipalities in Louisiana, Louisiana's second-m ...

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 eccentrici ...

, 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 (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

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 ...

, 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 play ...

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 former professional basketball player. He was drafted directly out of high school by the Philadelphia 76ers with the 45th overall pick in the 2005 NBA draft. He is a 3-time NBA Sixt ...

Monta Ellis Monta Jerome Ellis ( ; born October 26, 1985) is an American former professional basketball player. Ellis attended Lanier High School (Jackson, Mississippi), Lanier High School in Jackson, Mississippi, where he was a McDonald's All-American Game, ...

, while Rivals.com 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 ...

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 The United States of America (USA), also known as the United Stat ...

, 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 The Roundball Classic, originally known as The Dapper Dan Roundball Classic (also known as ''Magic Johnson's Roundball'', '' Sonny Vaccaro's Roundball Classic'', ''EA Sports Roundball Classic'', '' Asics Roundball Classic'') is well known in the sp ...

. In the 2005 McDonald's game, which was played in

South Bend, Indiana South Bend is a city in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. It lies along the St. Joseph River (Lake Michigan), St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. It is the List of cities in ...

, he scored 6 points, shooting 3-of-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. Rivals.com ranked Mitchell as the 20th-best player in the nation and the fourth-best small forward in the class of 2005, while other services ranked him as high as the fifth-best player in the nation: the Recruiting Services Consensus Index (RSCI) has him ranked as the eighth-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 landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

. He chose to wear jersey number 1, and as a

true freshman The following terms are used in American football, both conventional and indoor. Some of these terms are also in use in Canadian football; for a list of terms unique to that code, see '' Glossary of Canadian football''. 0–9 ...

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 Darrel Joseph Mitchell Jr. (born May 3, 1984) is an American former professional basketball player. He played high school basketball at St. Martinville Senior High School in St. Martinville, Louisiana, and was named Louisiana Mr. Basketball as ...

): 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 d ...

) 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 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 land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

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 a former American college basketball coach. Johnson had previously been the head coach at Cal State University Northridge, Texas Christian University, Louisiana State University, Stanford Univers ...

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 and are typi ...

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 in Mississippi State, Mississippi, United States. It is classified among "R ...

, 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 All-District Second Team. Mitchell initially declared for the

2009 NBA draft The 2009 NBA draft was held on June 25, 2009, at The Theater at Madison Square Garden 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 p ...

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

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 ...

. 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 ...

ESPN.com ESPN.com is the official website of ESPN. It is owned by ESPN Internet Ventures, a division of ESPN Inc. History Since launching in April 1995 as ESPNET.SportsZone.com (ESPNET SportsZone), the website has developed numerous sections including ...

included Mitchell in his list of possible

John R. Wooden Award The John R. Wooden Award is an award given annually to the most outstanding men's and women's college basketball players. The Wooden Award program consists of the men's and women's player of the year awards, the Legends of Coaching Award, and rec ...

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. He starred in college at Louisiana State University's Tigers basketball team; his father, Press Mar ...

and

Rudy Macklin Durand "Rudy" Macklin (born February 19, 1958) is an American former professional basketball player. A 6'7" forward from Louisville, Kentucky, Macklin played at Louisiana State University from 1976 to 1981. In his very first game for LSU, he gr ...

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

College statistics

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

LSU Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

, 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 Central Division (NBA), Central Divis ...

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 a professional basketball league in North America that serves as the developmental league of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league comprises 31 teams; as of the 2024–25 season, ...

. 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 le ...

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 () 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 Division of the Premier Ba ...

of the

Premier Basketball League The Premier Basketball League (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 under new management for t ...

. After leaving the Kebs, Mitchell signed for

Hapoel Holon Hapoel Holon Basketball Club (), is a professional basketball club based in Holon, Israel. The team plays in the Israeli Basketball Premier League (the top tier of Israeli basketball), and internationally in the Basketball Champions League. The ...

in the

Israeli Basketball Premier League Ligat HaAl (, lit., ''Supreme League or Premier League''), or the Israeli Basketball Premier League, is a professional basketball league in Israel and the highest level of basketball in the country. The league's name is abbreviated as either BSL ...

, 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 Russian team

Triumph Lyubertsy BC Zenit Saint Petersburg (), 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 Saint Petersburg, Russia, since 2014. The club competes do ...

, and played 14 games in the

Russian Basketball Super League 1 The Russian Basketball Super League 1, or Super Liga 1, (), formerly known as the Russian Basketball Super League A or the Russian Basketball Super Liga A, is a men's professional basketball league that was the pre-eminent league of Russian profe ...

and 20 in the

VTB United League The VTB United League () is an international professional men's club basketball league that was founded in 2009. It is made up of mostly Russian clubs, along with one each from Belarus and Kazakhstan. Since 2013, it is the first tier of Russian ...

. 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 Israel 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 France and joined Champagne Châlons-Reims in 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 ...

, 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 LNB Pro A, French Basketball Championship and the 28th season since inception of the Ligue Nationale de Basketball (LNB), LNB. The season started on September 26, 2014, and ended on June 20 ...

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 has played in the top-tier level basketball league in France, the Pro A, since 2011. Founded in 2011 as JSF Nanterre, the club ...

, 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 Frank Williams Wade (born November 26, 1982) is an American college basketball coach who serves as the head men's basketball coach at NC State Wolfpack men's basketball, North Carolina State University. He previously coached at Chattanooga Mocs ...

; 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 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 Basket players Denham Springs High School alumni Erie BayHawks (2008–2017) players Hapoel Holon B.C. players Israeli Basketball Premier League players LSU Tigers men's basketball coaches LSU Tigers men's 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 Small forwards 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen