Yanick Pires Moreira (born July 31, 1991) is an Angolan 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 plays for Petro de Luanda of the Angolan Basketball League and the

Basketball Africa League The Basketball Africa League (BAL) is the premier men's basketball league in Africa. Founded in 2019, the league was established and is co-organized by NBA Africa and the FIBA, International Basketball Federation (FIBA). Each season typically r ...

(BAL). He played two seasons of college basketball for the

SMU Mustangs The SMU Mustangs are the sport, athletic teams that represent Southern Methodist University in University Park, Texas, United States. SMU was founded in 1911 and joined the Southwest Conference, competing against Baylor Bears, Baylor, Rice Owls, ...

Early life and college career

From 2008 to 2011, Moreira played for

Primeiro de Agosto Clube Desportivo 1º de Agosto is a multisports club from Luanda, Angola. The club, founded 1 August 1977, is attached to the Angolan armed forces, which is its sponsor. Its main team competes in men's football, and its professional basketball t ...

of the Angolan League before moving to the United States to attend

South Plains College South Plains College (SPC) is a public community college in Levelland, Texas. It also has five locations in Plainview, at the Reese Technology Center (formerly Reese Air Force Base), in western Lubbock, the Lubbock Downtown Center and th ...

. After playing two seasons with South Plains, he transferred to

Southern Methodist University Southern Methodist University (SMU) is a Private university, private research university in Dallas, Texas, United States, with a satellite campus in Taos County, New Mexico. SMU was founded on April 17, 1911, by the Methodist Episcopal Church, ...

where he graduated in 2015. Moreira was called for

goaltending Goaltending is a violation of the rules in the sport of basketball. It consists of certain forms of player interference with the ball while it is on its way to the basket. It is goaltending if a player touches the ball when it is (a) in downwar ...

on a

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 ...

by Bryce Alford, in the closing seconds of the Mustangs' second-round game of the

2015 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 2015 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 68 teams playing in a single-elimination tournament that determined the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I men's basketball national champion for the 2014– ...

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 ...

. Moreira took responsibility for the loss, saying "It's all my fault. I should have let the ball hit the rim. I shouldn't have made that mistake as a senior."

Professional career

After going undrafted in the

2015 NBA draft The 2015 NBA draft was held on June 25, 2015, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. It was televised nationally in the U.S. by ESPN. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and other eli ...

, Moreira joined the

Los Angeles Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. The ...

for the

2015 NBA Summer League The 2015 NBA Summer League consisted of three professional sports, pro basketball sports league, leagues organized by the National Basketball Association, NBA: the Orlando Magic, Orlando Pro Summer League, Utah Jazz Summer League, and Las Vegas S ...

. In September 2015, he was ruled out for four to six weeks with a minor ligament tear in his left foot. On November 29, 2015, he signed with Rouen Métropole Basket of the French

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 ...

. In April 2016, he left Rouen and signed with Angolan club Petro de Luanda. He was later loaned to Spanish club UCAM Murcia for the rest of the

2015–16 ACB season The 2015–16 ACB season was the 33rd season of the Spanish basketball league, also called Liga Endesa in its sponsored identity. The regular season started on October 10, 2015, and ended on May 22, 2016. The playoffs was played from May 26 to Jun ...

. In July 2016, Moreira joined the

Toronto Raptors The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), E ...

for the 2016 NBA Summer League. On August 11, 2016, he signed with the Raptors, but was waived on October 22, 2016, after appearing in one preseason game. On October 30, 2016, he was acquired by

Raptors 905 The Raptors 905 are a Canadian professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Mississauga, and are affiliated with the Toronto Raptors. Raptors 905 began play in the 2015–16 season and play their home games at Paramount Fine Foods ...

of the

NBA Development 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, ...

as an affiliate player of Toronto. On May 3, 2017, he signed with Sanat Naft Abadan of the Iranian Super League. On July 13, 2017, Moreira signed with Russian club

Parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...

for the 2017–18 season. He averaged 9 points and 6 rebounds per game in the VTB league. On August 5, 2018, Moreira joined the Greek club

PAOK PAOK (, Πανθεσσαλονίκειος Αθλητικός Όμιλος Κωνσταντινοπολιτών, ''Panthessalonikeios Athlitikós Ómilos Constantinopoliton'', ''Pan-Thessalonian Athletic Club of Constantinopolitans''), commonly ...

. Moreira spent the 2019–20 season with

Peristeri Peristeri (Greek language, Greek: Περιστέρι, meaning "pigeon/dove" in Greek) is a city and a suburban municipality in the western part of the Athens#Athens Urban Area, Athens agglomeration, Greece. With 133,630 inhabitants (2021 census), ...

and averaged 12.7 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. He signed with

AEK Athens A.E.K. (; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople'') is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadelfeia, Attica. The club is more commonly known in European competitions as A.E.K. Athens. Establishe ...

on June 18, 2020. He was voted as the MVP of the month for November in the

Basketball Champions League The Basketball Champions League (BCL), also commonly known as the FIBA Champions League, is an annual professional basketball competition for European sports club, clubs, organised by FIBA. It is the European professional club basketball system ...

after averaging 17.7 points and 6.3 rebounds per game. Overall, Moreira averaged 13 points, 6.2 rebounds, 1.4 blocks, and 1.2 assists throughout the 2020-21 campaign with AEK. On July 28, 2021, Moreira officially returned to

. On January 3, 2022, he parted ways once again with the club. During his second stint, Moreira averaged 7 points and 4.5 rebounds, playing only 15 minutes per game. On March 14, 2022, Moreira returned to Angola, signing with Petro de Luanda of the Angolan Basketball League. In Petro's BAL Season 2 campaign, he averaged 11.4 points and 5.6 rebounds per game coming off the bench and helped the team reach the 2022 BAL Finals. In the final, Moreira scored 18 points and grabbed 7 rebounds, however, US Monastir was able to hold off Petro and win their first BAL championship. On September 20, 2022, Moreira signed with Greek Basket League club Kolossos Rodou. In 26 games, he averaged 8.7 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1 assist, playing around 19 minutes per contest. On December 5, 2023, Moreira returned to Petro de Luanda for a second stint. They won their first BAL championship on June 1, 2024, following a win in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

over Al Ahly Ly. Moreira contributed 12 points and 7 rebounds in the final victory.

National team career

Moreira has been a regular member of the

Angola national basketball team The Angolan men's national basketball team is controlled by the '' Federação Angolana de Basquetebol''. Angola has been a member of FIBA since 1979. Ranking 23rd in the FIBA World Rankings, Angola is the top team of FIBA Africa, and a regula ...

since 2010, having competed at the

2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup The 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup was the 17th edition of the FIBA Basketball World Cup, the tournament previously known as the FIBA World Championship. The tournament was held from 30 August to 14 September 2014. Hosted by Spain, it was the la ...

. At the

, Moreira scored a tournament-high and career-high 38 points, along with 15 rebounds, in an 83–91 win against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

References

External links