Donovan James Mitchell (born 12 March 1997) 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 (appr ...

player for the

Ipswich Force Ipswich Force is a NBL1 North club based in Ipswich, Queensland. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 North. The club is a division of Ipswich Basketball Association (IBA), the major administrative basketball organisation in ...

of the

NBL1 North NBL1 North, formerly the Queensland Basketball League (QBL), is a semi-professional basketball league in Queensland and Northern Territory, Australia, comprising both a men's and women's competition. In 2020, Basketball Queensland partnered wit ...

. Born in Australia, he grew up in the United States and holds an

Irish passport An Irish passport ( ga, Pas Éireannach) is the passport issued to citizens of Ireland. An Irish passport enables the bearer to travel internationally and serves as evidence of Irish nationality and citizenship of the European Union. It also f ...

. He played

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 ...

for the

Wake Forest Demon Deacons The Wake Forest Demon Deacons are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Wake Forest University, located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. They compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a mem ...

and

Santa Clara Broncos The Santa Clara Broncos are athletic teams that represent Santa Clara University. The school colors are red and white. The nicknames for teams is The Broncos and the student fans are referred to as the "Ruff Riders". The Broncos compete in the NC ...

before playing professionally in the Netherlands, Australia and Poland.

Early life

Mitchell was born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, to American parents. His parents met in Australia during the 1990s. His father,

Mike Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and documenta ...

, was playing for the

North Melbourne Giants The North Melbourne Giants, previously known as the Coburg Giants, were an Australian professional basketball team based in Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of ...

in the Australian NBL in 1997. Mitchell grew up in

Fresno, California Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, makin ...

, and attended Buchanan High School in nearby

Clovis Clovis may refer to: People * Clovis (given name), the early medieval (Frankish) form of the name Louis ** Clovis I (c. 466 – 511), the first king of the Franks to unite all the Frankish tribes under one ruler ** Clovis II (c. 634 – c. 657), ...

, where he was a three-time first-team all-conference honouree with the basketball team. He was an all-state

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

player at Buchanan.

College career

Mitchell played his first two

seasons for the

. After playing in just four games as a freshman in 2016–17, he appeared in 30 games as a sophomore in 2017–18, averaging 2.9 points and 2.2 rebounds per game. On 30 April 2018, Mitchell transferred to Santa Clara. He subsequently sat out the 2018–19 season due to

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

transfer regulations. As a

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Entertainment * ''Red Shirts'' (film), a 1952 film about Anita Garibaldi by Franco Rossi * Redshirt (stock character), originally derived from ''Star Trek'', a stock character who dies soon after b ...

junior in 2019–20, Mitchell played in all 33 games for the Broncos with 15 starts. He ranked third on the team in scoring (10.7 ppg) on 49.4 percent field goal shooting and was second on the team in both 3-point shooting (38.3 percent) and rebounding (5.2 pg). On 29 February 2020, he scored a career-high 25 points against

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

. As a senior in 2020–21, Mitchell played in 18 games for the Broncos, starting five and averaging 6.4 points and 4.1 rebounds per game. On 16 February 2021, he scored a season-high 16 points against

Loyola Marymount Loyola Marymount University (LMU) is a private Jesuit and Marymount research university in Los Angeles, California. It is located on the west side of the city near Playa Vista. LMU is the parent school to Loyola Law School, which is located ...

Professional career

Coming out of college, Mitchell turned down an opportunity to play in Uruguay to instead begin his professional career in Ireland playing for

Templeogue Templeogue () is a southwestern suburb of Dublin in Ireland. It lies between the River Poddle and River Dodder, and is about halfway from Dublin's centre to the mountains to the south. Geography Location The centre of Templeogue is from bo ...

in the

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...

while undertaking a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

Griffith College Griffith College ( ga, Coláiste Uí Ghríofa) is one of the two largest, and one of the longest-established private, third level (higher education) colleges in Ireland. Overview Established in 1974, with four campuses in Dublin, Cork and ...

. However, he left the team prior to making his debut after being lured to the Netherlands. On 15 October 2021, Mitchell signed with Dutch team

BAL Bal may refer to: * Bal (surname), a Dutch, Indian, and Turkish surname * Bal, Iran (disambiguation) * Bal, Zira, a village in Punjab, India * ''Bal'' (film), a 2010 Turkish film * Bäl, a settlement on the Swedish island of Gotland * 8678 Bäl ...

of the

BNXT League The BNXT League, for sponsorship reasons the betFirst BNXT League, is a professional basketball league in Belgium and the Netherlands. The league is the first tier in both the Dutch and Belgian system, replacing the Dutch Basketball League, DBL a ...

. In 22 games during the 2021–22 season, he averaged 16.0 points, 8.2 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game. In June 2022, Mitchell moved to Australia and joined the

Gold Coast Rollers Gold Coast Rollers may refer to: * Gold Coast Rollers (NBL), former National Basketball League team *Gold Coast Rollers (NBL1 North) Gold Coast Rollers is a NBL1 North club based in Gold Coast, Queensland. The club fields a team in both the Me ...

of the

. He helped the Rollers win the 2022 NBL1 North championship. In 14 games, he averaged 18.4 points, 8.6 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.8 blocks per game. Following the NBL1 North season, Mitchell joined the

Brisbane Bullets The Brisbane Bullets are an Australian professional men's basketball team in the National Basketball League (Australia), National Basketball League (NBL) based in Brisbane, Brisbane, Queensland. They competed from 1979 to 2008, and returned to th ...

of the Australian NBL for the 2022–23 season. Following the Bullets' 0–4 start to the season, Mitchell was suspended for one game after being asked to leave training after having a difference of opinion with coach James Duncan over his role in the Bullets' offence. On 19 November 2022, he scored 21 points in a 90–82 loss to the

Cairns Taipans The Cairns Taipans are an Australian professional basketball team based in Cairns, Queensland. The Taipans compete in the National Basketball League (Australia), National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at the Cairns Conventio ...

. For the season, he averaged 9.56 points, 4.56 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game. Following the NBL season, Mitchell joined Polish team

Śląsk Wrocław Wrocławski Klub Sportowy Śląsk Wrocław Spółka Akcyjna, commonly known as WKS Śląsk Wrocław, Śląsk Wrocław () or simply Śląsk, is a Polish football club based in Wrocław that plays in Ekstraklasa, the highest level of the Polish fo ...

for the rest of the

2022–23 PLK season The 2022–23 Polish Basketball League (PLK) season, the Energa Basket Liga for sponsorship reasons, is the 89th season of the Polish Basketball League, the highest professional basketball league in Poland. Śląsk Wrocław are the defending champi ...

. He helped the team reach the championship series, where they lost 3–2. He averaged 5.8 points in 22 games. Mitchell re-joined the Bullets for the

2023–24 NBL season The 2023–24 NBL season is the 46th season of the National Basketball League (Australia), National Basketball League since its establishment in 1979. A total of ten teams contested in the 2023–24 season. Australian broadcast rights to the sea ...

. On 20 December 2023, he was ruled out for the rest of the season with a hip injury. He averaged five points in 15 games. In April 2024, Mitchell joined the

for the 2024 NBL1 North season.

Personal life

Mitchell is the son of Americans Mike Mitchell and Michelle Maher. His father played professional basketball in Australia and Europe while his mother played professional

beach volleyball Beach volleyball is a team sport played by two teams of two or more players on a sand court divided by a net. Similar to indoor volleyball, the objective of the game is to send the ball over the net and to ground it on the opponent's side of the ...

. His mother has Irish heritage through her grandparents. Through marriage, his father gained an Irish passport and played for the Irish national team. His parents later separated. As a result of his Irish heritage, Mitchell also holds an

. He too is eligible to play for Ireland, which was touted as a possibility in 2021. Mitchell has two siblings, Jaiden and Myca. Myca played volleyball at Wake Forest and

Howard Howard is an English-language given name originating from Old French Huard (or Houard) from a Germanic source similar to Old High German ''*Hugihard'' "heart-brave", or ''*Hoh-ward'', literally "high defender; chief guardian". It is also probabl ...

. In 2022, Mitchell played for two of the same teams his father also played for in the NBL, the Gold Coast Rollers and Brisbane Bullets.

References

External links

NBL profileWake Forest Demon Deacons college bioSanta Clara Broncos college bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, D. J. 1997 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Australia American expatriate basketball people in Poland American expatriate basketball people in the Netherlands American men's basketball players Australian men's basketball players Basketball Academie Limburg players Basketball players from Melbourne Brisbane Bullets players Forwards (basketball) Irish men's basketball players Santa Clara Broncos men's basketball players Śląsk Wrocław basketball players Sportsmen from Victoria (state) Wake Forest Demon Deacons men's basketball players