Derek Needham (born October 20, 1990) is an American- Montenegrin professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player for Frutti Extra Bursaspor of the

Basketbol Süper Ligi The Basketball Super League ( tr, Basketbol Süper Ligi; BSL), also known as the Türkiye Sigorta Basketbol Süper Ligi for sponsorship reasons, is the top men's professional basketball division of the Turkish basketball league system. It replace ...

. Standing at , he plays the point guard position. Needham played college basketball for Fairfield University where he was named to the CollegeInsider.com Freshman All-America team in 2010 and was All- MAAC for four straight years between 2010 and 2013. Since 2017, Needham represents the senior

Montenegrin national basketball team The Montenegro men's national basketball team ( cnr, Кошаркашка репрезентација Црне Горе, Košarkaška reprezentacija Crne Gore) represents Montenegro in international basketball tournaments. The supervising body ...

in international competitions.

Player career

High school

Needham is a native of

Dolton, Illinois Dolton (pronounced "DAWL-ton") is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 21,426 at the 2020 census. Dolton is located just west of the expressway Interstate 94 and immediately south of the city limits of Chicago. Its ...

and attended the

De La Salle Institute English: Sign of Faith , religious_affiliation = Roman Catholic( De La Salle Brothers} , patron = , established = , founder = Brother Adjutor of Mary, FSC , status = Open ...

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. During his senior season in 2009, Needham helped the

Meteors A meteoroid () is a small rocky or metallic body in outer space. Meteoroids are defined as objects significantly smaller than asteroids, ranging in size from grains to objects up to a meter wide. Objects smaller than this are classified as mi ...

basketball team reach the Class 4A sectional final while earning All- Chicago Catholic League and All-State second team honors. Needham also received the

George Eastman George Eastman (July 12, 1854March 14, 1932) was an American entrepreneur who founded the Eastman Kodak Company and helped to bring the photographic use of roll film into the mainstream. He was a major philanthropist, establishing the Eastman ...

Young Leaders Award and was named to the Chicago Catholic League All-Academic team.

College

Needham played college basketball for Fairfield University in Fairfield, Connecticut from 2010 to 2013. During his freshman season with the Fairfield Stags, Needham earned MAAC Rookie of the Year after receiving a then league record 10 Rookie of the Week awards and setting Fairfield freshman records with 543 points and 172 assists. He was also named to the CollegeInsider.com Freshman All-America team. Needham is third on the all-time scoring list at Fairfield, with 1,875 points and 535 assists. He set a new record for three-pointers in a season, with 74 in his senior year. He earned All- MAAC honors during all four seasons, and earned spots on the NABC Division I All-District 1, All-Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association (MBWA) and All-Jesuit teams.

Professional

During the 2013-2014 season, Needham played for BC Šiauliai in the

Lithuanian Basketball League Lithuanian may refer to: * Lithuanians * Lithuanian language * The country of Lithuania * Grand Duchy of Lithuania * Culture of Lithuania * Lithuanian cuisine * Lithuanian Jews as often called "Lithuanians" (''Lita'im'' or ''Litvaks'') by other Jew ...

and

Baltic Basketball League Baltic Basketball League (BBL) was the Baltic states basketball league founded in 2004. The league mainly focused on teams from the Baltic states, but teams from Sweden, Russia, Kazakhstan, Finland, and Belarus have participated in the Baltic L ...

. During the 2014-2015 season, Needham led

BC Khimik Khimik Yuzhne ( uk, Хімік Южне) is a Ukrainian professional basketball club that is based in Yuzhne. The club plays in the Ukrainian Basketball SuperLeague. In 2006, the club reached the final of the EuroCup Challenge, where they were d ...

to a perfect 36-0 season and the

Ukrainian Basketball SuperLeague The Ukrainian Basketball SuperLeague (USL) ( uk, Українська баскетбольна суперліга) is the first-tier level of professional basketball league in Ukraine. Established in 1992, the league is currently contested by 10 c ...

championship. He was named the most valuable player of the championship. During the 2015-2016 season, Needham first played for Basketball Löwen Braunschweig in the Basketball Bundesliga and then joined

Pallacanestro Reggiana Pallacanestro Reggiana, also known for sponsorship reasons as UnaHotels Reggio Emilia, is an Italian professional basketball team based in Reggio Emilia, Emilia-Romagna. It plays in the LBA as of the 2022-23 season. History 1970s Pallacanestro ...

in the

Lega Basket Serie A The Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) is a professional men's club basketball league that has been organised in Italy since 1920. Serie A is organised by Lega Basket, which is regulated by the Italian Basketball Federation (FIP). It is the highest-tier ...

. He helped lead

to the

championship game where he competed against his former Fairfield Stags teammate

Rakim Sanders Rakim Sanders (born July 8, 1989) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Changwon LG Sakers of the Korean Basketball League. He played college basketball with the Boston College Eagles for three seasons, and with th ...

Olimpia Milano Pallacanestro Olimpia Milano, commonly known as Olimpia Milano or as EA7 Emporio Armani Milan after its title sponsor, is an LBA Italian professional basketball team, based in Milan, Italy. Its colors are white and red, and the team is sometimes ...

. On July 12, 2017, Needham signed with Montenegrin club Mornar. Following the 2017–2018 season, EuroBasket.com named Needham to its FIBA All-Imports team after finishing 5th in scoring (17.2 ppg) and leading Mornar to the quarterfinals of 2017–18 FIBA Europe Cup Play-offs. On June 30, 2021, he has signed with Frutti Extra Bursaspor of the

National team

Needham is a citizen of

Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = M ...

and is a member of the Montenegro national team since 2017. He was part of the Montenegro team that qualified for the

2019 FIBA World Cup The 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup was the 18th tournament of the FIBA Basketball World Cup for men's national basketball teams. The tournament was hosted in China and was rescheduled from 2018 to 2019, becoming the first since 1967 FIBA World Ch ...

References

External links

Derek Needham
at eurobasket.com

at fiba.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Needham, Derek 1990 births Living people 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup players ABA League players American emigrants to Montenegro American expatriate basketball people in France American expatriate basketball people in Germany American expatriate basketball people in Italy American expatriate basketball people in Lithuania American expatriate basketball people in Monaco American expatriate basketball people in Montenegro American expatriate basketball people in Ukraine American men's basketball players AS Monaco Basket players Basketball Löwen Braunschweig players Basketball players from Illinois BC Khimik players BC Rytas players BC Šiauliai players Bursaspor Basketbol players De La Salle Institute alumni Fairfield Stags men's basketball players KK Mornar Bar players Lega Basket Serie A players Montenegrin expatriate basketball people in Italy Montenegrin expatriate basketball people in Lithuania Montenegrin men's basketball players Montenegrin people of African-American descent Naturalized citizens of Montenegro Pallacanestro Reggiana players People from Dolton, Illinois Point guards Sportspeople from Cook County, Illinois