Devonta Pollard (born July 7, 1994) 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 court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player who plays for Ensenada Lobos of the Circuito de Baloncesto del Pacífico (CIBAPAC). A 6'8

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to centers. When on offense, they typically play with their ba ...

, Pollard played college basketball for

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,765 ...

East Mississippi Community College East Mississippi Community College (EMCC), formerly East Mississippi Junior College, is a public community college in Scooba, Mississippi. EMCC serves and is supported by Clay, Kemper, Lauderdale, Lowndes, Noxubee and Oktibbeha counties in ...

and

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

Early life and high school career

Pollard grew up in the small town of

Porterville, Mississippi Porterville (also Maryville) is a census-designated place and unincorporated community in Kemper County, Mississippi. It lies a slight distance away from U.S. Route 45 southeast of the city of De Kalb, the county seat of Kemper County. Its elev ...

. His mother, Jessie Mae, played one season in the

Women's Professional Basketball League The Women's Professional Basketball League (abbreviated WBL) was a professional women's basketball league in the United States. The league played three seasons from the fall of 1978 to the spring of 1981. The league was the first professional w ...

before it folded in 1981, at which point she returned to Porterville and became a high school history teacher. His father, Ervin, was a forklift driver at a paper plant before he died of pancreatic cancer when Pollard was in high school. Since his only sibling, Lewis, lived alone, he grew closer to his mother. However, their home burned down after getting struck by lightning in 2011. Pollard played high school basketball at Kemper County. As a senior, he led his team to the Mississippi 3A state championship, recording 28 points, 10 rebounds and 10 blocks in the 75–65 title game victory over Booneville. He averaged 23.8 points, 15.7 rebounds and 5.1 blocks per game to earn the Mississippi Mr. Basketball 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 hamburger s ...

honors. Pollard was a five-star prospect by

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 Heckma ...

and was ranked as the seventh-best small forward in his class and the 22nd best prospect in the nation by the organization. On June 1, 2012, he committed to Alabama, citing his wish to remain close to his mother.

College career

As a freshman at Alabama, Pollard was a role player, averaging 3.9 points per game. The following year, he transferred to

in order to be closer to his family. As a sophomore, Pollard averaged 12 points and 6.7 rebounds per game, being the third best scorer of the team. As a junior, he decided to join

, being coached by

Kelvin Sampson Kelvin Dale Sampson (born October 5, 1955) is an American college basketball coach, currently the head coach for the University of Houston of the American Athletic Conference. Early life Sampson was born in the Lumbee Native American community of ...

. Pollard became one of the top big men in the

American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference (The American or AAC) is an American collegiate athletic conference, featuring 11 member universities and five affiliate member universities that compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) ...

, averaging 11.4 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. Pollard finished his senior season averaging 14 points and 5.7 rebounds per game being the second scoring and rebounding leader for the Cougars.

Professional career

Following the close of his college career, Pollard was not drafted in the 2016 NBA draft. On October 5, 2016, he signed with Liepājas Lauvas of the Latvian Basket League. In November 2016, he left Liepājas and signed with Koroivos Amaliadas for the rest of the season. On October 30, 2017, he moved to Al Sadd Doha of the

Qatari Basketball League The Qatari Basketball League () is the top-tier men's basketball league operating in Qatar. The winning team obtains the participation right to the FIBA Asia Champions Cup. The first official season took place in 1981/82. There is a second divis ...

. Pollard signed with the Pioneros de Los Mochis of the Circuito de Baloncesto de la Costa del Pacífico (CIBACOPA) ahead of the

2019 CIBACOPA season The 2019 CIBACOPA was the 19th season of the Circuito de Baloncesto de la Costa del Pacífico (CIBACOPA), one of the professional basketball leagues of Mexico. It started on March 27, 2019, and ended on July 17, 2019. The league title was won by Ra ...

. He earned league All-Star honors. In 2021, Pollard joined the Ensenada Lobos of the Circuito de Baloncesto del Pacífico (CIBAPAC). He was named a CIBAPAC Region 2 All-Star and won the dunk contest. However, Pollard left the team later that month. He subsequently joined the Centauros de Durango of the same league. Pollard returned to the Ensenada Lobos in 2023.

Career statistics

College

, - , style="text-align:left;",

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 36 , , 7 , , 17.9 , , .371 , , .125 , , .614 , , 3.1 , , 0.6 , , .7 , , .6 , , 3.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2014–15 , style="text-align:left;",

, 32 , , 26 , , 30.5 , , .457 , , .000 , , .725 , , 6.4 , , 1.2 , , 1.2 , , .4 , , 11.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2015–16 , style="text-align:left;",

, 32 , , 25 , , 29.7 , , .479 , , .500 , , .747 , , 5.7 , , 1.6 , , .9 , , .6 , , 14.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 100 , , 58 , , 25.7 , , .450 , , .158 , , .719 , , 5.0 , , 1.1 , , .9 , , .2 , , 9.5

References

External links

Eurobasket.com
profile {{DEFAULTSORT:Pollard, Devonta 1994 births Living people Alabama Crimson Tide men's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Canada American expatriate basketball people in Greece American expatriate basketball people in Latvia American expatriate basketball people in Qatar American men's basketball players Basketball players from Mississippi BK Liepājas Lauvas players East Mississippi Community College alumni Houston Cougars men's basketball players Junior college men's basketball players in the United States Koroivos B.C. players McDonald's High School All-Americans Niagara River Lions players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) People from Kemper County, Mississippi Pioneros de Los Mochis players Power forwards (basketball)