Joel DeWayne Berry II (born April 1, 1995) is an American former 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. 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

North Carolina Tar Heels The North Carolina Tar Heels are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The name Tar Heel is a nickname used to refer to individuals from the state of North Carolina, the ''Tar Heel ...

and led the team to the 2017 national championship. Berry played professionally for two seasons in the

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official List of developmental and minor sports leagues, minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development ...

and one season in Turkey before his retirement in 2021.

High school career

20140402 MCDAAG Joel Berry dribbling in traffic

Berry, a 6'0

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the five Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position. Point guards are expected to run t ...

, played high school basketball at Lake Highland Preparatory School in

Orlando, Florida Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...

. He led his team to two state titles and was the first player named

Florida Mr. Basketball Each year the Florida Mr. Basketball award is given to the person chosen as the best high school boys basketball player in the U.S. state of Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bor ...

three times. He was named a

Parade All-American ''Parade'' was an American nationwide Sunday magazine, Sunday newspaper magazine, distributed in more than 700 newspapers in the United States until 2022. The most widely read magazine in the U.S., ''Parade'' had a circulation of 32 million and a ...

and McDonald's All-American as a senior in 2014.

College career

Freshman season (2014–15)

Berry's freshman season was hampered by injury. He averaged 4.2 points and 1.5 assists per game backing up junior

Marcus Paige Marcus Taylor Paige ( sr-Cyrl, Маркус Тејлор Пејџ; born September 11, 1993) is an American-Serbian professional basketball player for Monbus Obradoiro of the Liga ACB. He played college basketball for the University of North Caroli ...

at point guard.

Sophomore season (2015–16)

As a sophomore, Berry moved into the starting lineup at point guard, with Paige shifting over to shooting guard, resulting in a dramatic increase in Berry's offensive production. Berry helped the team to an

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

(ACC) regular season title. He then helped the team to an ACC tournament championship, averaging 17 points per game and coming away with Most Valuable Player honors. In the post-season, Berry and the Tar Heels made the Final Four and 2016 NCAA championship game. During the championship game, Berry scored 20 points and dished out four assists, but North Carolina fell short on a last-second shot to Villanova, 77–74.

Junior season (2016–17)

As a junior, Berry led the Tar Heels to the ACC regular season title. In the NCAA Tournament, despite playing with injuries to both ankles, Berry led the Tar Heels to a 2017 NCAA men's basketball championship. In the national title game against Gonzaga, Berry scored 22 points and had six assists, and was thereafter named Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four, becoming the first player since Bill Walton to score 20 points or more in back-to-back title games. While Berry was one out of 182 players that declared early entry into the

2017 NBA draft The 2017 NBA draft was held on June 22, 2017, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players. ...

, he ultimately decided to return to North Carolina for his senior season instead, announcing his decision on April 25, 2017.

Senior season (2017–18)

In his Senior year, Berry led the Tar Heels to the ACC tournament final. Despite losing in the second round of the NCAA tournament, he averaged 17.1 points and 3.2 assists per game and had 93 three-pointers. He was named the winner of the Dean Smith Most Valuable Player award at the 2017–18 UNC men's basketball awards ceremony, and was one of eight finalists for the James E. Sullivan Award, which is presented by the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) to the top amateur athlete in the United States. He was also voted a third team All-American by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC). Berry earned this distinction just two weeks after being named a 2018 first team All-ACC selection.

Professional career

South Bay Lakers (2018–2019)

After going undrafted in the

2018 NBA draft The 2018 NBA Draft was held on June 21, 2018, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur United States college basketball players and other eligible players, including inte ...

, Berry played with the

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...

summer league team, and they signed him to an NBA contract afterwards. On October 8, 2018, he was waived by the Lakers after appearing in three preseason games. He was subsequently signed by the Lakers' G League affiliate, the South Bay Lakers. On March 2, 2019, Berry was removed from the active roster by the Lakers due to a season-ending injury.

Greensboro Swarm (2019–2020)

The Greensboro Swarm, the NBA G League affiliate of the

Charlotte Hornets The Charlotte Hornets are an American professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Hornets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division, and pla ...

, on September 27, 2019 acquired the rights to Joel Berry II in a trade with the South Bay Lakers (Los Angeles Lakers affiliate). In return, the Swarm sent its second-round selection in the

2019 NBA G League draft The 2019 NBA G League draft was the 19th draft of the National Basketball Association G League. The draft was held on October 26, 2019, just before the 2019–20 season. Anthony Lawrence II was selected with the first overall pick by the North ...

(No. 40 overall) to South Bay. On March 6, 2020, Berry scored a career high 44 points on 17-for-29 shooting from the field and 8-for-15 from three to go along with two assists and three rebounds in the Greensboro Swarm's 134–129 loss to the Erie Bayhawks.

Beşiktaş (2020–2021)

On November 24, 2020, Berry signed with

Beşiktaş Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul, Turkey, located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and Şişli, on the west by Kağıthane and Şişli, on the south by Beyoğlu, and ...

of the Basketball Super League (BSL). On August 4, 2021, Berry was added to the

Summer League Roster. On August 24, 2021, Berry announced his retirement from professional basketball on the Ceiling is the Roof Podcast.

Post-playing career

On October 12, 2021, Berry joined

ACC Network ACC Network (ACCN) is an American multinational subscription-television channel owned and operated by ESPN Inc. Dedicated to coverage of the Atlantic Coast Conference, it was announced in July 2016 and launched on August 22, 2019. The channel o ...

as a college basketball studio analyst on the show ''Nothing but Net''.

Career statistics

Professional

, - , align=center , 2018–19 , align=left , South Bay Lakers ,

, 21 , , 22.4 , , .391 , , .272 , , .800 , , 1.3 , , 2.5 , , .6 , , .3 , , 11.1 , - , align=center , 2019–20 , align=left , Greensboro Swarm ,

, 34 , , 17.4 , , .425 , , .325 , , .700 , , 2.1 , , 2.1 , , 1 , , .2 , , 8.0 , - , align=center , 2020–21 , align=left ,

, Basketball Super League , 26 , , 23.3 , , .420 , , .365 , , .854 , , 1.7 , , 3.3 , , 1.1 , , .0 , , 9.2 , -

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2014–15 , style="text-align:left;",

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

, 30 , , 0 , , 13.2 , , .404 , , .354 , , .757 , , .9 , , 1.5 , , .4 , , 0 , , 4.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2015–16 , style="text-align:left;",

, 40 , , 39 , , 30.7 , , .448 , , .376 , , .872 , , 3.3 , , 3.8 , , 1.5 , , .2 , , 13.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2016–17 , style="text-align:left;",

, 38 , , 37 , , 30.4 , , .426 , , .383 , , .774 , , 3.1 , , 3.6 , , 1.4 , , .1 , , 14.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2017–18 , style="text-align:left;",

, 36 , , 36 , , 33.1 , , .396 , , .344 , , .893 , , 3.5 , , 3.2 , , 1.2 , , .3 , , 17.1 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 144 , , 112 , , 27.6 , , .420 , , .365 , , .834 , , 2.8 , , 3.1 , , 1.1 , , .2 , , 12.7

References

External links

North Carolina Tar Heels bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Berry, Joel 1995 births Living people 21st-century African-American sportspeople African-American basketball players All-American college men's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Turkey American men's basketball players Basketball players from Orlando, Florida Beşiktaş men's basketball players Greensboro Swarm players McDonald's High School All-Americans North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) People from Apopka, Florida Point guards South Bay Lakers players Sportspeople from Greater Orlando