Keljin DeShawn Blevins (born November 24, 1995) 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 Romanian team

Rapid București Rapids are sections of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep gradient, causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence. Rapids are hydrological features between a ''run'' (a smoothly flowing part of a stream) and a '' cascade' ...

of the Liga Națională. Before that, he played for the

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Con ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

(NBA), on a

two-way contract A two-way contract is a professional sports contract that stipulates that an athlete's salary is dependent upon the league in which the athlete is assigned to play. This is opposed to a one-way contract that would pay the same salary regardless of ...

. He played college basketball at

Southern Mississippi The University of Southern Mississippi (Southern Miss or USM) is a public research university with its main campus located in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award bachelor's, ma ...

and

Montana State Montana State University (MSU) is a public land-grant research university in Bozeman, Montana. It is the state's largest university. MSU offers baccalaureate degrees in 60 fields, master's degrees in 68 fields, and doctoral degrees in 35 fiel ...

Early life and high school

Blevins was born and grew up in

Hot Springs, Arkansas Hot Springs is a resort city in the state of Arkansas and the county seat of Garland County. The city is located in the Ouachita Mountains among the U.S. Interior Highlands, and is set among several natural hot springs for which the city is n ...

and initially attended Lakeside High School. He averaged 10 points and 7.3 rebounds per game and helped lead the Rams to a 5A-South conference title as a junior. Blevins transferred to

Bishop O'Connell High School Bishop Denis J. O'Connell High School (also known as DJO) is a Roman Catholic college preparatory school founded in 1957 in Arlington County, Virginia. It was established by the Diocese of Richmond, but it has been under the direction of the Dio ...

Arlington County, Virginia Arlington County is a County (United States), county in the Virginia, Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the Washington, D.C., District of Co ...

for his senior year and was named honorable mention All-

Washington Catholic Athletic Conference The Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (WCAC) is a major high school athletic league for boys, girls, and co-ed Catholic high schools of the Archdiocese of Washington & Diocese of Arlington Schools located in the Washington Metropolitan Ar ...

College career

Blevins began his collegiate career at

. He averaged 1.8 points and 1.8 rebounds in 25 games in his freshman season. As a sophomore, Blevins averaged 5.8 points and 3.4 rebounds in 22.3 minutes over 29 games, 24 of which he started. After the season, he decided to transfer to

Montana State University Montana State University (MSU) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Bozeman, Montana. It is the state's largest university. MSU offers baccalaureate degrees in 60 fields, master's degrees in 6 ...

. After sitting out one year due to NCAA transfer rules, Blevins entered his redshirt junior season as a starter for the

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and averaged 9.7 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. In the final game of his college career on March 14, 2019, Blevins scored a career-high 27 points in a 90–84 loss to

Eastern Washington Eastern Washington is the region of the U.S. state of Washington located east of the Cascade Range. It contains the city of Spokane (the second largest city in the state), the Tri-Cities, the Columbia River and the Grand Coulee Dam, the Hanfor ...

. As a redshirt senior, he averaged 11.8 points and a team-high 5.9 rebounds per game.

Professional career

Northern Arizona Suns (2019–2020)

After going unselected in the

2019 NBA Draft The 2019 NBA draft was held on June 20, 2019. It took place 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, i ...

, Blevins played on the

Summer League team and signed a training camp contract with the team on September 30, 2019. He was waived at the end of training camp. After being waived, Blevins was selected with the 15th overall pick in the 2019 NBA G League Draft by the

Northern Arizona Suns The Motor City Cruise are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Detroit, Michigan, and are affiliated with the Detroit Pistons. The Cruise play their home games at Wayne State Fieldhouse. The franchise began play a ...

. He averaged 4.3 points and 2.8 rebounds in 35 games in his first professional season.

Portland Trail Blazers (2020–2022)

Blevins was signed by the Trail Blazers to a two-way contract on November 25, 2020. Blevins made his NBA debut on December 23, 2020, playing four minutes while shooting 0–2 from the field with one assist in the fourth quarter of a 100–120 loss to the

Utah Jazz The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference, Northwest Division (NBA), ...

in the Trailblazers' season opener. The appearance made him the first former Montana State player to play in an NBA game. On September 23, 2021, Blevins signed another two-way contract with the Trail Blazers.

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

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Playoffs

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Personal life

Blevins is the cousin of the Trail Blazers All-Star point guard

Damian Lillard Damian Lamonte Ollie Lillard Sr. (born July 15, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Weber State Wildcats and earned ...

References

External links

Southern Miss Golden Eagles bioMontana State Bobcats bioNBA G League profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blevins, Keljin 1995 births Living people American men's basketball players Basketball players from Arkansas Montana State Bobcats men's basketball players Northern Arizona Suns players Portland Trail Blazers players Small forwards Southern Miss Golden Eagles basketball players Sportspeople from Hot Springs, Arkansas Undrafted National Basketball Association players