Kerem Kanter (born 29 April 1995) is a Turkish professional basketball player for

Akita Northern Happinets The Akita Northern Happinets are a Japanese professional basketball team based in Akita that competes in the Eastern Conference of the First Division of the B.League. The team was formed as an expansion team of the bj league in 2010 and found succ ...

of the Japanese

B.League The B.League is a professional men's basketball league that began in Japan in September 2016. The league is operated by the Japan Professional Basketball League and was formed as a result of a merger between the National Basketball League that w ...

. 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 Wisconsin–Green Bay and the

Xavier Musketeers The Xavier Musketeers are the 16 teams representing Xavier University in intercollegiate athletics, including men's and women's basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, swimming, tennis, indoor track and field, and outdoor track and field. The Musk ...

. Kanter is the younger brother of NBA player

Enes Freedom Enes Kanter Freedom (; born Enes Kanter; May 20, 1992) is a professional basketball player who last played for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Born in Switzerland to Turkish parents, he was raised in Turkey and m ...

Early life

Kanter played one season at

IMG Academy IMG Academy is a preparatory boarding school and sports training destination in Bradenton, Florida, United States. IMG Academy is set across over 600 acres and features programs consisting of sport camps for youth athletes, adult camps, a board ...

and averaged 17 points and nine rebounds per game. Despite receiving major college attention, he took a long time to decide whether to go to college or play in a professional league. When he finally opted for college, most rosters were filled and Wisconsin–Green Bay was one of the only schools that could take him.

College career

As a freshman at Green Bay, Kanter played alongside

Keifer Sykes Keifer Jerail Sykes (born December 30, 1993) is an American professional basketball player for the Motor City Cruise of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay and his professional career has inc ...

. Kanter averaged 4.0 points and 2.3 rebounds off the bench as a sophomore. He helped the Phoenix to their first NCAA Tournament berth in 20 years, earning a 14 seed. As a junior, he posted 11.3 points and 6.3 rebounds per game. After the season, he declared for the NBA draft, but opted out before the deadline. Kanter decided to transfer to

Xavier University Xavier University ( ) is a private Jesuit university in Cincinnati and Evanston (Cincinnati), Ohio. It is the sixth-oldest Catholic and fourth-oldest Jesuit university in the United States. Xavier has an undergraduate enrollment of 4,860 studen ...

under the NCAA's graduate transfer rule. In his graduate year, Kanter averaged 10.9 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. He helped the Musketeers to a 29–6 season, its first

Big East The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and ...

regular-season title and a 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Kanter scored 24 points and grabbed five rebounds in the first round win versus

Texas Southern Texas Southern University (Texas Southern or TSU) is a public historically black university in Houston, Texas. The university is one of the largest and most comprehensive historically black college or universities in the USA with nearly 10,000 ...

Professional career

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 ...

, Kanter signed with

JL Bourg Basket Jeunesse Laïque de Bourg-en-Bresse, commonly known as JL Bourg or simply Bourg, is a basketball club based in Bourg-en-Bresse, France that plays in the Pro A. Their home arena is Ekinox, which has a capacity of 3,548 people. History In 2014, J ...

of the French league on 6 August 2018. He averaged 7.2 points per game. On 22 January 2019, Kanter signed with BC Dzūkija. In July 2019, Kanter signed with Club Joventut Badalona. In November, he refused to travel to Turkey to play against Darussafaka due to fears of being arrested. Kanter averaged 6.8 points and 3.8 rebounds per game. He was released from the team on 6 July 2020. On 4 September 2020, Kanter officially signed with Kolossos Rodou of the

Greek Basket League The Greek Basket League (GBL), often also referred to as the Greek A1 Basketball League, or Greek Basketball Championship (originally called Panhellenic Basketball Championship), and also known as the Stoiximan Basket League for sponsorship reaso ...

. On 24 August 2021, he has signed with

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 ...

of the PLK. On June 11, 2022, he has signed with

of the Japanese

International career

Kanter competed on the Turkish U-18 national team in 2013, helping lead the team to a gold medal at the FIBA Europe U-18 Championship in Latvia.

References

External links

Xavier Musketeers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kanter, Kerem 1995 births Living people Akita Northern Happinets players Green Bay Phoenix men's basketball players Xavier Musketeers men's basketball players Joventut Badalona players Kolossos Rodou B.C. players Liga ACB players Power forwards (basketball) Śląsk Wrocław basketball players Sportspeople from Bursa Turkish expatriate basketball people in the United States Turkish expatriate sportspeople in France Turkish expatriate sportspeople in Lithuania Turkish men's basketball players