Keron Melique DeShields (born December 4, 1992) 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 Hapoel Afula of the Israeli National League. 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

University of Montana The University of Montana (UM) is a public research university in Missoula, Montana. UM is a flagship institution of the Montana University System and its second largest campus. UM reported 10,962 undergraduate and graduate students in the fal ...

and

Tennessee State University Tennessee State University (Tennessee State, Tenn State, or TSU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, it is the only state-funded historically black university in Tenness ...

before playing professionally in Italy, Hungary, Israel, Greece and Lithuania. DeShields was named the Israeli National League Finals MVP in 2019.

Early life and college career

DeShields attended

Vermont Academy Vermont Academy (VA) is a private, co-educational, college preparatory, boarding and day school in Saxtons River, Vermont, serving students from ninth through twelfth grade, as well as postgraduates. Founded in 1876, the campus was listed on the ...

Saxtons River, Vermont Saxtons River is an incorporated village in the town of Rockingham in Windham County, Vermont, United States. The population was 479 at the 2020 census. For over a hundred years, Saxtons River has been the home of Vermont Academy, an independ ...

, where he averaged a team-high 20 points and 5.0 assists per game, and was a first team all-conference selection as a senior. Deshields played three years at

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...

. He helped the Grizzlies to reach the Big Sky Tournament Championships and NCAA Tournament berths in 2012 and 2013. On March 10, 2014, DeShields was named Honorable Mention All- Big Sky, alongside his teammate

Jordan Gregory Jordan Jace Gregory (born June 26, 1992) is an American professional basketball player. Professional career In June 2016, Gregory signed with Aris Leeuwarden of the Dutch Basketball League (DBL). Gregory was the DBL scoring champion of the 201 ...

. On May 30, 2014, Deshields was transferred from Montana to

Tennessee State Tennessee State University (Tennessee State, Tenn State, or TSU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, it is the only state-funded historically black university in Tennes ...

, but sat out first season at Tennessee State per NCAA Transfer rules. In his senior year at Tennessee State, DeShields led the team and ranked seventh in the

Ohio Valley Conference The Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern and Southeastern United States, Southeastern United States. It participates in NCAA Divisi ...

with 16.5 points per game and also averaged 3.3 rebounds and 3.0 assists in 32.8 minutes per game. DeShields was named First Team All-OVC, OVC All-Newcomer Team and NABC First Team All-District 19.

Professional career

2016–17 season

On July 16, 2016, DeShields started his professional career with Latina Basket of the Italian

Serie A2 Basket Serie A2, known for sponsorship reasons as Serie A2 Old Wild West, is a men's basketball league in Italy. It constitutes the second-tier of the Italian league pyramid, below the first division LBA and above the third division Serie B, with pro ...

, signing a one-year deal. On December 11, 2016, DeShields recorded a season-high 30 points, shooting 12-of-21 from the field, in a 93–90 win over

Viola Reggio Calabria Viola Reggio Calabria was an Italian professional basketball club based in Reggio Calabria, Calabria. At its heyday the club was renowned for discovering talented players who would go on to play at the highest level, for example five former pla ...

. In 30 games played for Latina, DeShields averaged 15.5 points, 4.7 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.1 steals per game.

2017–18 season

On September 11, 2017, DeShields signed a one-year deal with the Hungarian team

Jászberényi KSE Jászberényi KSE, shortly JKSE, is a Hungarian professional basketball team based in Jászberény. The team plays in the Nemzeti Bajnokság I/A, the highest professional league in Hungary. The team was founded in 2001. History Jászberényi KSE ...

. On January 12, 2018, DeShields parted ways with Jászberényi to join Debreceni EAC. On February 6, 2018, he parted ways with Debreceni after appearing in four games. On February 19, 2018, DeShields signed with the Israeli team Hapoel Afula for the rest of the Israeli National League season, as injury cover for

Tre Simmons Chester Simmons III (born July 24, 1982), better known as Tre Simmons, is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for Odessa, Green River CC and Washington before playing professionally in Greece, Spain, I ...

. On March 20, 2018, DeShields recorded a career-high 32 points, shooting 11-of-18 from the field, along with nine rebounds and eight assists in a 93–86 win over

Maccabi Hod HaSharon Maccabi Hod HaSharon ( he, מכבי הוד השרון) is a professional basketball club based in Hod HaSharon in the Sharon region, Central District of Israel. The team plays in the Israeli National League. History Alumni Maccabi Hod Hasharo ...

. On April 30, 2018, DeShields signed with the Greek team Rethymno Cretan Kings for the rest of the season, replacing

Malcolm Armstead Malcolm Ray Armstead (born 1 August 1989) is an American-born naturalized Kosovan-Romanian professional basketball player for Golden Eagle Ylli of the Kosovo Basketball Superleague. After playing college basketball for Chipola College, Universit ...

2018–19 season

On June 28, 2018, DeShields returned to Israel for a second stint, signing a two-year deal with

Maccabi Haifa Maccabi Haifa ( he, מכבי חיפה) is one of the biggest sports clubs in Israel and a part of the Maccabi association. It runs several sports clubs and teams in Haifa which have competed in a variety of sports over the years, such as Football ...

. On April 23, 2019, DeShields recorded a season-high 30 points, shooting 11-of-22 from the field, along with four rebounds and seven assists in an 85–82 playoff win over

Maccabi Ra'anana Maccabi Ra'anana () is a professional basketball club that is based in Ra'anana, Israel. The club plays in the Liga Leumit (basketball), Israeli National League, the second-tier division league of Israel. History Maccabi Ra'anana was founded in 19 ...

. On May 24, 2019, DeShields led Haifa to win the 2019 Israeli National League Championship after averaging 18.2 points in four games played in the final series against

Hapoel Galil Elyon Hapoel Galil Elyon ( he, הפועל גליל עליון), also known as Hapoel Nofar Energy Galil Elion for sponsorship reasons, is an Israeli basketball club. The team competes in the Israeli Basketball Premier League, the top tier of Israeli b ...

. He was subsequently named the Finals MVP.

2019–20 season

On October 7, 2019, DeShields signed a one-year deal with

Šiauliai Šiauliai (; bat-smg, Šiaulē; german: Schaulen, ) is the fourth largest city in Lithuania, with a population of 107,086. From 1994 to 2010 it was the capital of Šiauliai County. Names Šiauliai is referred to by various names in different l ...

of 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 ...

. He averaged 7.4 points and 2.9 assists per game. On March 6, 2020, he has signed with Hapoel Afula of the Israeli National League.

2020–21 season

On July 19, 2020, DeShields signed with

Ironi Ramat Gan Maccabi Ironi Ramat Gan ( he, מכבי עירוני רמת גן, formerly Ironi Ramat Gan) is a male basketball club based in Ramat Gan in central Israel. The team plays in Liga Leumit (basketball), Liga Leumit, the second division in Israeli baske ...

in Israel.

2021–22 season

On September 22, 2021, DeShields signed with San Severo on the

. He subsequently joined

Trotamundos B.B.C. Trotamundos B.B.C. (), also known as Trotamundos de Carabobo, is a professional basketball team based in Valencia, Carabobo, Valencia, located in the Venezuelan Carabobo State. The team currently plays in the Venezuelan SuperLiga. The team has won ...

of the Venezuelan league and averaged 20.8 points, 4.8 assists, 3.8 rebounds, and 1.2 steals per game. On January 5, 2022, DeShields signed with Hapoel Afula of the Israeli National League.

References

External links

Montana Grizzlies bio

Tennessee State Tigers bio

RealGM profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Deshields, Keron 1992 births Living people Vermont Academy alumni American expatriate basketball people in Greece American expatriate basketball people in Hungary American expatriate basketball people in Israel American expatriate basketball people in Italy American expatriate basketball people in Lithuania American expatriate basketball people in Venezuela American men's basketball players Basketball players from Baltimore BC Šiauliai players Debreceni EAC (basketball) players Hapoel Afula players Jászberényi KSE players Maccabi Haifa B.C. players Montana Grizzlies basketball players Point guards Rethymno B.C. players Shooting guards Tennessee State Tigers basketball players