Leslie Vernard McDonald, Jr. (born February 4, 1991) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Erie BayHawks of the

NBA Development 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 ...

. He played collegiately 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 ...

High school career

Born in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

to Leslie Sr. and Wanda, McDonald attended

Briarcrest Christian School Briarcrest Christian School is a private, coeducational, Christian school in Eads, an unincorporated area of Shelby County, Tennessee. The school was founded as a segregation academy during the racial integration of public schools in Memphis, Tenne ...

Eads, Tennessee Eads is an unincorporated community in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, named after Civil War engineer James Buchanan Eads. Some parts of Eads (and some surrounding areas) have been annexed by the city of Memphis. Some of its area is curren ...

where he played for coach John Harrington, and is a two-time Tennessee Division 2 AA Mr. Basketball and the all-time leading scorer in Memphis private school history with 2,353 points. As a junior in 2007–08, he averaged 21.5 points per game and led Briarcrest to the state title. As a senior in 2008–09, he averaged 20.7 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game.Leslie McDonald Biography
/ref> McDonald committed to the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

on June 9, 2008 after also receiving scholarship offers from

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...

, Georgetown,

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

, Wake Forest.

College career

In his four-year career at

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 ...

(he redshirted his junior year due to a knee injury), McDonald played 125 games (19 starts) while averaging 6.7 points and 1.9 rebounds in 17.0 minutes per game.

Professional career

McDonald went undrafted in the

2014 NBA draft The 2014 NBA draft was held on June 26, 2014, at the Barclays Center, Brooklyn National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players. ...

. On August 20, 2014, he signed with

Hapoel Kfar Saba Hapoel Kfar Saba F.C. ( he, מועדון כדורגל הפועל כפר סבא, ''Moadon Kaduregel Hapoel Kfar Saba'') is an Israeli football club based in Kfar Saba. The club competes in the Liga Leumit and plays home matches at Levita Stadiu ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

for the 2014–15 season. However, he left Hapoel in November 2014 after appearing in just five games. On January 9, 2015, he was acquired by the Erie BayHawks of the

. On March 3, 2015, he was waived by the BayHawks after appearing in 12 games. On April 4, he was acquired by the

Oklahoma City Blue The Oklahoma City Blue are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and are affiliated with the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Blue play their home games at Paycom Center. The franchise began as t ...

,NBA D-League 2014-15 Transactions
but didn't play for them.

References

External links

North Carolina Tar Heels bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:McDonald, Leslie 1991 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Israel Basketball players from Memphis, Tennessee Erie BayHawks (2008–2017) players Hapoel Kfar Saba B.C. players North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Shooting guards American men's basketball players