Levance E. Fields (born June 14, 1987) 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 court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...
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 ...
at the
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the univers ...
.
Early life and high school career
He is from
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
Xaverian High School
Xaverian High School is a private Catholic high school located in the Bay Ridge neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, serving grades 6 through 12. Grades 9-12 offer a college prep program and grades 6-8 are a middle school.
History
The school was ...
. LeVance's parents separated when Fields was very young because his dad had drug and alcohol problems. He played AAU basketball as a kid and teen. His mom wanted him to see the world and not be around all the bad things in his hometown, Brooklyn. Fields was the starting point guard for his high school team. Fields was named New York Player of the Year by the '' Daily News'' and '' Newsday''. He committed to Pittsburgh on December 6, 2004, just minutes after scoring 20 points and dishing out 11 assists in a win against St. Agnes.
College career
During his sophomore season in college, he was named as the starting point guard for Pitt. He averaged 9.2 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 4.6 assists per game for the Panthers in 2006–07. He wore jersey #2.
Fields finished his Pitt playing career with 1,247 points and 645 assists, which is third all-time at Pitt behind
Brandin Knight
Brandin Adar Knight (born December 16, 1981 ,
Sean Miller
Sean Edward Miller (born November 17, 1968) is an American college basketball coach who currently serves as head coach of the Xavier Musketeers. He previously was in that position from 2004 to 2009, after which he took the head coach position f ...
(744). During his senior year, Fields had 270 assists, which is a single season school record.
During his time at Pitt, Fields was known for his excellent ball-handling, his high assist-to-turnover ratio, and—despite having an unorthodox shooting style—his knack for hitting clutch shots. His stepback, game-winning 3-pointer to defeat Duke at Madison Square Garden and his timely 3-pointer in the NCAA Tournament vs. VCU in 2007 are his top clutch moments. He also led his team back in the 2009 Sweet 16 vs Xavier.
Professional career
In the summer of 2009, Levance played for the Orlando Magic's summer league team. He failed to make an NBA roster after the summer season and signed a multiyear contract with Spartak St. Petersburg of the Russian Basketball Super League in July 2009. In December 2010 he signed with
BC Krasnye Krylya Samara
BC Krasnye Krylya (russian: БК Красные Крылья, en, BC Red Wings) was a Russian professional basketball club from the city of Samara, Russia.
History
Krasnye Krylya played in the 2009–10 season of the Russian Super League 1, as ...
, but then failed to pass the medical examination and was waived. In August 2013, he signed with
BC Kolín
BC Kolín, for sponsorship reasons known as BK Geosan Kolín, is a Czech professional basketball club based in the town of Kolín. They play in the Czech National Basketball League (NBL), the highest competition in the Czech Republic. Kolín pl ...
in the
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
.
The Basketball Tournament (TBT)
In the summer of 2017, Fields competed in
The Basketball Tournament
The Basketball Tournament (TBT) is an open-application, single-elimination tournament played each summer in the United States. The 2022 edition features 64 teams with a $1 million winner-take-all prize, broadcast by ESPN. TBT was founded in 20 ...
on
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...
for Zoo Crew; a team composed of
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the univers ...
basketball alum. Competing for the $2 million grand prize, Fields scored a game-high 35 points (11–18 FG, 11–12 FT), grabbed six rebounds and handed out six assists as Zoo Crew fell in the first-round 100–87 to Sideline Cancer. Fields also competed for the Untouchables in 2016. In four games that summer, he averaged 12.8 points, 2.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game; helping guide the Untouchables to a 3–1 record.