Mohamed Kherrazi (born 29 June 1990) is a Dutch-Moroccan 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 who plays for

Leuven Bears Leuven Bears, for sponsorship reasons also called Stella Artois Leuven Bears, is a Belgian professional basketball club from Leuven. The club competes in the BNXT League, the highest tier in Belgian basketball. History The team has played in the ...

of the

BNXT League The BNXT League, for sponsorship reasons the betFirst BNXT League, is a professional basketball league in Belgium and the Netherlands. The league is the first tier in both the Dutch and Belgian system, replacing the Dutch Basketball League, DBL a ...

. He is also a member of the

Dutch national basketball team The Netherlands men's national basketball team ( nl, Het Nederlands nationaal basketbalteam) represents the Netherlands in international basketball matches. The national team is governed by Basketball Nederland. The Dutch have reached the Eur ...

. He is a record three-time

DBL Defensive Player of the Year The Dutch Basketball League Best Defender of the Year is an award that is yearly given to the best defensive player in the DBL, the highest professional basketball league in the Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_ ...

winner.

Early life

Kherrazi was born and grew up in

Errachidia Errachidia ( ar, الرشيدية, Berber: ⵉⵎⴻⵜⵖⴰⵔⵏ Imetɣaren) is a city in Morocco, located in the Errachidia Province, and is the capital of the Drâa-Tafilalet region. The city's residents speak Berber and Moroccan Arabic. ...

, where he started playing basketball with his brothers. They watched videos on their father's old computer and trained themselves. At age 12, his family moved to the Netherlands.

Professional career

In his first professional season with ABC Amsterdam Kherrazi was named the

DBL Rookie of the Year The Dutch Basketball League Rookie of the Year is an award that is yearly given to the best first-year player in the DBL, the highest professional basketball league in the Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = ...

. In 2011, he signed with

Zorg en Zekerheid Leiden ZZ Leiden Basketball, also known as Zorg en Zekerheid Leiden, is a basketball club based in Leiden, Netherlands. The club plays in the BNXT League, the domestic first tier league. Their home games are played at Vijf Meihal, which has 2,000 seats ...

. In the 2014–15 season, Kherrazi was named the

. In 2019, Kherrazi won his third Defensive Player award, which was a new record. On 12 August 2019, Kherrazi signed with

Landstede Zwolle Landstede Hammers is a Dutch basketball club based in Zwolle. The club plays in the BNXT League, the Dutch top tier division. The club was founded as Cees Lubbers The Hammers in 1995. In 1999, the club’s name was changed into Landstede Hammers. ...

. On 1 October 2020, Kherrazi signed with

Feyenoord Basketball Feyenoord Basketball, for sponsorship reasons known as Zeeuw & Zeeuw Feyenoord Basketball, is a Dutch professional basketball club based in Rotterdam. The team plays in the BNXT League and plays its home games at the Topsportcentrum next to De K ...

. On 1 December, Feyenoord announced Kherrazi had extended his contract until 2022 but will play temporarily for Kangoeroes Mechelen in Belgium. Because the DBL season had been suspended due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, Kherrazi continued with Kangoeroes. On 27 August 2021, Kherrazi and Feyenoord parted ways. On 28 August 2021, Kherrazi signed a two-year contract with

Heroes Den Bosch Heroes Den Bosch is a Dutch professional basketball club based in 's-Hertogenbosch. The club plays in the BNXT League since 2021 and in the top basketball division in the Netherlands since 1972. Founded as EBBC in 1951, the club had several spons ...

. In his first season with Heroes, Kherrazi won his second national championship. On 21 September 2022, Kherrazi and Den Bosch agreed to terminate his contract. On December 2, 2022, he signed with

of the

International career

Kherrazi made his debut for the

Netherlands national basketball team The Netherlands men's national basketball team ( nl, Het Nederlands nationaal basketbalteam) represents the Netherlands in international basketball matches. The national team is governed by Basketball Nederland. The Dutch have reached the Euro ...

in 2014, during the qualification rounds for

EuroBasket 2015 EuroBasket 2015 was the 39th edition of the EuroBasket championship that was organized by FIBA Europe. It was co-hosted by Croatia, France, Germany, and Latvia, making it the first EuroBasket held in more than one country. It started on 5 Sept ...

. With the Netherlands, Kherrazi qualified for EuroBasket 2015, which was the first continental tournament for the Dutch in 25 years. At EuroBasket 2015, Kherrazi averaged 5.2 points and 4.3 rebounds per game, helping the Netherlands to a 1–4 record. Seven years later, he played at

EuroBasket 2022 The EuroBasket 2022 was the 41st edition of the EuroBasket championship organized by FIBA Europe. It was the first since it was agreed it would take place every four years, with a similar system of qualification as for the FIBA Basketball World C ...

, where he averaged 5.4 points and 3.4 rebounds as a starter. The Netherlands were winless at the tournament, finishing 0–5.

Honours

Club

;

ZZ Leiden ZZ Leiden Basketball, also known as Zorg en Zekerheid Leiden, is a basketball club based in Leiden, Netherlands. The club plays in the BNXT League, the domestic first tier league. Their home games are played at Vijf Meihal, which has 2,000 seats. ...

*2× Dutch Basketball League: (

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

) *2×

Dutch Cup The KNVB Beker (; en, KNVB Cup), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organized by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Ou ...

: (

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

) *2× Dutch Supercup: (

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

) ;

Landstede Hammers Landstede Hammers is a Dutch basketball club based in Zwolle. The club plays in the BNXT League, the Dutch top tier division. The club was founded as Cees Lubbers The Hammers in 1995. In 1999, the club’s name was changed into Landstede Hammers. ...

* Dutch Supercup: (

)

Individual awards

: (

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

) *3×

: (

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

) *5×

DBL All-Defense Team The Dutch Basketball League (DBL) All-Defense Team is a team constituted by the best defensive players in a season of the Dutch Basketball League, the highest professional basketball league in the Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of ...

(2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019)

Player profile

Kherrazi is known as a good defender and solid rebounder. He usually plays as

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to centers. When on offense, they typically play with their ba ...

but is occasionally used as

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three or swingman, is one of the five positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically shorter, quicker, and leaner than power forwards and centers but taller, larger, and stronger t ...

Personal

His brother, Hicham, is also a professional player and has played for

Apollo Amsterdam Apollo Amsterdam is a professional basketball team based in Amsterdam. The club plays its games in the BNXT League, the Dutch top league. The club was founded in 2011 and has been playing in the highest national level for years. The amateur sectio ...

and

Aris Leeuwarden Aris Leeuwarden is a Dutch professional basketball club based in Leeuwarden. The club competes in the BNXT League, and has competed at the highest national level since 2004. Aris plays its home games at the Kalverdijkje. Its most notable successes ...

. In 2020, the short film ''Kherrazi 11:11'', about his life, was released.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kherrazi, Mohamed 1990 births Living people Amsterdam Basketball players Feyenoord Basketball players B.S. Leiden players Dutch Basketball League players Kangoeroes Basket Mechelen players Dutch men's basketball players Moroccan men's basketball players Heroes Den Bosch players Landstede Hammers players Leuven Bears players Moroccan emigrants to the Netherlands Dutch sportspeople of Moroccan descent People from Errachidia Power forwards (basketball) Dutch expatriate basketball people in Belgium