Pele Paelay (born June 15, 1984) is an American former 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. Although he was born in

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...

, he grew up in the state of

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

before playing at

Coastal Carolina University Coastal Carolina University (CCU or Coastal) is a public university in Conway, South Carolina. Founded in 1954 as Coastal Carolina Junior College, and later joining the University of South Carolina System as USC Coastal Carolina, it became an in ...

from 2002 to 2006. Paelay was named the Big South Conference Player of the Year in his

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

season in 2004–05. Upon graduation in 2006, he began his professional career which has taken him to numerous countries abroad. Paelay is now the assistant coach for the girls varsity basketball team at the Steward School.

High school

Paelay attended

Magruder High School Col. Zadok Magruder High School (#510) is a secondary public school located in Rockville ( Montgomery County), Maryland, United States. Magruder is named for Colonel Zadok Magruder, a Revolutionary War patriot and farmer. He was colonel in comma ...

Derwood, Maryland Derwood is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in east-central Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. It lays just north of Rockville, southeast of Gaithersburg, southwest of Olney, and northwest of the greater Silver Sprin ...

. He graduated in 2002 after starring in both basketball and soccer. On the pitch, Paelay was named the Washington, D.C. Area Player of the Year in fall 2001 after scoring 19 goals, recording 12 assists and leading Magruder to their first ever boys' soccer state championship. He scored eight goals in the playoffs alone, five of which were game winners. Among the game winners, Paelay scored with less than 30 seconds remaining in the state championship game to give Magruder the 3–2 win. In basketball, Paelay led Magruder to a 27–0 record and a state championship during his junior season in 2000–01. He was named the

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

of the state Final Four. As a senior, he averaged 17.7 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game and was named to the Second Team All-Metro and All-County squads. He was also a participant in the D.C. Capital Classic, a postseason all-star game featuring the best high school seniors from the Washington area.

College

Paelay enrolled at Coastal Carolina in fall 2002 to play basketball for the Chanticleers. During his four-year career he recorded 1,178 points, 439 rebounds, 199 assists and 139 steals. His best season came in his junior year of 2004–05: his career-highs of points (16.8) and steals (2.4) per game led the

Big South Conference The Big South Conference is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I. Originally a non-football conference, the Big South began sponsoring football in 2002 as part of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). Th ...

, as did his field goals made (175) and attempted (401), 70 steals, and total points (488). Paelay was honored as the Big South Player of the Year and the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

named him an Honorable Mention All-American. Although Paelay did not have quite as much personal success the next year, his senior season in 2005–06, he was the second best player behind

sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. In ...

teammate

Jack Leasure John Richard "Jack" Leasure (born January 29, 1986) is an American former professional basketball player who spent the majority of his career playing in the New Zealand National Basketball League for the Taranaki Mountainairs. He is best known fo ...

(who happened to be that season's conference player of the year), and the two of them teamed up to give Coastal Carolina a 20-win season and second-place finish in the Big South.

Professional

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

teams showed interest in drafting nor signing Paelay to a contract upon his graduation, so he began his professional career overseas. Since 2006, he has played in leagues in France, Israel, Germany, and Turkey.

Footnotes

* Pele Paelay was born in

but is still considered American.

References

External links

Coastal Carolina profile

@ sports-reference.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Paelay, Pele 1984 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in France American expatriate basketball people in Georgia (country) American expatriate basketball people in Germany American expatriate basketball people in Israel American expatriate basketball people in Turkey American men's basketball players Liberian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Liberian men's basketball players Coastal Carolina Chanticleers men's basketball players Elitzur Yavne B.C. players Étoile Charleville-Mézières players JA Vichy players JL Bourg-en-Bresse players People from Derwood, Maryland Shooting guards Basketball players from Montgomery County, Maryland UJAP Quimper 29 players Würzburg Baskets players Sportspeople from Monrovia