Rakim Sanders (born July 8, 1989) 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 who last played for the

Changwon LG Sakers Changwon LG Sakers are a basketball team located in the city of Changwon in South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. They play in the Korean Basketball League, and their home arena is Changwon Gymnasium which has a capacity for approximately 6,000 ...

of the Korean Basketball 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 ...

with the

Boston College Eagles The Boston College Eagles are the athletic teams that represent Boston College, located in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level (Football Bowl Subdivisi ...

for three seasons, and with the Fairfield Stags, for one season. At a height of 1.96 m (6'5") tall, he can play at both the shooting guard and

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 ...

positions, with small forward being his main position.

High school career

Born in Pawtucket,

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020, but it ...

, Sanders attended St. Andrew's High School. He was the 2006–07 Gatorade Player of the Year for Rhode Island. In his junior year, he averaged 18.4 points and 5.9 rebounds per game while earning a spot of the all-state first team. He followed this up with another all-state first team spot his senior year, averaging 21.3 points per game and 8.3 rebounds per game while shooting 53 percent from the field. Sanders finished his high school career with 2,432 points.

College career

Freshman season

Sanders played right away for the Eagles, playing 28 minutes per game. He averaged 11.3 point, 4.6 rebounds, and 1 steal per game. Sanders struggled at the

free throw In basketball, free throws or foul shots are unopposed attempts to score points by shooting from behind the free-throw line (informally known as the foul line or the charity stripe), a line situated at the end of the restricted area. Free throws ...

line, hitting just 46% of his shots. However, he did have his most successful year from beyond the arc, hitting 38% of his threes. On February 14, Sanders had his first double-double, scoring 14 points and adding 12 rebounds against

North Carolina State North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The unive ...

. The Eagles went 14–17, despite winning 10 of their first twelve games.

Sophomore season

In his sophomore year, Sanders started at

alongside BC stars Reggie Jackson and

Tyrese Rice Tyrese Jammal Rice (born May 15, 1987) is an American-born naturalized Montenegrin former professional basketball player who last played for AEK Athens of the Greek Basket League and the Basketball Champions League. He also represents the senior m ...

. It was the team's most successful year during Sanders' time at BC. The team went 22–12 (9–7 in ACC play), and lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to USC. The season was highlighted by an 85–78 win over a North Carolina Tar Heels team that was ranked first in the country and would go on to win that season's National Championship. Sanders had 22 points, 2 blocks, and a game-high 7 steals. Sanders hit two game winning shots for Boston college; one against

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also has educational facilities in six re ...

and one against

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 ...

. Sanders had his best year in terms of scoring at BC, averaging 12.9 points per game to go along with 4.4 rebounds per game and 1.6 steals per game. He shared the team's defensive player of the year with forward

Corey Raji Corey Raji (born November 7, 1988) is an American-Nigerian professional basketball player. He played college basketball for Boston College. High school career Raji attended Westwood Regional High School in Washington Township, Bergen County, New J ...

Junior season

The BC team was hit hard by the graduation of

entering Sanders' junior year. As a result, the team struggled despite the efforts of Sanders, Jackson, and Raji, finishing 15-16. Sanders averaged 11.3 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 1 steal per game. He elected to transfer at the end of the season following the departure of head coach Al Skinner. Bleacher Report called Sanders "arguably the best player on the Eagles' roster."

Senior season

Sanders was forced to sit out for a season before playing for Fairfield. He had high expectations entering the year. College Basketball expert

Andy Katz Andrew D. Katz (born April 7, 1968) is a college basketball analyst for the Big Ten Network and a college basketball correspondent for the NCAA. He formerly worked as a senior college basketball journalist for ESPN.com, and was a regular sport ...

said that Sanders had a high chance of making the

Wooden Award The John R. Wooden Award is an award given annually to the most outstanding men's and women's college basketball players. The program consists of the men's and women's Player of the Year awards, the Legends of Coaching award, and recognizing the ...

watchlist. In one season with the Stags, Sanders averaged 16.6 points per game, 8.2 rebounds per game, and 1.4 steals per game. At Fairfield, Sanders gained a reputation as a high I.Q. player. Fairfield coach Sydney Johnson said "

anders Anders is a male name in Scandinavian languages and Fering North Frisian, an equivalent of the Greek Andreas ("manly") and the English Andrew. It originated from Andres via metathesis. In Sweden, Anders has been one of the most common names fo ...

plays the game almost like a coach would in terms of how he's trying to put all the pieces together. He's consciously aware of the bigger picture on offense and defense." Sanders eventually led the Stags to the CIT semifinals. he led the team in points and rebounding, while earning first team All

Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC, ) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I. Of its current 11 full members, 10 are located in three states of the northeastern United States: Connecticut, New Jersey, and ...

and was also named to the All-Jesuit team, honoring the best players from 28 Jesuit universities. His point total of 615 was the second highest in school history, and he also became the first player in school history to score 600 points and grab 300 rebounds in one season. Following the season, Sanders was invited to the

Portsmouth Invitational Tournament The Portsmouth Invitational Tournament, (PIT), is the oldest amateur basketball tournament in the United States and the only postseason camp restricted to college basketball seniors. The Portsmouth Invitational is the first of two NBA pre-Draft ( ...

, where he was named to the all-tournament team, averaging 19.3 points and 8.7 rebounds per game.

Professional career

NBA draft

In the

2012 NBA draft The 2012 NBA draft was held on June 28, 2012, at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The draft started at 7:00 pm Eastern Daylight Time (2300 UTC), and was broadcast in the United States on ESPN. In this draft, National Basketball Asso ...

, Sanders went undrafted. However, he was signed to play for the Golden State Warriors' Summer League Team.

Israel

After failing to catch on with an NBA team, Sanders signed a deal with

Maccabi Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv ( he, מכבי תל אביב) is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such ...

, who loaned him out to

Hapoel Gilboa Galil Hapoel Gilboa Galil ( he, הפועל גלבוע גליל) is a professional basketball club that is based in north-east Israel. The club plays its home game in the Israeli Basketball Premier League (the top tier of Israeli basketball) in a 2,250- ...

. In 29

Israeli Premier League The Israeli Premier League ( he, ליגת העל, ''Ligat Ha`Al'', ), is a professional association football league which operates as the highest division of the Israeli Football League – the state's league of Israel. The league is contested b ...

games, he averaged 12.6 points, 4.0 rebounds, 1.7 assists, and 1.3 steals per game, while shooting 59.5% on two point field goals and 38.2% on threes. Also, in 15 games in

Balkan International Basketball League The Balkan International Basketball League (BIBL), also known as the Balkan League, is a multinational professional basketball league that features mostly clubs from the Balkans. The league included teams from countries as Bulgaria, North Macedon ...

play, he averaged 13.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 1.3 steals per game.

Brose Baskets

On August 13, 2013, Sanders signed a two-year contract with the German League team

Brose Baskets Brose Bamberg is a German professional basketball team from Bamberg, Franconia / North Bavaria. The club has won the German Championship title nine times and the German Cup five times. The club currently plays in the German top tier Basketball ...

Olimpia Milano

On November 16, 2015, he signed a contract with

Olimpia Milano Pallacanestro Olimpia Milano, commonly known as Olimpia Milano or as EA7 Emporio Armani Milan after its title sponsor, is an LBA Italian professional basketball team, based in Milan, Italy. Its colors are white and red, and the team is sometimes ...

, and was cleared to play by January, as he was recovering from a wrist injury. He averaged 12.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.1 steals per game.

FC Barcelona

On July 10, 2017, Sanders signed with

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Found ...

Erie BayHawks

For the 2019–20 season, Sanders joined the Erie BayHawks of the G League as a local tryout player. He averaged 5.2 points and 3.5 rebounds per game.

Changwon LG Sakers

Sanders signed with

of the Korean league on January 14, 2020. On July 21, 2020, he has signed with

Hapoel Be'er Sheva Hapoel Be'er Sheva Football Club ( he, מועדון הכדורגל הפועל באר שבע, ''Moadon HaKaduregel Hapoel Be'er Sheva'') is an Israeli football club from the city of Be'er Sheva, that competes in the Israeli Premier League. The c ...

of the

. However, Sanders opted out of his contract on August 25 due to personal issues.

Career statistics

EuroLeague

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Brose Brose is a Scots word for an uncooked form of porridge: oatmeal (and/or other meals) is mixed with boiling water (or stock) and allowed to stand for a short time. It is eaten with salt and butter, milk or buttermilk. A version of brose made ...

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Milano Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city ha ...

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