Reginald Eugene Upshaw Jr. (born April 7, 1995) is an American professional basketball player for Telenet Giants Antwerp 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 competed in college for

Middle Tennessee State University Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU or MT) is a public university in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Founded in 1911 as a normal school, the university consists of eight Undergraduate education, undergraduate colleges as well as a college of Postgr ...

Early life and high school career

Upshaw is the son of Sabrina and Reggie Upshaw Sr., who played football at

. The younger Reggie Upshaw attended the

Baylor School Baylor School, commonly called Baylor, is a private, coeducational college-preparatory school in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Founded in 1893, the school currently sits atop a 690-acre campus and enrolls students in grades 6-12, including boarding ...

Chattanooga, Tennessee Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, ...

, where he was a multi-sport athlete, winning a state high jump championship and earning all-state honors in football and basketball as a junior. Playing wide receiver and

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like ...

in football, Upshaw had scholarship offers from Vanderbilt,

Middle Tennessee Middle Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of the U.S. state of Tennessee that composes roughly the central portion of the state. It is delineated according to state law as 41 of the state's 95 counties. Middle Tennessee contains the ...

and Louisiana–Lafayette. However, he suffered a broken right foot at the end of his season and another fracture at the beginning of his basketball season, prompting him to focus on basketball in the future. As a senior, Upshaw averaged 22 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks per game on the basketball court. He was considered to be a three-star recruit and received attention from several Division I programs before committing to Middle Tennessee and coach

Kermit Davis John Kermit Davis Jr. (born December 14, 1959) is an American college basketball coach for the Ole Miss Rebels. Davis was previously the head coach at Middle Tennessee. His head coaching experience also includes brief stops at Idaho (twice) and T ...

College career

In Upshaw's freshman season, he averaged 6.4 points and 3.5 rebounds per game. As a sophomore, Upshaw averaged 9.9 points and 7.0 rebounds per game. The Blue Raiders finished the season 19–16 and lost in the first round of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament. In his junior season, Upshaw was named to the All- Conference USA third team. Middle Tennessee won the Conference USA tournament, defeating

Old Dominion Old Dominion most commonly refers to: *The Old Dominion, a nickname for the U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia ** Colony of Virginia *Old Dominion University, a public university in Norfolk, Virginia **Old Dominion Monarchs, the athletic teams represe ...

55–53 in the final. Upshaw, who scored nine points in the championship game including the final four points, was named Most Valuable Player. In the NCAA Tournament, the Blue Raiders were given a 15 seed and matched up with 2 seed

Tom Izzo Tom Izzo (, ); born January 30, 1955) is an American college basketball coach who has been the head coach at Michigan State University since 1995. On April 4, 2016, Izzo was elected to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. Izzo has led the Spart ...

-coached

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

. In one of the biggest surprises in the history of the NCAA Tournament, the Blue Raiders beat the highly touted Spartans 90–81, with a strong performance by Upshaw, who scored 21 points as his team's top scorer. It was Middle Tennessee's first NCAA Tournament win since 1989. In the following round, however, they lost by 25 points against Syracuse, with Upshaw shooting 1-for-10 and dishing out one assist. Upshaw averaged 13.7 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game as a junior. After the season, he underwent wrist surgery. As a senior at Middle Tennessee, Upshaw averaged 14.5 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. Upshaw was named to the All-Conference USA second team. Alongside JaCorey Williams, he led the Blue Raiders to the NCAA Tournament again. As a #12 seed, the Blue Raiders earned a first-round win against #5 seed

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

. In a game in which Middle Tennessee was the betting favorite despite its lower seed, the Blue Raiders won 81–72 behind a game-high 19 points from Upshaw. In the next round, the Blue Raiders fell to

Butler A butler is a person who works in a house serving and is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantry. Some a ...

74–65. Upshaw was selected to play in the 2017 Reese's College All-Star Game.

Professional career

After going undrafted in the 2017 NBA draft, Upshaw joined the

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 1968 ...

for the 2017 NBA Summer League. He then moved to Germany to begin his professional career with the

Tigers Tübingen Tigers Tübingen is a basketball team from Tübingen, a college town in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany, playing in the ProA, the country's second tier league. Founded as SV 03 Tübingen, is affiliated with the multi-sports club SV 03 Tübinge ...

of the Basketball Bundesliga. Upshaw averaged 14.4 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 2.2 assists per game during the 2017–18 season. In July 2018, Upshaw played for the

Los Angeles Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division in the league's Western Conference. The Clipper ...

during the

2018 NBA Summer League The 2018 NBA Summer League consisted of three pro basketball leagues organized by the National Basketball Association (NBA): the Sacramento Kings's California Classic Summer League, Utah Jazz Summer League, and Las Vegas Summer League. The Sacra ...

. He later moved to Spain for the 2018–19 season, where he played for

BC Andorra Bàsquet Club Andorra S.A., also known as MoraBanc Andorra for sponsorship reasons, is a professional basketball team that is based in Andorra la Vella, Andorra. Though based in Andorra, the club plays in the Spanish basketball league system. The ...

of the Liga ACB. On July 30, 2019, Upshaw signed with

Grissin Bon Reggio Emilia Pallacanestro Reggiana, also known for sponsorship reasons as UnaHotels Reggio Emilia, is an Italian professional basketball team based in Reggio Emilia, Emilia-Romagna. It plays in the LBA as of the 2022-23 season. History 1970s Pallacanest ...

of the Italian

Lega Basket Serie A The Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) is a professional men's club basketball league that has been organised in Italy since 1920. Serie A is organised by Lega Basket, which is regulated by the Italian Basketball Federation (FIP). It is the highest-tier le ...

(LBA). He averaged 11.9 points and 6.3 rebounds per game during the 2019–20 season. On May 27, 2020, Upshaw signed with

Maccabi Haifa Maccabi Haifa ( he, מכבי חיפה) is one of the biggest sports clubs in Israel and a part of the Maccabi association. It runs several sports clubs and teams in Haifa which have competed in a variety of sports over the years, such as Football ...

of the

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 ...

. He averaged 13.9 points and 7.6 rebounds per game during their post-COVID season return. On August 15, 2020, Upshaw signed with Hapoel Tel Aviv. He averaged 11.7 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 1.1 assists per game during the 2020–21 season. On August 13, 2021, Upshaw signed with

Budivelnyk Kyiv BC Budivelnyk Kyiv (in Ukrainian: Будівельник Київ) is a Ukrainian professional basketball club based in Kyiv. The club plays in the Ukrainian Basketball SuperLeague. In June 2018, it was forced to withdraw from the Superleague due ...

of the

Ukrainian Basketball SuperLeague The Ukrainian Basketball SuperLeague (USL) ( uk, Українська баскетбольна суперліга) is the first-tier level of professional basketball league in Ukraine. Established in 1992, the league is currently contested by 10 c ...

. In January 2022, he left Ukraine and signed with

Mitteldeutscher BC Mitteldeutscher Basketball Club ( en, Central German Basketball Club), for sponsorship reasons named SYNTAINICS MBC, and commonly known as MBC, is a professional basketball club based in Weißenfels, Germany. The club currently plays in the Baske ...

of the German Basketball Bundesliga. In July 2022, Upshaw joined the

Wellington Saints The Wellington Saints are a New Zealand basketball team based in Wellington. The Saints compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at TSB Bank Arena. Team history The Wellington Saints were founded in 1981. In 1 ...

for the rest of the 2022 New Zealand NBL season. On August 12, 2022, he has signed with Telenet Giants Antwerp of the Belgian

References

External links

Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Upshaw, Reggie 1995 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Andorra American expatriate basketball people in Germany American expatriate basketball people in Italy American expatriate basketball people in New Zealand American expatriate basketball people in Spain American men's basketball players Antwerp Giants players Basketball players from Tennessee BC Andorra players Expatriate basketball people in Andorra Hapoel Tel Aviv B.C. players Lega Basket Serie A players Liga ACB players Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders men's basketball players Mitteldeutscher BC players Pallacanestro Reggiana players Small forwards Sportspeople from Chattanooga, Tennessee Tigers Tübingen players Wellington Saints players