Romain Guessagba-Sato-Lebel (; born March 2, 1981), generally known as Romain Sato, is a former Central African 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. Standing at a height of 1.96 m (6' 5"), he played as a

swingman A swingman is an athlete capable of playing multiple positions in their sport. Basketball In basketball, the term “swingman” (a.k.a. “wing” or “guard-forward”) denotes a player who can play both the shooting guard (2) and small forwa ...

High school

Sato attended

Dayton Christian High School Dayton Christian High School is a private, non-denominational Christian high school located in Miamisburg, Ohio, United States, educating approximately 900 students. Dayton Christian integrates Biblical instruction into its curriculum. Dayton Chr ...

, while living in

Moraine, Ohio Moraine is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States. Situated on the banks of the Great Miami River, Moraine is an inner suburb of Dayton, Ohio and a part of the Dayton metropolitan area. The population was 6,307 at the 2010 census. H ...

, in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. While there, he played basketball, and in 2000 Sato was selected as Mr. Basketball for the state of Ohio. In 2019 he was elected to the Dayton Christian High School Athletic Hall of Fame, and in 2021 the school retired his #23 jersey.

College career

Sato graduated from

Xavier University Xavier University ( ) is a private Jesuit university in Cincinnati and Evanston (Cincinnati), Ohio. It is the sixth-oldest Catholic and fourth-oldest Jesuit university in the United States. Xavier has an undergraduate enrollment of 4,860 studen ...

in 2004, having majored in French, after playing

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

Xavier Musketeers The Xavier Musketeers are the 16 teams representing Xavier University in intercollegiate athletics, including men's and women's basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, swimming, tennis, indoor track and field, and outdoor track and field. The Musk ...

Professional career

Sato was selected by the

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference Southwest Division ( ...

in the

2004 NBA draft The 2004 NBA draft was held on June 24, 2004, at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City, and was broadcast live on ESPN at 7:00 pm ( EDT). In this draft, National Basketball Association teams took turns selecting amateur colle ...

, and was subsequently waived on February 24, 2005. After being drafted by the Spurs, Sato played in the Italian Second Division with Sicc Cucine Jesi. He was the league's second-leading scorer in the 2005–06 season, averaging 25.5 points per game, and also adding 7.5 rebounds per game. In Romain's three playoff games that season, he averaged 35 points and 14.6 rebounds. From there, he went to

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. Founded ...

to play in the 2006

Spanish ACB League The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administrated by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, wi ...

playoffs. Sato then returned to Italy to play in the top

Italian League The Italic League or Most Holy League was an international agreement concluded in Venice on 30 August 1454, between the Papal States, the Republic of Venice, the Duchy of Milan, the Republic of Florence, and the Kingdom of Naples, following the Tr ...

with

Montepaschi Siena Mens Sana 1871 Basket is an Italian professional basketball club based in Siena. It is a section of the sports club Polisportiva Mens Sana, founded in 1871. Under the name Montepaschi Siena, derived from sponsor Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, ...

for the 2006–07 season. In his first season with Siena, he helped Montepaschi to win the ''Scudetto'' (Italian Championship), and he then went on to win three more ''Scudetti'' with Siena. He was named the Italian League MVP in 2010. In July 2010, he signed a three-year contract with

Panathinaikos Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos ( el, Παναθηναϊκός Αθλητικός Όμιλος, literally in English: "Panathenaic Athletic Club" or Panathinaikos A.C.), also known simply as Panathinaikós , is a major Greek multi-sport club ba ...

. In the summer of 2012, he signed a two-year contract with Fenerbahçe Ülker. He left them after one season. In August 2012, he signed a one-year deal with the Spanish team

Valencia Basket Valencia Basket Club S.A.D., commonly known as Valencia Basket (), is a professional basketball team based in Valencia, Spain. The team plays in the Liga ACB and the EuroLeague, with home games played at the Fuente de San Luis. The club is spons ...

. On July 1, 2014, he re-signed with Valencia Basket for two more years.

National team career

Sato played with the senior men's

Central African Republic national basketball team The Central African Republic national basketball team is administered by the Fédération Centrafricaine de Basketball. The team won the African Basketball Championship twice. It became the first Sub-Saharan African team to qualify for the Ba ...

at the

2009 FIBA Africa Championship AfroBasket 2009 was the 25th FIBA Africa Championship, played under the auspices of the Fédération Internationale de Basketball, the basketball sport governing body, and the African zone thereof. At stake were the three berths allocated to Afr ...

. He averaged 21.6 points and 8.6 rebounds per game at the tournament, and was named to the All-Tournament First Team.

Career statistics

EuroLeague

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2007–08 , style="text-align:left;",

, 23 , , 22 , , 28.0 , , .442 , , .347 , , .731 , , 4.9 , , 1.0 , , 1.8 , , .1 , , 11.6 , , 12.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2008–09 , style="text-align:left;", Montepaschi Siena , 20 , , 19 , , 25.8 , , .462 , , .400 , , .814 , , 3.9 , , .7 , , 1.8 , , .1 , , 10.1 , , 10.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2009–10 , style="text-align:left;", Montepaschi Siena , 16 , , 16 , , 28.0 , , .490 , , .396 , , .855 , , 5.3 , , 1.3 , , 1.5 , , .0 , , 13.6 , , 16.3 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#AFE6BA;", 2010–11† , style="text-align:left;",

, 21 , , 16 , , 26.2 , , .413 , , .388 , , .813 , , 3.9 , , 1.1 , , .7 , , .1 , , 9.0 , , 10.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2011–12 , style="text-align:left;", Panathinaikos , 23 , , 20 , , 26.0 , , .410 , , .347 , , .712 , , 4.7 , , 1.0 , , .7 , , .4 , , 7.1 , , 8.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2012–13 , style="text-align:left;", Fenerbahçe Ülker , 23 , , 23 , , 27.0 , , .408 , , .341 , , .810 , , 4.2 , , 1.3 , , .7 , , .1 , , 7.3 , , 8.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2014–15 , style="text-align:left;",

, 9 , , 6 , , 27.3 , , .362 , , .292 , , .800 , , 4.8 , , 1.1 , , .9 , , .6 , , 6.3 , , 6.7 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:left;", Career , style="text-align:left;", , 126 , , 122 , , 26.8 , , .433 , , .364 , , .789 , , 4.4 , , 1.1 , , 1.2 , , .2 , , 9.4 , , 10.6

Gallery

File:Sato es presenta.ogv, Romain Sato's words in his presentation as a

player, in 2013. File:Sato amb la premsa.ogv, Sato answers the questions of the Press in the very same act. File:Sato rep el premi a l'esforç VaBas 2014.ogv, Hommage in Valencia's court after his first season in the club, when he was chosen as best SF in the league, and awarded by local fans as the team's player who showed more effort.