Sam Shepherd (born April 21, 1953 in La Grange,

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

), also known as El Mago, is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

n 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 who played for the Venezuelan basketball team in the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

and world games in 1990, and for Colombian professional teams. He also went to two NBA camps for

Washington Bullets The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays ...

tryouts and ABA Baltimore Claws. Throughout his long professional career, he scored more than 30,000 points and won more than 20 International Tournaments, in addition to holding the record for 20 years for most three-pointers made in a game 14 and more than 25 games scoring more than 50 points only player to average 52 points in tournament with Brazil, Dominican Republic, and Colombia.

Basketball career

He attended

Delaware State University Delaware State University (DSU or Del State) is a public historically black land-grant research university in Dover, Delaware. DSU also has two satellite campuses: one in Wilmington and one in Georgetown. The university encompasses four col ...

, where he excelled in basketball for the

Hornets Hornets (insects in the genus ''Vespa'') are the largest of the eusocial wasps, and are similar in appearance to their close relatives yellowjackets. Some species can reach up to in length. They are distinguished from other vespine wasps by th ...

. He is member of Delaware State University sports Hall of Fame and Hall of Fame in South America and Hall of Fame North Lenoir High school . He played until 1975,at Delaware State University and after unsuccessful tryouts for NBA and ABA teams, he decided go to Venezuela and play at the Liga Especial de Basket. He later also played for the Colombian basketball team Loteria de Cucuta from 1978 to 1982, where he won four national championships (between 1978 and 1982) and Loteria de Valle in Cali Colombia (1) Championship and Barranquilla runner up finalist (1) year also Icollantas Copa sprite in Bogota (1) year 4 South American championships. Shepherd played professionally in Venezuela from 1975 to 1997, earning seven national titles and thirteen other International titles in 1977 average 50 points in Féria Sebastian tournament against Brazil,Dominican Republic and Colombia and held record for most 3 pointers made in a game in South America 14 . And In Colombia 7 years with 5 national titles .4 There, he played on various teams in the

Liga Profesional de Baloncesto The Superliga Profesional de Baloncesto, commonly known as the SPB, is the Venezuelan first division national professional basketball league. Founded in 1974 as the Liga Especial de Baloncesto, it adopted the name Liga Profesional de Baloncesto i ...

, including

Trotamundos de Carabobo Trotamundos B.B.C. (), also known as Trotamundos de Carabobo, is a professional basketball team based in Valencia, located in the Venezuelan Carabobo State. The team currently plays in the Venezuelan SuperLiga. The team has won the Venezuelan champ ...

, Panteras del Táchira, and

Guaiqueríes de Margarita Guaiqueríes de Margarita is a professional basketball team based in La Asunción, Venezuela. The team currently plays in Venezuela's Liga Profesional de Baloncesto. The team has won the Venezuelan championships nine times. Current rosters LPB ...

. His rise to fame there earned him the nickname "El Mago". He represented Venezuela at world games in Argentina in 1990, and later led the national team to a silver medal at the

1992 Tournament of the Americas The 1992 Tournament of the Americas, later known as the FIBA Americas Championship and the FIBA AmeriCup, was a basketball championship hosted by the United States from June 27 to July 5, 1992. The games were played at the Memorial Coliseum in ...

in Portland Oregon and Olympics Barcelona Spain 1992 against the dream team and 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona Spain

Personal life

He was born and grew up at

La Grange, North Carolina La Grange is a town in Lenoir County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 2,873 based on the 2010 census. La Grange is located in North Carolina's Inner Banks region. Geography La Grange is located at (35.308583, -77.792118). Ac ...

. He married Janis Williams-Shepherd. He has a daughter, Gwendolyn, who attended and graduated from

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then called Ba ...

, and another daughter, Frinè, in Venezuela who attended University de Católica del Táchira and graduated, His grandson Dorian, His grandson, Darrell graduated Penn State. His son, Sam Jr. (b. 1991), who inherited his father's love of basketball, won the Central American University Games.

References

1953 births Living people American emigrants to Venezuela Basketball players at the 1992 Summer Olympics Basketball players from North Carolina Delaware State Hornets men's basketball players Guaiqueríes de Margarita players Olympic basketball players for Venezuela Naturalized citizens of Venezuela Panteras de Miranda players Former United States citizens Trotamundos B.B.C. players Venezuelan men's basketball players 1990 FIBA World Championship players {{Venezuela-basketball-bio-stub