Taqwa Pinero (born Taquan Dean on August 6, 1983) 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 Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player who lastly played for

Élan Béarnais Pau-Lacq-Orthez Elan Corporation plc was a major drugs firm based in Dublin, Ireland, which had major interests in the United States. It was listed on the New York Stock Exchange as ELN, the Irish Stock Exchange as ELN.I, and the London Stock Exchange as ELN. ...

of the

LNB Pro A The LNB Pro A, currently known for sponsorship reasons as Betclic Élite, is the top-tier men's professional basketball league in France. The competition has existed since 1921. Since 1987, the Ligue Nationale de Basket has governed the league. ...

Amateur career

He was born in

Red Bank, New Jersey Red Bank is a borough in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. Incorporated in 1908, the community is on the Navesink River, the area's original transportation route to the ocean and other ports. Red Bank is in the New York Metropolitan A ...

and attended

Neptune High School Neptune High School is a comprehensive four-year community public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from Neptune Township, in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States, operating as part of the Neptune Townshi ...

Neptune Township, New Jersey Neptune Township is a township in Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the township's population was 28,061, an increase of 126 from the 2010 census enumeration of 27,935, in turn an increase of 245 (+ ...

Dean was a star

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 ...

player for the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public research university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one of ...

through 2006, where he majored in justice administration. Throughout his four-year college career, he scored 1,657 career points, and made 361

three-point field goal A three-point field goal (also 3-pointer, three, or trey) is a field goal in a basketball game made from beyond the three-point line, a designated arc surrounding the basket. A successful attempt is worth three points, in contrast to the two poi ...

s. Considered a lock to be drafted in the first round of the

2005 NBA Draft The 2005 NBA draft took place on June 28, 2005, in the Theatre at Madison Square Garden in New York City. In this draft, NBA teams took turns selecting amateur college basketball players and other first-time eligible players, such as players f ...

after Louisville's great season and subsequent run through the NCAA Tournament, he decided to stay at Louisville for his senior season. This proved to be a mistake, draft stock wise, as Dean spent much of his senior season on the bench with an ankle injury.

Professional career

He went

undrafted In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in the 2006 NBA Draft, and he signed with

Angelico Biella Pallacanestro Biella, known as Angelico Biella for sponsorship reasons, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Biella, Piedmont. It plays in the second division Serie A2 as of the 2015-16 season. For past club sponsorship names, see ...

of the

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 ...

. After half of the season, he transferred to the

Russian Super League Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

club

Dynamo Moscow MGO VFSO "Dynamo" (russian: МГО ВФСО «Динамо»), commonly known as Dynamo Moscow (russian: Динамо Москва) is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. Founded by Felix Dzerzhinsky on 18 April 1923, Dynamo Moscow was the first ...

. In 2007, he signed with the Italian 2nd Division team Junior Casale Monferrato. In July 2008, Dean played for the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Suns are the only team in t ...

in the Las Vegas NBA Summer League. In 2008, he signed with the Spanish

Liga ACB 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 ...

club

Murcia Murcia (, , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the seventh largest city in the country. It has a population of 460,349 inhabitants in 2021 (about one ...

. In 2009, he joined the Euroleague club

Unicaja Málaga Unicaja is a Spanish savings bank based in Málaga and chartered as a caja de ahorros providing retail banking services. The banks full name is ''Monte de Piedad y Caja de Ahorros de Ronda, Cádiz, Almería, Málaga y Antequera'' after th ...

of SpainUnicaja inks scoring machine Taquan Dean
/ref> by signing a one-year contract. He moved for a short time to

Saski Baskonia Club Deportivo Saski-Baskonia, S.A.D., commonly known as Saski Baskonia (), also known as Cazoo Baskonia for sponsorship reasons, is a professional basketball team that is based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain. The team plays in the Liga ACB and the ...

before finishing the 2009–10 season with Greek Kavala B.C. He then signed with Italian club

Air Avellino S.S. Felice Scandone was an Italian professional basketball club based in Avellino, Campania. Founded in 1948, the team has been a regular in the Lega Basket Serie A (LBA), the first tier of basketball in Italy, for 19 years (2000/01 to 2018/19). ...

for the 2010–11 season. In August 2014, he signed with Spanish club San Sebastián Gipuzkoa. On April 9, 2015, he left San Sebastián, On and on April 27, he signed with Mahram Tehran of the Iranian Super League. On July 11, 2015, Dean signed with Socar Petkim of the

Turkish Basketball Second League The Turkish Basketball Second League, also called TB2L, is Turkish basketball league system, the third-tier level league of professional club basketball in Turkey. The league was previously called the Turkish Basketball Third League (TB3L). Form ...

. On April 19, 2016, he signed with his former team San Sebastián Gipuzkoa for the rest of the season. On October 10, 2016, after changing legally his name to Taqwa Pinero, he signed with

Hoops Club Hoops Club ( ar, نادي هوبس) is a Lebanese sports club. It is based in Beirut, Lebanon, with further branches in Antelias, Tyre, and southern suburbs of Beirut. Hoops club basketball team is part of the Lebanese Basketball League playin ...

of the

Lebanese Basketball League The Lebanese Basketball League is the top-tier professional men's basketball league in Lebanon. It is organized annually as a national championship with playoffs and a national cup by the Lebanese Basketball Federation (FLB). Currently, the leagu ...

. Two months later, Pinero signed with Spanish team

Iberostar Tenerife Club Cantera Base 1939 Canarias S.A.D., also known as Lenovo Tenerife for sponsorship reasons, is a professional basketball team that is based in San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain. Domestically, the team plays in the top level league i ...

. In February 2017, Pinero leaves the team. Later that month, he signed with French club

for the rest of the

2016–17 Pro A season The 2016–17 Pro A season was the 95th season of the Pro A, the top basketball league in France organised by the Ligue Nationale de Basket (LNB). The season started on 24 September 2016 and ended on 24 June 2017. A total of 330 games were played ...

. On June 2, 2017, he signed a two-year contract extension with Pau-Orthez.

Personal life

In October 2016, he changed his name from Taquan Dean to Taqwa Pinero, as he found after a DNA test that his supposed father was not the real one, adopting finally the surname of the new one and as he converted to Islam, taking an Arabic given name.

References

External links