Willie Deane (born February 23, 1980) is an American-Bulgarian 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. Deane has won three Bulgarian championships, one Bulgarian Cup, a French championship, a French Super Cup and an Italian championship.

College career

Dean played high school basketball at

Schenectady High School Schenectady High School is a high school located at 1445 The Plaza in Schenectady, New York, USA. It was founded in 1992 through the merger of Linton High School and Mont Pleasant High School. It is the only high school in the Schenectady City ...

, in

Schenectady, New York Schenectady () is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-largest city by population. The city is in eastern New Y ...

. 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 ...

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...

for one season before transferring to

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

to complete his final three years of eligibility.

Professional career

In 2008, Deane became a household name in European Basketball when he signed a contract with Zalgiris rumored to be excess of $600,000. In June 2012, Deane signed with Ukrainian team

BC Khimik Khimik Yuzhne ( uk, Хімік Южне) is a Ukrainian professional basketball club that is based in Yuzhne. The club plays in the Ukrainian Basketball SuperLeague. In 2006, the club reached the final of the EuroCup Challenge, where they were d ...

. Deane signed with

BC Krasny Oktyabr BC Krasny Oktyabr was a Russian professional basketball club that is based in Volgograd. In English, the club's name translates to "'BC Red October'". The club played in the VTB United League until 2016, when the team was forced to leave the league ...

for the 2013–14 season. On May 12, 2014, he signed with

Emporio Armani 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 ...

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 ...

for the rest of the 2013–14 season. On September 19, 2014, Deane signed with

Pallacanestro Varese Pallacanestro Varese, also called by its current sponsor's name, the Openjobmetis Varese, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Varese, Lombardy. Founded in 1945, the team plays in the Italian basketball league system, Italian first ...

. On February 27, 2015, he left Varese and returned to his former team Krasny Oktyabr for the rest of the season. On November 5, 2015, Deane signed with

STB Le Havre Saint Thomas Basket Le Havre or simply STB Le Havre is a basketball club based in city of Le Havre, France that plays in the Pro B division of the Ligue Nationale de Basket (LNB). Their home arena is Dock Océane.Allen Mack Jr. JPMorgan * Ref ...

of the French

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. ...

. In March 2016, he left Le Havre and signed with Latvian club

Ventspils Ventspils (; german: Windau, ; see other names) is a state city in northwestern Latvia in the historical Courland region of Latvia, and is the sixth largest city in the country. At the beginning of 2020, Ventspils had a population of 33,906. It ...

for the rest of the season. On July 26, 2016, he re-signed with Ventspils for the 2016–17 season. On June 16, 2017, Deane signed with French club Châlons-Reims for the 2017–18 season.

References

External links