René Anthony Rougeau (born March 25, 1986) 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 (appro ...

player for

Helsinki Seagulls The Helsinki Seagulls are a professional basketball team, based in Helsinki, Finland. The club plays in the Korisliiga, the highest tier of basketball in Finland. The Seagulls were founded in 2013 and made its debut in the Korisliiga in 2014, aft ...

of the

Korisliiga The Korisliiga is the top-tier professional basketball league in Finland, comprising the top 12 teams of the country. In its current format, each team plays all other teams two times in the regular season, once at home and once away, for a total o ...

. He played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

for the

University of Nevada, Las Vegas The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada, United States. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the ...

where he starred in his four seasons with the Runnin' Rebels.

Professional career

Early years (2009–2010)

Following graduating from UNLV, Rougeau joined the Nevada Pride of the

International Basketball League The International Basketball League (IBL) was a semi-professional men's basketball league featuring teams from the West Coast of the United States. In 2010 the Albany Legends became the first team in the Northeastern United States to join. The ...

before going undrafted in the

2009 NBA draft The 2009 NBA draft was held on June 25, 2009, at The Theater at Madison Square Garden at Madison Square Garden in New York City. In this draft, the National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball p ...

. He then joined the Clayton Showtime of the

American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major professional basketball league that operated for nine seasons from 1967 to 1976. The upstart ABA operated in direct competition with the more established National Basketball Association thr ...

in December 2009. On February 12, 2010, Rougeau signed with the Southland Sharks for the

2010 New Zealand NBL season The 2010 NBL season was the 29th season of the National Basketball League. Foundation member and nine-time NBL champions the Auckland Stars withdrew from the league in 2010, while the Otago Nuggets returned after a one-year absence and the So ...

. He went on to be named in the All-Star Five after averaging 16.2 points, 9.2 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 3.7 steals and 1.5 blocks in 19 games.

Mexico (2010–2014)

Following a promising first outing with the Sharks, Rougeau moved to

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

where he began what would end up being a four-year stint in the country. From 2010 to 2014, he played for Toros de Nuevo Laredo of the

Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional The National Professional Basketball League ( or LNBP), officially known as the Liga Grupo Caliente, Caliente LNBP for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball sports league, league in Mexico. The league was founded in 2000 with 1 ...

where he won two championships (2011 and 2013) and earned two All-Star nods (2012 and 2014). He also played for

Caballeros de Culiacán Caballeros de Culiacán (Culiacán Knights) is a professional basketball club based in Culiacán, Sinaloa, Mexico. The team currently plays in the Circuito de Baloncesto de la Costa del Pacífico ( CIBACOPA). In the past the team played in the Lig ...

of the CIBACOPA during the 2011, 2012 and 2014 LNBP off-seasons. He also played for Mineros de Cananea of the CIBACOPA and the Venice Beach Warriors of the WCBL in 2013, and for Bucaneros de La Guaira of

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

in 2014.

Israel (2014–2016)

On July 3, 2014, Rougeau signed a two-year deal with

Maccabi Haifa Maccabi Haifa () 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, Basketball, Weightl ...

of the

Israeli Basketball Premier League Ligat HaAl (, lit., ''Supreme League or Premier League''), or the Israeli Basketball Premier League, is a professional basketball league in Israel and the highest level of basketball in the country. The league's name is abbreviated as either BSL ...

Later career (2016–present)

Rougeau signed in Finland with Kauhajoen Karhu in 2017. During the 2018-19 season, he averaged 15.8 points, 8.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.8 steals and 1.5 blocks per game, and was named the league's Foreign MVP. In July 2019, Rougeau signed with Hermine Nantes Basket of the French

LNB Pro B The LNB Pro B, commonly known as Pro B, is the second-tier level men's professional basketball league in France. It is the second division of the Ligue Nationale de Basket (LNB), which has organized the league since the year 1987. The regular se ...

. After earning Eurobasket.com All-French ProB 2nd Team honors, he re-signed with the team on June 8, 2020.

Personal

Rougeau is a devout

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

. He reads the Bible in the locker room before every game.Import Rougeau credits God for his abilities
/ref>

References

External links

Eurobasket.com profileRealGM profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rougeau, Rene 1986 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Finland American expatriate basketball people in France American expatriate basketball people in Israel American expatriate basketball people in Mexico American expatriate basketball people in New Zealand American expatriate basketball people in Venezuela American men's basketball players Basketball players from Sacramento, California Caballeros de Culiacán players Hermine Nantes Basket players Kauhajoen Karhu players Maccabi Haifa B.C. players Sportspeople from Rancho Cucamonga, California Shooting guards Small forwards Southland Sharks players Basketball players from San Bernardino County, California Toros de Nuevo Laredo players UNLV Runnin' Rebels basketball players 21st-century African-American sportsmen Etiwanda High School alumni