Rodney O'Keith Purvis (born February 14, 1994) 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 Cherno More Ticha of the Bulgarian National Basketball League. A

shooting guard The shooting guard (SG), also known as the two, two guard or off guard,Shooting guards are 6'3"–6'7"BBC Sports academy URL last accessed 2006-09-09. is one of the five traditional basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game ...

from Plymouth, North Carolina, 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

NC State Wolfpack The NC State Wolfpack is the nickname of the athletic teams representing North Carolina State University. The Wolfpack competes at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I (NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subd ...

and the

UConn Huskies The UConn Huskies (or Connecticut Huskies) are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Connecticut, with its main campus located in Storrs, Connecticut. The school is a member of ...

High school career

In October 2010, Purvis reclassified from the high school class of 2013 to the class of 2012. He said his classes would be in order and he could not wait to go to college. In the spring of 2011, he committed to

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

, but reopened his recruitment in May after Louisville assistant Tim Fuller went to Missouri. On September 30, 2011, he announced his intent to play for

Mark Gottfried Mark Frederick Gottfried (born January 20, 1964) is an American men's college basketball coach (basketball), coach, basketball podcaster, and former player who most recently served as head coach of the Cal State Northridge Matadors men's basketba ...

at N.C. State, choosing the Wolfpack over offers from

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

, Memphis,

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

and

Ohio State The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one of the largest universities by enrollme ...

. He was the 2012 North Carolina Gatorade Player of the Year. Purvis played in the 2012 McDonald's All-American Boys Game. On April 14, 2012, Purvis compiled 22 points, two rebounds and three steals in the Jordan Brand Classic. He was named the co-MVP with Shabazz Muhammad. ESPN analyst Dave Telep wrote, "In a short period of time, Purvis distinguished himself as an athletic, strong, scoring threat. Excellent off the drive and finishing in the paint, he's difficult to guard. There's an attacking presence he brings to the table, making him one of the best young offensive players in his age group." He drew some comparison to fellow Raleigh native John Wall, although Purvis tried to shrug off these comparison. According to ESPN, he was the 15th best recruit in his class. He was the 12th ranked recruit in his class according to Rivals.com.

College career

In his only year at N.C. State, Purvis played in 35 games and averaged 8.3 points and 2.4 rebounds per game. He shot 44 percent from the floor and 38.2 percent from the three-point line. He was named ACC Rookie of the Week on November 12. Purvis scored a season-high 21 against

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

on February 27. However, his minutes fell off when coach Gottfried moved forward T. J. Warren into the starting lineup, and Purvis scored a total of 12 points and played an average of 12.8 minutes in the final four games. He announced he was transferring to Connecticut on April 5, 2013. He said that N.C. State was not a good fit and he wanted to go off on his own. In his

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Sports * Redshirt (college sports) Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically ...

season, he trained with Shabazz Napier. A nagging shoulder injury caused Purvis to undergo surgery to repair a left labral tear in December 2013. Purvis worked extensively with teammate Ryan Boatright to get ready for his first eligible season at UConn. Purvis was forced to sit out a game in his sophomore season for playing in two summer leagues. Purvis was named AAC player of the week on March 2, 2015, after registering 28 points, three assists and three steals in an 81–73 win against SMU. He was selected to the All-AAC Tournament Team after scoring 29 points against SMU in the championship game. He finished second on the team in points per game (11.6) and 3-pointers (54) and collected 2.4 rebounds per game. Purvis had 28 points in a win against UMass Lowell on December 20, 2015. As a junior, Purvis led the team in scoring with 12.8 points per game, to go with 72 assists and 32 steals in 36 games total. He led the Huskies to the NCAA Tournament, where they beat

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

, then lost to

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

in the second round. He declared for the 2016 NBA draft, but declined to hire an agent and opted to return to Connecticut for his final season on May 5. Purvis worked out at Chris Paul's camp for guards in the summer.

Professional career

Lakeland Magic (2017–2018)

After going undrafted in the

2017 NBA draft The 2017 NBA draft was held on June 22, 2017, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players. ...

, Purvis joined the

Utah Jazz The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference. Since the 1991–92 season, the ...

for the 2017 NBA Summer League. On October 9, 2017, Purvis signed a non-guaranteed contract with the

Orlando Magic The Orlando Magic are an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NB ...

, but was later waived by the Magic before the start of the season. On October 23, 2017, Purvis was included in training camp roster of the Lakeland Magic.

Orlando Magic (2018)

On March 8, 2018, the

had announced that they had signed Purvis to a 10-day contract. Purvis had his NBA debut one day later, playing in 10 minutes of action in a 94–88 loss to the

Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Confere ...

. Purvis signed a second 10-day contract on March 18, and signed for the remainder of the season on March 28. On July 20, 2018, Purvis was traded to the

Oklahoma City Thunder The Oklahoma City Thunder are an American professional basketball team based in Oklahoma City. The Thunder compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (NBA), Northwest Division of the Western Confer ...

in exchange for Dakari Johnson and cash considerations. On July 23, 2018, Purvis was traded to the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), ...

in exchange for Abdel Nader. Oklahoma City also received cash considerations in the deal. On July 30, 2018, Purvis was waived by the Celtics.

Sioux Falls Skyforce (2018–2019)

Purvis signed with the

Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern C ...

on October 11, 2018. He was waived on October 13. Purvis was subsequently added to the roster of the Sioux Falls Skyforce. In 49 games played for the Skyforce, he averaged 14.5 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game.

Hapoel Tel Aviv (2019)

On July 27, 2019, Purvis signed a one-year deal with Hapoel Tel Aviv of the

Israeli Premier League The Israeli Premier League (, Ligat HaAl, ) is a professional association football league in Israel and the highest level of the Israeli football league system. The league is contested by 14 clubs, and operates on a system of promotion and rele ...

. On September 29, 2019, he parted ways with Hapoel after appearing in one pre-season tournament game.

Pallacanestro Cantù (2020)

On February 25, 2020, he has signed with

Pallacanestro Cantù Pallacanestro Cantù, known for sponsorship reasons as Acqua S.Bernardo Cantù, is an Italian professional basketball club that is based in Cantù, Lombardy. On the European-wide club competition scene, Cantù is second to Real Madrid – agai ...

of the Italian LBA.

Bergamo Basket (2020–2021)

On August 9, 2020, Purvis signed with Bergamo Basket 2014, in the Serie A2 second tier Italian national league.

King Wilki Morskie Szczecin (2021)

On February 23, 2021, Purvis signed with Wilki Morskie Szczecin, in the

Polish Basketball League Polska Liga Koszykówki (PLK) (English language, English: Polish Basketball League), officially known as the Orlen Basket Liga due to its sponsorship by Orlen, is a professional men's club basketball list of basketball leagues, league in Poland. I ...

. He averaged 7.8 points, 2.9 assists, and 1.1 rebounds per game.

Cherkaski Mavpy (2021–2022)

On August 27, 2021, Purvis signed with Cherkaski Mavpy of the Ukrainian Basketball SuperLeague. He averaged 10.3 points, 3.8 assists, and 2.3 rebounds per game. Purvis parted ways with the team on January 4, 2022.

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Orlando Orlando commonly refers to: * Orlando, Florida, a city in the United States Orlando may also refer to: People * Orlando (given name), a masculine name, includes a list of people with the name * Orlando (surname), includes a list of people wit ...

, 16 , , 2 , , 18.1 , , .327 , , .250 , , .867 , , 1.7 , , 1.1 , , .2 , , .2 , , 6.0 , - , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 16 , , 2 , , 18.1 , , .327, , .250 , , .867 , , 1.7 , , 1.1 , , .2 , , .2 , , 6.0

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2012–13 , style="text-align:left;", NC State , 34 , , 23 , , 26.0 , , .444 , , .395 , , .512 , , 2.4 , , 1.3 , , .6 , , .1 , , 8.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2014–15 , style="text-align:left;",

, 33 , , 24 , , 28.7 , , .429 , , .360 , , .538 , , 2.4 , , 1.2 , , .8 , , .2 , , 11.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2015–16 , style="text-align:left;",

, 36 , , 21 , , 28.8 , , .434 , , .385 , , .657 , , 3.0 , , 2.1 , , .9 , , .1 , , 12.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2016–17 , style="text-align:left;",

, 33 , , 32 , , 36.9 , , .372 , , .341 , , .811 , , 4.2 , , 2.5 , , 1.0 , , .2 , , 13.8 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 136 , , 100 , , 29.9 , , .416 , , .363 , , .638 , , 3.0 , , 1.8 , , .8 , , .1 , , 11.6 , -

National team career

On February 8, 2018, Purvis was selected to participate in USA World Cup Qualifying Team training camp.

Personal life

His godfather is N.C. Central coach

LeVelle Moton LeVelle DeShea Moton (born June 16, 1974) is an American college basketball coach and the current head coach of the men's basketball team at North Carolina Central University. He was a former player at North Carolina Central, having graduated i ...

. His mother is Shanda McNair. Although he is an only child, Purvis's mother adopted Tyrek Coger when he was in eighth grade. Coger died after a workout at

Oklahoma State University Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...

on July 21, 2016.

References

External links

Rodney Purvis
at NBADraft.net
Rodney Purvis
at RealGM.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Purvis, Rodney 1994 births Living people American men's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Israel American expatriate basketball people in Italy American expatriate basketball people in Kosovo American expatriate basketball people in Lithuania American expatriate basketball people in Poland American expatriate basketball people in Ukraine Basketball players from Raleigh, North Carolina KB Trepça players KB Peja players Lakeland Magic players McDonald's High School All-Americans NC State Wolfpack men's basketball players Orlando Magic players Pallacanestro Cantù players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) People from Plymouth, North Carolina Shooting guards Sioux Falls Skyforce players Sportspeople from Greenville, North Carolina UConn Huskies men's basketball players Undrafted NBA players United States men's national basketball team players Wilki Morskie Szczecin players 21st-century American sportsmen Hebraica Macabi players