Tariq Amir Owens (born June 30, 1995) 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 Sagesse Club of the

Lebanese Basketball League The Lebanese Basketball League is recognized as the top-tier professional men's basketball list of basketball leagues, league in Lebanon. It is organized annually as a national championship with playoffs and a national cup by the Lebanese Basketb ...

(LBL). 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

Texas Tech Red Raiders The Texas Tech Red Raiders and Lady Raiders are the athletic teams that represent Texas Tech University, located in Lubbock, Texas, United States. The women's basketball team uses the name Lady Raiders, while the school's other women's teams us ...

and St. John's having transferred after his freshman year at

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

Early life

Owens mother died of pancreatic cancer when he was 14 years old. Owens attended St. Vincent Pallotti High School, where he was coached by Shae Johnson. He was teammates with future Clemson player

Marcquise Reed Marcquise DeAndre Reed (born April 21, 1995) is an American professional basketball player for Tofaş of Basketbol Süper Ligi (BSL). He played college basketball for Clemson. High school career Reed attended St. Vincent Pallotti High School, w ...

. Owens spent a

postgraduate year A postgraduate (PG) year is an extra year of secondary coursework at a boarding school following high school graduation, but before entering college. It is a gap year option intended for students who either have not applied or were not admitt ...

at Mount Zion Prep. He originally signed with

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

but was released after a coaching change.

College career

Owens began his collegiate career at Tennessee, playing for one season before transferring to St. John's. He averaged 5.2 points and 5.2 rebounds per game as a sophomore. As a junior at St. John's, Owens averaged 8.4 points, 5.9 rebounds and a

Big East Conference The Big East Conference (stylized as BIG EAST) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that competes in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA NCAA Division I, Division I in 10 men's sports and 12 women's sports. H ...

-best 2.8 blocks per game. Following the season, Owens opted to transfer as a graduate student, selecting

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the flagship institution of the five- ...

over an offer from

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

. Owens scored 18 points in a 78–63 win over

USC USC may refer to: Education United States * Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico * University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina ** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina * ...

on November 20, 2018. As a senior at Texas Tech, Owens averaged 8.7 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game. He helped lead the Red Raiders to the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Championship game. Owens was named to the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida ...

All-Defensive Team and honorable mention All-Big 12.

Professional career

Northern Arizona Suns (2019–2020)

After going undrafted in the

2019 NBA draft The 2019 NBA draft was held on June 20, 2019. It took place at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur United States college basketball players and other eligible p ...

, Owens did not play in the

NBA Summer League The NBA Summer League, also known as the Las Vegas Summer League, is an off-season basketball competition organized by the National Basketball Association (NBA). NBA teams come together to try out different summer rosters instead of their regula ...

but suited up for the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Suns compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA), We ...

. On July 18, 2019, Owens signed an

Exhibit 10 The NBA salary cap is the limit to the total amount of money that National Basketball Association (NBA) teams are allowed to pay their players. Like the other major professional sports leagues in North America, the NBA has a salary cap to control ...

contract with the Suns. but was waived on October 15. He was named to the roster of the Suns’

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is a professional basketball league in North America that serves as the Minor league#Basketball, developmental league of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league comprises 31 teams; as of ...

affiliate, the

Northern Arizona Suns The Motor City Cruise are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Detroit, and are affiliated with the Detroit Pistons. The Cruise play their home games at Wayne State Fieldhouse. The franchise began play as the Long ...

. Owens had a double-double with 14 points and 15 rebounds in a 117–113 loss to the

Texas Legends The Texas Legends are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Frisco, Texas, and are affiliated with the Dallas Mavericks. The Legends play their home games at the Comerica Center. The team began as the Colorado 14 ...

on November 12. On January 5, 2020, Owens led the team in scoring with 18 points to go with nine rebounds, one assist, one steal and one block across in a 101–93 victory over the

Rio Grande Valley Vipers The Rio Grande Valley Vipers are an American professional basketball team of the NBA G League based in Edinburg, Texas, and are affiliated with the Houston Rockets. The Vipers play their home games at the Bert Ogden Arena. The Vipers have won f ...

, helping snap a 13-game losing streak for Northern Arizona.

Phoenix Suns (2020)

On January 15, 2020, the

announced that they had signed Owens to a

two-way contract A two-way contract is a professional sports contract that stipulates that an athlete's salary is dependent upon the league in which the athlete is assigned to play. This is opposed to a one-way contract that would pay the same salary regardless o ...

. In his NBA debut on February 2, Owens scored two points and grabbed two rebounds in a 129–108 loss to the

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

Long Island Nets (2021–2022)

On January 27, 2021, Owens was included in the roster of the

Long Island Nets The Long Island Nets are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Uniondale, New York, and are affiliated with the Brooklyn Nets. The team plays its home games at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Nassau County ...

, who mentioned that the returning right to Owens had been acquired from the

along with returning right to

Matt Farrell Matthew Thomas Farrell (born March 15, 1996) is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the University of Notre Dame. Early life Born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, Farrell grew up in Point Pleasant Beac ...

in exchange to returning rights to Joe Cremo and

Drew Gordon Drew Edward Gordon (July 12, 1990 – May 30, 2024) was an American professional basketball player. He spent most of his career playing overseas in Europe but also played domestically in the NBA G League and with the Philadelphia 76ers of the N ...

earlier during off-season trades.

Pallacanestro Varese (2022–2023)

On July 19, 2022, he has 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 ...

of the

Lega Basket Serie A The Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) is a professional men's club (sport), club basketball list of basketball leagues, league that has been organised in Italy since 1920. Serie A is organised by Lega Basket, which is regulated by the Italian Basketball ...

(LBA).

Napoli Basket (2023–2024)

On July 27, 2023, he signed with

Napoli Basket Napoli Basket may refer to: * Napoli Basket (2016), professional basketball team * S.S. Basket Napoli (1946-2009), professional basketball team * Partenope Napoli Basket, amateur basketball team {{Disambiguation ...

of the Italian

(LBA).

Vanoli Cremona (2024–2025)

On August 3, 2024, he signed with

Vanoli Cremona Guerino Vanoli Basket, also known as Vanoli Cremona, is a professional basketball team of the city of Cremona. The team played in the Lega Basket Serie A, LBA, the top Italian basketball league, for 12 years until 2021. From 1999 to 2011 the soci ...

of the Italian

(LBA).

Sagesse Club (2025–present)

On May 29, 2025, he signed with Sagesse Club of the

(LBL).

Career statistics

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2014–15 , style="text-align:left;",

, 28 , , 5 , , 7.6 , , .353 , , .000 , , .526 , , 1.1 , , .1 , , .2 , , .5 , , 1.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2015–16 , style="text-align:left;", St. John's , style="text-align:center;" colspan="11",

Redshirt , - , style="text-align:left;", 2016–17 , style="text-align:left;", St. John's , 32 , , 8 , , 18.8 , , .504 , , .000 , , .750 , , 5.2 , , .5 , , .6 , , 2.2 , , 5.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2017–18 , style="text-align:left;", St. John's , 33 , , 26 , , 30.3 , , .504 , , .324 , , .690 , , 5.9 , , .5 , , .6 , , 2.8 , , 8.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;",

, 38 , , 37 , , 25.4 , , .611 , , .250 , , .780 , , 5.8 , , .7 , , .5 , , 2.4 , , 8.7 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 131 , , 76 , , 21.2 , , .533 , , .282 , , .725 , , 4.7 , , .5 , , .5 , , 2.0 , , 6.2

NBA

, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Phoenix , 3 , , 0 , , 5.0 , , .200 , , .000 , , 1.000 , , 1.0 , , .0 , , .3 , , .0 , , 1.3 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 3 , , 0 , , 5.0 , , .200 , , .000 , , 1.000 , , 1.0 , , .0 , , .3 , , .0 , , 1.3

References

External links

*
Texas Tech Red Raiders bioSt. John's Red Storm bioTennessee Volunteers bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Owens, Tariq 1995 births Living people 21st-century American sportsmen American men's basketball players Basketball players from New York (state) Long Island Nets players Northern Arizona Suns players Pallacanestro Varese players Phoenix Suns players Power forwards Sagesse SC (basketball) players Sportspeople from Utica, New York St. John's Red Storm men's basketball players Tennessee Volunteers basketball players Texas Tech Red Raiders basketball players Undrafted NBA players Vanoli Cremona players