Darion Atkins
Atkins with Hapoel Holon in October 2016
Free Agent
PositionPower forward / center
Personal information
Born (1992-09-17) September 17, 1992 (age 31)
Clinton, Maryland
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Listed weight230 lb (104 kg)
Career information
High schoolLandon School (Bethesda, Maryland)
CollegeVirginia (2011–2015)
NBA draft2015: undrafted
Playing career2015–present
Career history
2015–2016Westchester Knicks
2016–2017Hapoel Holon
2017–2018SIG Strasbourg
2018–2019Hapoel Holon
2019Canarias
2019–2020Brose Bamberg
2020AEK Athens
2020–2021Lokman Hekim Fethiye Belediyespor
2021–2022Niners Chemnitz
2022–2023Dolomiti Energia Trento
Career highlights and awards
Stats Edit this at Wikidata at Basketball-Reference.com

Darion Ray Atkins (born September 17, 1992) is an American professional basketball player who last played for Dolomiti Energia Trento of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA). He played college basketball for the University of Virginia before playing professionally in Israel, France and Germany. Standing at 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m), he primarily plays at the power forward and center positions.

Early life and college career

Atkins with the Virginia Cavaliers in November 2014

Atkins attended the Landon School in Bethesda, Maryland, where he averaged 15.2 points, 12 rebounds and 7.3 blocks per game as a senior, earning All-Interstate Athletic Conference honors.[1]

Atkins had offers from Notre Dame and Maryland, but he chose to attend the University of Virginia,[2] where he averaged 7.6 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in 23.9 minutes per game in his senior year.

On March 8, 2015, Atkins was named ACC Defensive Player of the Year.[3] On April 3, 2015, Atkins was named Lefty Driesell Defensive Player of the Year Award.[4]

Professional career

Westchester Knicks (2015–2016)

After going undrafted in the 2015 NBA draft, Atkins joined the San Antonio Spurs for the 2015 NBA Summer League.[5] On September 10, 2015, Atkins signed with the New York Knicks.[6] However, he was later waived by the New York on October 23 after appearing in three preseason games.[7] On November 2, he was acquired by the Westchester Knicks of the NBA Development League as an affiliate player of New York.[8]

Hapoel Holon (2016–2017)

On July 1, 2016, Atkins joined the Golden State Warriors for the 2016 NBA Summer League.[9]

On August 5, 2016, Atkins signed a one-year deal with the Israeli team Hapoel Holon.[10] On October 22, 2016, Atkins recorded a career-high 26 points, shooting 11-of-16 from the field, along with 13 rebounds in a 72–81 loss to Maccabi Tel Aviv.[11] On November 3, 2016, Atkins was named Israeli League Player of the Month for games played in October.[12] On April 18, 2017, Atkins participated in the 2017 Israeli League All-Star Game.

Atkins helped Holon reach the 2017 Israeli League Playoffs as the first seed, but they eventually were eliminated by Maccabi Haifa in the Quarterfinals. On June 9, 2017, Atkins earned a spot in the 2017 All-Israeli League Second Team.[13]

SIG Strasbourg (2017–2018)

On July 3, 2017, Atkins joined the Phoenix Suns for the 2017 NBA Summer League.[14]

On July 21, 2017, Atkins signed with the French team SIG Strasbourg for the 2017–18 season.[15] On December 5, 2017, Atkins recorded a season-high 23 points, shooting 10-of-12 from the field, along with four rebounds in an 87–72 win over Banvit.[16] He was subsequently made the Champions League Team of the Week.[17] Atkins went on to win the 2018 French Cup with Strasbourg.

Return to Hapoel Holon (2018–2019)

On July 28, 2018, Atkins returned to Hapoel Holon for a second stint, signing a one-year deal with an option for another one.[18] On March 16, 2019, Atkins recorded a double-double of 25 points and 12 rebounds, shooting 10-of-13 from the field, along with two assists in a 101–82 win over Hapoel Jerusalem. He was subsequently named Israeli League Round 22 MVP.[19] Atkins helped Holon reach the 2019 FIBA Europe Cup Semifinals, where they eventually were eliminated by Dinamo Sassari.

Iberostar Tenerife (2019)

On July 19, 2019, Atkins signed with Spanish club Iberostar Tenerife.[20] On December 18, 2019, he parted ways with Tenerife after appearing in 17 games.[21]

Brose Bamberg (2019–2020)

On December 19, 2019, Atkins signed with Brose Bamberg of the German Basketball Bundesliga for the rest of the season.[22] He averaged 8.0 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game.

AEK (2020)

On September 22, 2020, Atkins signed with AEK Athens of the Greek Basket League and the Basketball Champions League.[23]

Fethiye Belediyespor (2020–2021)

On October 15, 2020, he has signed with Lokman Hekim Fethiye Belediyespor of the Turkish BSL.[24]

Niners Chemnitz (2021–2022)

On July 24, 2021, he has signed with Niners Chemnitz of the Basketball Bundesliga.[25]

Aquila Basket Trento (2022–2023)

On July 26, 2022, he has signed with Dolomiti Energia Trento of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA).[26]

Personal life

The son of Minnette Atkins, he has a twin brother, Darius (a professional dancer in New York City)[27] and majored in Sociology.[1] Atkins claims soccer as his favorite sport other than basketball, and cites FC Barcelona as his favorite soccer team.[28]

Career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played  MPG  Minutes per game  FG%  Field goal percentage
 3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage  RPG  Rebounds per game
 APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game  BPG  Blocks per game
 PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high     Led the league

College

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2011–12 Virginia 27 0 10.2 .581 .000 .579 2.3 .1 .4 .7 2.3
2012–13 Virginia 26 12 15.7 .491 .000 .600 3.1 .3 .4 1.1 4.7
2013–14 Virginia 37 3 10.4 .484 .000 .583 2.2 .3 .2 .5 3.0
2014–15 Virginia 33 27 23.9 .511 .000 .520 6.0 .7 .8 1.1 7.6
Career 123 42 15.1 .508 .000 .562 3.4 .4 .5 .8 4.4

Domestic Leagues

Year Team League GP MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2015–16 United States Westchester Knicks NBDL 50 29.4 .462 .167 .562 7.3 1.7 .9 1.3 8.7
2016–17 Israel Hapoel Holon IPL 37 27.2 .590 .375 .616 8.2 .6 .7 .7 13.6
2017–18 France SIG Strasbourg Pro A 41 21.2 .497 .260 .697 4.7 1.2 .6 .6 8.8
2018–19 Israel Hapoel Holon IPL 37 24.3 .596 .394 .737 7.2 1.0 .7 1.0 12.4
2019 Spain Canarias ACB 10 13.5 .209 .125 .500 2.5 .5 .0 .1 2.4

Source: RealGM

References

  1. ^ a b "Darion Atkins Bio". VirginiaSports.com. Archived from the original on July 6, 2017. Retrieved February 26, 2015.
  2. ^ "CUE: Men's Basketball - Darion Atkins". youtube.com. February 26, 2015. Retrieved September 10, 2015.
  3. ^ "Duke's Okafor voted ACC Player of the Year". theacc.com. March 8, 2015. Archived from the original on March 14, 2015. Retrieved September 10, 2015.
  4. ^ "Darion Atkins named National Defensive Player of the Year". 247sports.com. April 3, 2015. Retrieved July 27, 2018.
  5. ^ "Spurs Announce 2015 Summer League Rosters for Utah Las Vegas". NBA.com. July 3, 2015. Retrieved July 27, 2018.
  6. ^ "Knicks Sign Darion Atkins and Wesley Saunders". NBA.com. September 10, 2015. Retrieved September 10, 2015.
  7. ^ "Knicks Waive Five Players". NBA.com. October 23, 2015. Retrieved October 23, 2015.
  8. ^ "Westchester Knicks Finalize 2015-16 Training Camp Roster". OurSportsCentral.com. November 2, 2015. Retrieved November 3, 2015.
  9. ^ "Warriors announce 2016 Summer League roster". 247sports.com. July 1, 2016. Retrieved July 27, 2018.
  10. ^ "Darion Atkins signs with Hapoel Holon". Sportando.basketball. August 5, 2016. Retrieved October 16, 2016.[permanent dead link]
  11. ^ "Winner League, Game 3: M. Tel-Aviv Vs UNET Holon - Box Score". basket.co.il. October 22, 2016. Retrieved July 27, 2018.
  12. ^ "מצטיין חודש אוקטובר בליגת ווינר סל: דריון אטקינס". basket.co.il (in Hebrew). November 3, 2016. Retrieved July 27, 2018.
  13. ^ "חמישיית מצטייני העונה בליגת ווינר סל". basket.co.il (in Hebrew). June 9, 2017. Retrieved July 27, 2018.
  14. ^ "Phoenix Suns announce roster for NBA Summer League in Las Vegas". ArizonaSports.com. July 3, 2017. Retrieved July 3, 2017.
  15. ^ "SIG Strasbourg signs Darion Atkins". Sportando.basketball. July 21, 2017. Retrieved July 21, 2017.[permanent dead link]
  16. ^ "SIG Strasbourg signs Darion Atkins". ChampionsLeague.basketball. December 5, 2017. Retrieved July 27, 2018.
  17. ^ "Walden, Blatt, Weems, Atkins and Kikanovic make Team of the Week". ChampionsLeague.basketball. December 7, 2017. Retrieved July 27, 2018.
  18. ^ "עוד קאמבק בסגול: אטקינס חוזר לחולון". basket.co.il (in Hebrew). July 28, 2018. Retrieved July 28, 2018.
  19. ^ "מצטיין המחזור ה-22: דריון אטקינס". basket.co.il (in Hebrew). March 19, 2019. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
  20. ^ "ACB.COM - Darion Atkins, poderío e intensidad para la pintura del Iberostar Tenerife". www.acb.com (in European Spanish). 19 July 2019. Retrieved 19 July 2019.[permanent dead link]
  21. ^ Carchia, Emiliano (December 18, 2019). "Darion Atkins, Tenerife part ways". Sportando.basketball. Retrieved December 18, 2019.
  22. ^ Carchia, Emiliano (December 19, 2019). "Darion Atkins signs with Bamberg". Sportando.basketball. Retrieved December 19, 2019.
  23. ^ "AEK BC signs Atkins". aekbc.gr. September 22, 2020. Archived from the original on October 2, 2020. Retrieved September 22, 2020.
  24. ^ Carchia, Emiliano (October 15, 2020). "Lokman Hekim Fethiye Belediyespor land Darion Atkins". Sportando. Retrieved October 15, 2020.
  25. ^ "Darion Atkins verstärkt Chemnitz". chemnitz99.de (in German). July 23, 2021. Retrieved August 3, 2021.
  26. ^ Maggi, Alessandro (July 26, 2022). "Aquila Trento officially signs Darion Atkins". Sportando. Retrieved August 10, 2022.
  27. ^ "UVa's Atkins and his twin brother shine on different stages". The Daily Progress. 26 December 2012. Retrieved 2015-12-17.
  28. ^ "Athlete Profile: Darion Atkins". youtube.com. January 30, 2015. Retrieved September 10, 2015.

External links

Lefty Driesell Award winners
Categories