Devonta Pollard
Ensenada Lobos
PositionPower forward
LeagueCircuito de Baloncesto del Pacífico
Personal information
Born (1994-07-07) July 7, 1994 (age 29)
Porterville, Mississippi
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Listed weight200 lb (91 kg)
Career information
High schoolKemper County (De Kalb, Mississippi)
College
NBA draft2016: undrafted
Playing career2016–present
Career history
2016Liepājas Lauvas
2016–2017Koroivos Amaliadas
2017Al Sadd Doha
2018–2019Niagara River Lions
2019Pioneros de Los Mochis
2021Ensenada Lobos
2021Centauros de Durango
2023–presentEnsenada Lobos
Career highlights and awards

Devonta Pollard (born July 7, 1994) is an American professional basketball player who plays for Ensenada Lobos of the Circuito de Baloncesto del Pacífico (CIBAPAC). A 6'8 power forward, Pollard played college basketball for Alabama, East Mississippi Community College and Houston.

Early life and high school career

Pollard grew up in the small town of Porterville, Mississippi.[1] His mother, Jessie Mae, played one season in the Women's Professional Basketball League before it folded in 1981, at which point she returned to Porterville and became a high school history teacher.[1] His father, Ervin, was a forklift driver at a paper plant before he died of pancreatic cancer when Pollard was in high school.[1] Since his only sibling, Lewis, lived alone, he grew closer to his mother.[1] However, their home burned down after getting struck by lightning in 2011.[1]

Pollard played high school basketball at Kemper County. As a senior, he led his team to the Mississippi 3A state championship, recording 28 points, 10 rebounds and 10 blocks in the 75–65 title game victory over Booneville.[2] He averaged 23.8 points, 15.7 rebounds and 5.1 blocks per game to earn the Mississippi Mr. Basketball and McDonald's All-American honors. Pollard was a five-star prospect by Rivals.com and was ranked as the seventh-best small forward in his class and the 22nd best prospect in the nation by the organization. On June 1, 2012, he committed to Alabama, citing his wish to remain close to his mother.[1][3]

College career

As a freshman at Alabama, Pollard was a role player, averaging 3.9 points per game. The following year, he transferred to East Mississippi Community College in order to be closer to his family. As a sophomore, Pollard averaged 12 points and 6.7 rebounds per game, being the third best scorer of the team.

As a junior, he decided to join Houston, being coached by Kelvin Sampson. Pollard became one of the top big men in the American Athletic Conference, averaging 11.4 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. Pollard finished his senior season averaging 14 points and 5.7 rebounds per game being the second scoring and rebounding leader for the Cougars.[4]

Professional career

Following the close of his college career, Pollard was not drafted in the 2016 NBA draft. On October 5, 2016, he signed with Liepājas Lauvas of the Latvian Basket League.[5] In November 2016, he left Liepājas and signed with Koroivos Amaliadas for the rest of the season.[6]

On October 30, 2017, he moved to Al Sadd Doha of the Qatari Basketball League.[7]

Pollard signed with the Pioneros de Los Mochis of the Circuito de Baloncesto de la Costa del Pacífico (CIBACOPA) ahead of the 2019 CIBACOPA season.[8] He earned league All-Star honors.[9]

In 2021, Pollard joined the Ensenada Lobos of the Circuito de Baloncesto del Pacífico (CIBAPAC). He was named a CIBAPAC Region 2 All-Star and won the dunk contest.[10] However, Pollard left the team later that month.[11] He subsequently joined the Centauros de Durango of the same league.[12]

Pollard returned to the Ensenada Lobos in 2023.[13]

Career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  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

College

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2012–13 Alabama 36 7 17.9 .371 .125 .614 3.1 0.6 .7 .6 3.9
2014–15 Houston 32 26 30.5 .457 .000 .725 6.4 1.2 1.2 .4 11.4
2015–16 Houston 32 25 29.7 .479 .500 .747 5.7 1.6 .9 .6 14.0
Career 100 58 25.7 .450 .158 .719 5.0 1.1 .9 .2 9.5

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Kimes, Mina (October 30, 2014). "Free To Go". ESPN The Magazine. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
  2. ^ Walker, Rod (March 2, 2012). "Wildcats' Pollard dazzles". The Clarion-Ledger. p. 25. Retrieved July 9, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ Borzello, Jeff (June 2, 2012). "Five-star prospect Devonta Pollard announces for Alabama". CBS Sports. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
  4. ^ "UHC Bio". uhcougars.com. Archived from the original on February 18, 2017. Retrieved February 17, 2017.
  5. ^ "Devonta Pollard signs at Liepaja/Triobet". eurobasket.com. October 5, 2016. Retrieved February 17, 2017.
  6. ^ "Korivos Amaliadas sign Devonta Pollard". eurobasket.com. November 20, 2016. Retrieved February 17, 2017.
  7. ^ "Devonta Pollard (ex Koroivos) is a newcomer at Al Sadd". eurobasket.com. October 30, 2017. Retrieved November 9, 2017.
  8. ^ Soto, Christian (March 28, 2019). "Inicia la aventura". Debate.com.mx (in Spanish). Retrieved July 9, 2023 – via PressReader.
  9. ^ Mayo, Santiago (May 10, 2019). "Jalisco listo para Juego de Estrellas de CIBACOPA" (in Spanish). meganoticias.mx. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
  10. ^ "Equipo con Lobos, liderados por Early Jr., ganan Juego de Estrellas". AGP Noticias (in Spanish). October 16, 2021. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
  11. ^ "Se acabó la paciencia con Devonta Ty Pollard". El Vigía (in Spanish). October 27, 2021. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
  12. ^ Moreno, Rafael (November 5, 2021). "Delfines de Mazatlán alarga su poderío jugando en casa". Noroeste (in Spanish). Retrieved July 13, 2023.
  13. ^ "Goza Pollard de "nueva vida"". El Vigía (in Spanish). June 30, 2023. Retrieved July 9, 2023.

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