Deondre Burns

Deondre Burns
Burns in January 2020
Free Agent
PositionPoint guard
Personal information
Born (1997-01-16) January 16, 1997 (age 27)
Jackson, Mississippi, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Listed weight190 lb (86 kg)
Career information
High schoolNewman Smith
(Carrolton, Texas)
College
NBA draft2020: undrafted
Playing career2020–present
Career history
2020–2021Starwings Basel
2021Metroplex Lightning
2021–2023Keravnos
2023BG Göttingen
2023–2024Hapoel Holon
Career highlights and awards

Deondre Burns (born January 16, 1997) is an American professional basketball player who last played for Hapoel Holon of the Israeli Basketball Premier League. He played college basketball for the Little Rock Trojans and the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles.

Early life

His hometown is Yazoo City, Mississippi, and his parents are Deon Burns and Belinda Smith.[1] He has a sister, DeCarnia Smith.[1]

High school career

Burns played for Newman Smith High School under coach Percy Johnson. In February 2015, Burns scored 30 points in a win against Thomas Jefferson High School to help Newman Smith qualify for the playoffs.[2] As a senior, he tied for first in scoring among Dallas-area Class 5A players with 23.9 points per game, as well as posting 4.4 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game, and was named All-Area Honorable Mention.[3][4] Burns signed with Little Rock in May 2015.[3]

College career

As a sophomore at Little Rock, Burns averaged 7.0 points and 1.5 rebounds per game, shooting 45% from the field and 81% from the free throw line.[5][6] Burns missed the 2017–18 season with a knee injury. He served as the team's sixth man during his redshirt junior season, with coach Darrell Walker saying, "I like bringing Dre' off the bench because he can score points off the bench."[7] Burns averaged 10 points and 2.8 rebounds per game as a redshirt junior, shooting 42 percent from the field.[5]

After the season, he opted to transfer to Oral Roberts as a graduate transfer.[8] On January 13, 2020, Burns was named Summit League player of the week after posting 22 points against North Dakota State and 19 points against North Dakota.[9] He scored a career-high 31 points on February 6, in a 74–68 loss to North Dakota.[10] As a senior at Oral Roberts, Burns averaged 15.3 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 4.1 assists (2nd in the league) per game, shooting 46% from the field (8th) and 80% from the free throw line (4th).[11] He was named to the Second Team All-Summit League.[12]

Professional career

On August 29, 2020, Burns signed his first professional contract with Starwings Basel of the Swiss Basketball League.[13][12] He averaged 20.0 points (3rd in the league), 4.4 rebounds, 1.6 steals (7th), and 4.2 assists (9th) per game, shooting 82% from the free throw line.[14][15]

He subsequently joined the Metroplex Lightning of the Pro Basketball Association. On September 8, 2021, Burns signed with Keravnos of the Cypriot League.[16] In 2021-22 with the team, he averaged 20.8 points (6th in the league), 5.4 rebounds, 4.0 assists, and 1.2 steals per game, with a 47.2% three point percentage (3rd).[5] In 2022-23 with the team, he averaged 14.7 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 1.2 steals per game.[5]

On July 19, 2023, he signed and then played with BG Göttingen of the Basketball Bundesliga.[17] In December 2023 the club parted ways with Burns.[18]

On December 26, 2023, he signed with Hapoel Holon of the Israeli Basketball Premier League.[19]

References

  1. ^ a b "Deondre Burns - 2019-20 - Men's Basketball". Oral Roberts University.
  2. ^ Stroope, Rob (February 17, 2015). "Tuesday's boys basketball replay: Lakeview wins 11-6A title in final second". Dallas Morning News. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  3. ^ a b Riddle, Greg (May 21, 2015). "Carrollton Newman Smith basketball standout Deondre Burns signs with Arkansas-Little Rock". Dallas Morning News. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  4. ^ Smith, Corbett (March 27, 2015). "All-area boys basketball snubs: The players who nearly made it". Dallas Morning News. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  5. ^ a b c d "Deondre Burns Player Profile, Oral Roberts - RealGM". RealGM.
  6. ^ Asberry, Derrek (November 5, 2017). "Sun Belt Conference Basketball Preview". The Post and Courier. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  7. ^ Boutwell, Chris (February 16, 2019). "UALR finds Burns time for production; guard clinches victory against UT Arlington". Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  8. ^ "ORU adds graduate transfer from UALR". Tulsa World. April 17, 2019. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  9. ^ "#ORUMBB Guard Deondre Burns Claims Weekly Award". Oral Roberts Golden Eagles. January 13, 2020. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  10. ^ "North Dakota tops Oral Roberts 74–68". ESPN. Associated Press. February 6, 2020. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  11. ^ "2019-2020 Men's Basketball - Overall Statistics". thesummitleague.org.
  12. ^ a b "Burns' pro career starts at Starwings". Eurobasket. August 29, 2020. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  13. ^ "Swiss LNA Stats - RealGM". basketball.realgm.com.
  14. ^ "Swiss LNA Stats - RealGM". basketball.realgm.com.
  15. ^ "DEONDRE BURNS GIOCHERÀ A CIPRO". Swiss Basketball (in Italian). September 11, 2021. Retrieved September 24, 2021.
  16. ^ Mammides, Chris (September 8, 2021). "Deondre Burns is a newcomer at Keravnos". Eurobasket. Retrieved September 24, 2021.
  17. ^ "Veilchen holen europaerfahrenen US-Guard Burns". bggoettingen.de (in German). July 19, 2023. Retrieved August 5, 2023.
  18. ^ "Schöne Bescherung: BG Göttingen trennt sich von Spielmacher Burns". www.werra-rundschau.de (in German). Werra-Rundschau. 2023-12-20. Retrieved 2023-12-23.
  19. ^ "Hapoel Holon boosts roster with Deondre Burns". Eurohoops. December 26, 2023. Retrieved January 7, 2024.