# Deshawn Stephens

Deshawn Stephens (born October 9, 1989) is an American professional basketball player for U-BT Cluj-Napoca of the Liga Națională de Baschet Masculin (LNBM) and the Romanian Cup. He played college basketball for Santa Monica College and San Diego State before playing professionally in Japan, Turkey, France, Italy, Israel and Romania.

## College career

Stephens began his college career at Santa Monica College. As a sophomore, he led the Corsairs to a 20–8 record and the Western State Conference championship. Stephens was a Western State-South Division Conference first-team all-league selection. In 2011, he transferred to San Diego State. In two seasons with the Aztecs he averaged 5.6 points and 5 rebounds in 20.2 minutes per game.

## College statistics

| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
| 2011–12 | San Diego State | 34 | 3 | 18.7 | .608 | .000 | .397 | 4.88 | 032 | 0.35 | 0.29 | 5.21 |
| 2012–13 | San Diego State | 34 | 34 | 21.7 | .593 | .000 | .507 | 5.09 | 0.24 | 0.62 | 0.50 | 6.06 |
| Career | Career | 68 | 37 | 20.2 | .600 | .000 | .454 | 4.99 | 0.28 | 0.49 | 0.40 | 5.63 |

## Professional career
### 2013–14 season

After going undrafted in the 2013 NBA draft, Stephens signed with the Hamamatsu Higashimikawa Phoenix of the Japanese bj league. In 27 games for Hamamatsu, he averaged 9.1 points and 5.9 rebounds. On February 5, 2014, Stephens was released by the Phoenix. Two days later, he signed with the Akita Northern Happinets of the bj league. In 26 games for Akita, Stephens averaged 11.7 points and 7.2 rebounds.

### 2014–15 season

Stephens stayed with the Northern Happinets for the 2014–15 season. In 53 games he averaged 14.4 points, 8.6 rebounds and 1.6 assists. Akita lost in the bj league finals to Stephens' former team, Hamamatsu Higashimikawa Phoenix, 71 - 69. He led all players with 30 points on 12-for-13 shooting from the field and grabbed 10 rebounds.

### 2015–16 season

On September 15, 2015, Stephens signed with the Bandırma Kırmızı of the TBL. In October 2015, he made a move to the Banvit B.K. of the BSL. On January 4, 2016, Stephens left Turkey and signed with the Champagne Châlons-Reims of the French LNB Pro A In 19 games for Champagne Châlons-Reims he averaged 8.9 points and 3.8 rebounds in 21.6 minutes.

### 2016–17 season

On July 28, 2016, Stephens signed with the Akita Northern Happinets, returning to the club for a second stint. On March 9, 2017, Stephens was acquired by the Los Angeles D-Fenders of the NBA Development League.

### 2017–18 season

On August 4, 2017, Stephens signed with the Italian team Cagliari Dinamo Academy of the Serie A2 Basket. On December 3, 2017, Stephens recorded a career-high 34 points, shooting 15-of-18 from the field, along with twelve rebounds and two assists in a 93–94 loss to Cuore di Napoli.

### 2018–19 season

On July 29, 2018, Stephens signed with the Israeli team Maccabi Rishon LeZion for the 2018–19 season. In October 2018, Stephens helped Rishon LeZion to win the 2018 Israeli League Cup. On April 7, 2019, Stephens parted ways with Rishon LeZion to join Hapoel Tel Aviv for the rest of the season. Stephens helped Hapoel reach the 2019 Israeli League Playoffs, where they eventually were eliminated by Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Quarterfinals.

### 2019–20 season

On September 18, 2019, he has signed with Fortitudo Bologna of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA).

### 2020–21 season

On July 11, 2020, he has signed with Bakken Bears of Denmark's Basketligaen.

### 2021–22 season

On June 11, 2021, he has signed with Igokea of the Bosnian League.

### 2022–23 season

On November 11, 2022, he signed with Dinamo Sassari of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA).

### 2023–24 season

On July 22, 2023, Stephens signed with Greek club Promitheas Patras.

### 2024–present season

On August 12, 2024, Stephens signed with Romanian club U-BT Cluj-Napoca.

## The Basketball Tournament

In the summers of 2015 and 2017, Stephens played in The Basketball Tournament on ESPN for Team Challenge ALS. He competed for the $2 million prize in 2017, and for Team Challenge ALS, he averaged 5.6 points per game. Stephens helped take the sixth-seeded Team Challenge ALS to the Championship Game of the tournament, where they lost in a close game to Overseas Elite 86–83.
In TBT 2018, Stephens averaged 8.5 points per game, 5.5 rebounds per game and shot 91 percent from the free-throw line for Team Challenge ALS. They reached the West Regional Championship Game before losing to eventual tournament runner-up Eberlein Drive.

## Personal life

His father died when he was six years old. His mother, Beverly Triggs, is a licensed vocational nurse. He married in July 2021 to Iris Truley.

## Career statistics
### Regular season

| Year | Team | League | GP | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
| 2013–14 | Hamamatsu Phoenix | bj League | 27 | 21.0 | .490 | .185 | .577 | 6.0 | 1.3 | 1.1 | .4 | 9.1 |
| 2013–14 | Akita Northern Happinets | bj League | 20 | 23.5 | .677 | .0 | .400 | 7.8 | 1.4 | .5 | .5 | 12.5 |
| 2014–15 | Akita Northern Happinets | bj League | 47 | 24.7 | .585 | .333 | .626 | 8.8 | 1.6 | .9 | .6 | 14.3 |
| 2015–16 | Banvit | BSL | 4 | 6.8 | .222 | .0 | .500 | 1.7 | .2 | .2 | .2 | 1.2 |
| 2015–16 | Banvit | EuroCup | 5 | 8.2 | .643 | .0 | .600 | 3.0 | .2 | .0 | .0 | 4.2 |
| 2015–16 | Bandirma Kirmizi | TBL | 7 | 34.3 | .512 | .333 | .480 | 10.1 | 1.4 | 1.4 | 1.2 | 15.2 |
| 2015–16 | Châlons-Reims | Pro A | 19 | 21.6 | .545 | .167 | .558 | 3.8 | .8 | .5 | .1 | 8.9 |
| 2016–17 | Akita Northern Happinets | B.League | 41 | 20.9 | .581 | .300 | .529 | 7.2 | .7 | .7 | .5 | 10.3 |
| 2016–17 | Los Angeles D-Fenders | NBDL | 10 | 18.9 | .603 | .0 | .588 | 5.5 | .5 | .3 | .7 | 8.0 |
| 2017–18 | Cagliari | Serie A2 | 28 | 32.6 | .599 | .381 | .567 | 8.4 | 1.3 | .5 | .4 | 16.0 |
| 2017–18 | Trotamundos | LPB | 6 | 25.5 | .589 | .400 | .500 | 6.8 | 1.3 | .8 | .1 | 12.5 |
| 2018-19 | Maccabi Rishon LeZion | IPL | 24 | 25.9 | .566 | .289 | .440 | 5.3 | 1.2 | .9 | .5 | 11.3 |
| 2018-19 | Hapoel Tel Aviv | IPL | 9 | 20.1 | .544 | .000 | .417 | 4.6 | .2 | 1.0 | .4 | 7.4 |
| 2019–20 | Bologna | Serie A | 5 | 20.6 | .733 | .000 | .286 | 4.0 | .6 | .4 | 1.4 | 9.6 |
| 2019–20 | Scafati | Serie A2 | | | | | | | | | | |
Source: RealGM

### Playoffs

| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
| 2013-14 | Akita | 6 | 0 | 17.67 | .571 | .000 | .640 | 5.5 | 1.0 | 0.17 | 0.33 | 9.0 |
| 2016-17 | SBL | 3 | 0 | 14.6 | .538 | .000 | 1.000 | 2.33 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 1.33 | 5.33 |
| 2018-19 | Hapoel | 3 | | 16.3 | .222 | .000 | .000 | 4.3 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 1.3 |
Source: ディショーン・スティーブンス