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DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell

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DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell
No. 1 – UNICS Kazan
PositionSmall forward
LeagueVTB United League
Personal information
Born (1993-06-05) June 5, 1993 (age 31)
Orlando, Florida, U.S.
NationalityTrinidadian / American
Listed height6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Listed weight200 lb (91 kg)
Career information
High schoolWest Oaks Academy
(Orlando, Florida)
College
NBA draft2016: undrafted
Playing career2016–present
Career history
2016–2018Bakken Bears
2018Denver Nuggets
2018→Delaware Blue Coats
2018–2019Hapoel Tel Aviv
2019ESSM Le Portel
2019–2020Oklahoma City Blue
2020–2021Tofaş
2021–2022Galatasaray Nef
2022–2024Lokomotiv Kuban
2024–presentUNICS Kazan
Career highlights and awards
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata

DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell (born June 5, 1993) is a Trinidadian-American professional basketball player for UNICS Kazan of the VTB United League. He played college basketball for Eastern Oklahoma State and Illinois State. Standing at 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m), he usually plays the small forward position.

College career

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Akoon-Purcell transferred from Eastern Oklahoma State College, where he was a National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division I All-America Honorable Mention selection in 2014, to Illinois State University ahead of the 2014–15 season.[1] During his junior season at Illinois State, Akoon-Purcell was named to the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) All-Newcomer Team,[2] and he was also named the MVC Newcomer of the Year.[3] In 2014–15, he was also a finalist for the Riley Wallace Award, presented annually to the top transfer in NCAA Division I basketball, as awarded by CollegeInsider.com.[4] Ahead of his senior season, Akoon-Purcell was a 2015–16 MVC Preseason Team selection.[5] During his senior season at Illinois State, Akoon-Purcell led the team in scoring and ranked eighth in the MVC with 14.1 points per game on his way to earning All-MVC Second Team and NABC Division I District 16 Second Team accolades.[2] Akoon-Purcell went undrafted in 2016.[6]

Professional career

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Bakken Bears (2016–2018)

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In August 2016, Akoon-Purcell signed a one-year contract with Danish side Bakken Bears of the Basketligaen and FIBA Europe Cup.[7] He led the Bears to a Basketligaen championship in his first season, while being named the league's MVP and Finals MVP.[8] In his second season with the Bears, he reached the semi-finals of the FIBA Europe Cup and won the Basketligaen championship. Akoon-Purcell was given the title of Fan Vote FIBA Europe Cup MVP, as he received 4,939 fan votes. He also was named the Guard of the Year of the competition.[9]

Denver Nuggets (2018)

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Akoon-Purcell joined the Denver Nuggets NBA Summer League roster ahead of the 2018 Las Vegas Summer League, averaging 12.0 points, 2.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 2.0 steals in 19.3 minutes per game. On August 7, 2018, the Denver Nuggets signed Akoon-Purcell on a two-way contract.[10] Akoon-Purcell played in only 7 games with the Nuggets throughout the entirety of his two-way contract. On December 16, 2018, after the expiration of his two-way contract, he was waived by the Nuggets.[11]

Hapoel Tel Aviv (2018–2019)

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On December 19, 2018, Akoon-Purcell signed with Hapoel Tel Aviv of the Israeli Premier League for the rest of the season.[12] However, on February 19, 2019, Akoon-Purcell parted ways with Hapoel after appearing in eight games.[13]

ESSM Le Portel (2019)

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On March 9, 2019, Akoon-Purcell signed with ESSM Le Portel of the French LNB Pro A.[14] In 12 games played for Le Portel, he averaged 9.1 points and 2.5 rebounds per game.

Oklahoma City Blue (2019–2020)

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On September 30, 2019, Akoon-Purcell signed with the Oklahoma City Thunder.[15] He was cut from the team in the preseason and was signed by their G League affiliate, the Oklahoma City Blue. On January 21, 2020, Akoon-Purcell posted 33 points and 7 rebounds in a 125–116 win over the Austin Spurs.[16] The following game, he scored 38 points while adding eight rebounds, two assists and one steal in a 144–140 loss to the Texas Legends.[17]

Tofaş (2020–2021)

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On September 2, 2020, Akoon-Purcell signed a one-month deal with the Bakken Bears.[18] However, on September 29, he signed with Tofaş of the Turkish league.[19]

Akoon-Purcell played for the Atlanta Hawks in the 2021 NBA summer league, scoring 13 points in 27 minutes on 6–9 shooting and grabbing 8 rebounds and 2 steals at his debut in a 85–83 loss against the Boston Celtics and former Hapoel Tel-Aviv teammate Yam Madar.[20]

Galatasaray (2021–2022)

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On August 23, 2021, Akoon-Purcell signed a one-year deal with Galatasaray Nef of the Turkish Basketbol Süper Ligi (BSL), with the option of an additional season.[21]

Lokomotiv Kuban (2022–present)

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On December 1, 2022, he signed with Lokomotiv Kuban of the VTB United League.[22]

Career statistics

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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
† Denotes seasons in which he won the championship
* Led the league

NBA

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Regular season

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2018–19 Denver 7 0 3.1 .300 .000 .500 .5 .8 .2 .0 1.0
Career 7 0 3.1 .300 .000 .500 .5 .8 .2 .0 1.0

Domestic Leagues

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Year Team League GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2016–17† Denmark Bakken Bears Basketligaen 37 32 27.1 .522 .455 .799 5.9 3.0 1.8 .4 21.4*
2017–18† 29 25 27.1 .484 .352 .881 4.9 3.8 1.6 .1 17.3
2018–19 Israel Hapoel Tel Aviv IPL 8 7 22.1 .310 .240 .826 2.6 1.8 1.1 .1 7.6
2018–19 France Le Portel Pro A 12 2 17.2 .351 .300 .680 2.5 1.1 0.8 .0 9.1

European Competitions

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Year Team League GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2016–17 Denmark Bakken Bears BCL 14 11 29.0 .415 .340 .842 6.6 1.7 2.2 .3 17.4
2017–18 FEC 18 18 32.7 .415 .255 .718 5.2 4.3 1.6 .0 18.6

Personal life

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Akoon-Purcell was born to parents Paul Akoon Jr. and Tamar deGovia-Purcell.[23] He moved in with his grandparents when he was aged 11.[24] His grandmother died in April 2013; Akoon-Purcell wore a #44 jersey to honor her as she died on the fourth month of the year and he was her fourth grandchild.[23] Akoon-Purcell also began to use his full name after her death as he was previously known as DeVaughn Purcell.[23]

Akoon-Purcell has tattoos on each wrist dedicated to his grandmother and his former coach Torrey Ward who was killed in a plane crash in April 2015.[23] Ward recruited Akoon-Purcell out of Eastern Oklahoma State in 2014.[23]

Akoon-Purcell holds a Trinidadian passport.[24]

References

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  1. ^ "Illinois State Athletics". goredbirds.com. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
  2. ^ a b "Illinois State Athletics". goredbirds.com. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
  3. ^ Benson, Jim. "ISU's Akoon-Purcell earns MVC Newcomer of Year award". pantagraph.com. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
  4. ^ "Akoon-Purcell Named Finalist for Riley Wallace Award – Illinois State University". Illinois State University. March 31, 2015. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
  5. ^ "ISU picked 4th in MVC, Akoon-Purcell named to Valley preseason team". WJBC AM 1230. October 27, 2015. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
  6. ^ "Nuggets Sign DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell To Two-Way Deal". Hoops Rumors. August 7, 2018. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
  7. ^ "Akoon-Purcell Signs Pro Contract with Danish Team". Goredbirds.com. August 17, 2016. Retrieved March 31, 2018.
  8. ^ "Akoon-Purcell Leads Bakken To Danish Title, Named Finals MVP". Goredbirds.com. September 5, 2017. Retrieved March 31, 2018.
  9. ^ "Winners of FIBA Europe Cup Fan Vote announced". FIBA.basketball. April 19, 2018. Retrieved August 10, 2018.
  10. ^ "Nuggets Sign Rookie DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell to Two-Way Contract – Denver Nuggets". Denver Nuggets. August 7, 2018. Retrieved August 10, 2018.
  11. ^ "Denver Nuggets Sign Brandon Goodwin, Waive DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell". NBA.com. December 16, 2018. Retrieved December 17, 2018.
  12. ^ "רכש נוסף לאדומים: דבון אקון-פרסל". basket.co.il (in Hebrew). December 19, 2018. Retrieved December 19, 2018.
  13. ^ Maggi, Alessandro (February 19, 2019). "American forward DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell has left Hapoel Tel Aviv". Sportando. Retrieved February 19, 2019.
  14. ^ Lupo, Nicola (March 9, 2019). "DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell signs with ESSM Le Portel". Sportando. Retrieved March 9, 2019.
  15. ^ "Thunder add four players prior to training camp". OKCThunderWire. September 30, 2019. Retrieved October 5, 2019.
  16. ^ "Oklahoma City Blue top Austin Spurs". Austin American-Statesman. January 21, 2020. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
  17. ^ "DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell: Seeing expanded role". CBS Sports. January 24, 2020. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
  18. ^ Lupo, Nicola (September 2, 2020). "DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell returns to Bakken Bears for BCL qualifiers". Sportando. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  19. ^ Yahyabeyoglu, Fersu (September 29, 2020). "Tofas sign Devaughn Akoon-Purcell". Eurobasket. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
  20. ^ "Boston Celtics vs Atlanta Hawks Aug 8, 2021 Box Scores | NBA.com". www.nba.com. Retrieved August 8, 2021.
  21. ^ "DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell Galatasaray NEF'te" (in Turkish). Galatasaray. August 23, 2021. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
  22. ^ "ДеВон Акун-Перселл стал игроком "Локо"". lokobasket.com (in Russian). December 17, 2022. Retrieved December 21, 2022.
  23. ^ a b c d e Benson, Jim (February 24, 2016). "ISU's Akoon-Purcell carrying those not with him on Senior Night". The Pantagraph. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
  24. ^ a b "Bears profile lost the people who turned him into a basketball player". Bakken Bears. November 14, 2016. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
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