Marcus Keene arrives in Ljubljana

Cedevita Olimpija is reinforced by Marcus Keene in the point guard position for the 2021/22 season. Don't be fooled by his height, as Keene is considered an extraordinary scorer who has been scoring as many as 20 points per game in the Kalev jersey in the VTB United League last season and was thus the top scorer in this powerful competition.

Marcus, has started his career at Youngstown State College and then moved to Central Michigan, where he averaged 20.8 points, 4.9 assists and 4.1 rebounds in the 2016/17 season, becoming the NCAA top scorer of the season.

The path, however, did not lead him to the NBA, as in 2017 he was not selected on the roster for the strongest league in the world. He thus began his professional basketball career in the second Italian league, at Cagliari. This was followed by a move to exotic lands, and Keene spent three years in Asia. In Thailand, he played in the Mono Vampire jersey, and in December 2018, he moved to Memphis to join the Memphis Hustle team. In March 2019 he moved to KCC Egis, which plays in the Korean League, and at the end of the year he moved to Taiwan, to Yulon.

Before the start of the 2020/21 season, he seized the opportunity and returned to European basketball, wearing the Kalev jersey. Keene shone in Tallinn and averaged 20 points, 5 assists and 3.2 rebounds per game in the VTB United League, while shooting 41.4% from the three-point range.

Marcus Keene told as he agreed with the Dragons on cooperation: “I am very happy that I am joining Cedevita Olimpija. I heard a lot of nice things about the club, the city of Ljubljana and Slovenia, that I am going to play for. Obviously, I played a year in college with Kendrick Perry, who is a good friend of mine, and I received quite a bit of good information from him. I am excited that the club trusts me and alows me to do, what I am cappable of doing. I want to win and bring as many championship as I can.”

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Marcus Keene v Zmajevem gnezdu

Na igralnem položaju organizatorja igre bo lahko glavni trener Cedevite Olimpije Jurica Golemac v prihajajoči tekmovalni sezoni računal na izjemnega strelca, Marcusa Keena, ki je bil v sezoni 2020/21 tudi najboljši strelec Lige VTB.

Cedevita Olimpija bo lahko v tekmovalni sezoni 2021/22 na položaju organizatorja igre računala na izjemnega, 175 centimetrov visokega Marcusa Keena. Naj vas njegova višina ne preslepi, saj Keene velja za izvrstnega strelca, ki je v minuli sezoni v dresu estonskega Kaleva v Ligi VTB dosegal kar 20,0 točk na tekmo in bil tako najboljši strelec tega močnega tekmovanja.

Z oranžnim usnjem se je prvič srečal v San Antoniu, velja pa za najboljšega košarkarja srednje šole Earl Warren, za katero je dosegel več kot 1600 točk. Od leta 2013 do 2015 je svoje šolanje nadaljeval na kolidžu Youngstown State, nato pa se je preselil na Central Michigan, kjer je v sezoni 2016/17 v povprečju dosegal 20,8 točke, 4,9 asistence in 4,1 skoke v 37,6 minutah, ki jih je preživel na parketu in postal najboljši strelec lige NCAA v tej sezoni.

Pot pa ga ni vodila v Ligo NBA, saj leta 2017 ni bil izbran na naboru za najmočnejšo ligo na svetu. Svojo profesionalno košarkarsko kariero je tako začel v drugi italijanski ligi, pri Cagliariju. Sledila je selitev v malček bolj eksotične dežele, v Aziji pa je Keene preživel kar tri leta. Na Tajskem je zaigral v dresu moštva Mono Vampire, decembra 2018 pa se je vrnil v Združene države Amerike, in sicer v Memphis k ekipi Memphis Hustle. Marca 2019 je sledila selitev v Egis, ki nastopa v Korejski ligi, ob koncu leta pa se je preselil v Tajvan, k Yulonu.

Pred začetkom tekmovalne sezone 2020/21 je pograbil priložnost in se vrnil v evropsko košarko, oblekel pa je dres estonskega Kaleva. Keene je v Talinu zasijal in v Ligi VTB v povprečju dosegal 20 točk, 5 asistenc in 3,2 skoke na tekmo, ob tem pa za tri točke metal kar 41,4-odstotno.

Marcus Keene je ob dogovoru z Ljubljančani dejal: „Zelo vesel sem, da sem postal del Cedevite Olimpije. Slišal sem veliko lepih stvari o klubu, mestu Ljubljani in Sloveniji, v kateri bom igral. Eno leto na kolidžu sem preživel tudi s Kendrickom Perryjem, ki je moj dober prijatelj, od njega pa sem prejel kar nekaj dobrih informacij. Srečen sem, da mi klub zaupa, in da lahko dam od sebe vse, česar sem zmožen. Želim si zmagovati in v Ljubljano pripeljati čim več naslovov.“