Reginald Eugene Upshaw Jr.[1][2] (born April 7, 1995) is an American professional basketball player for Telenet Giants Antwerp of the BNXT League. He competed in college for Middle Tennessee State University.

Reggie Upshaw
Upshaw with MoraBanc Andorra in 2018
No. 30 – Telenet Giants Antwerp
PositionSmall forward
LeagueBNXT League
Personal information
Born (1995-04-07) April 7, 1995 (age 28)
Chattanooga, Tennessee
NationalityAmerican
Listed height203 cm (6 ft 8 in)
Listed weight103 kg (227 lb)
Career information
High schoolBaylor (Chattanooga, Tennessee)
CollegeMiddle Tennessee (2013–2017)
NBA draft2017: undrafted
Playing career2017–present
Career history
2017–2018Tigers Tübingen
2018–2019Andorra
2019–2020Pallacanestro Reggiana
2020Maccabi Haifa
2020–2021Hapoel Tel Aviv
2021–2022Budivelnyk
2022Mitteldeutscher BC
2022Wellington Saints
2022–presentAntwerp Giants
Career highlights and awards

Early life and high school career edit

Upshaw is the son of Sabrina and Reggie Upshaw Sr., who played football at Middle Tennessee State University.[3] The younger Reggie Upshaw attended the Baylor School in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where he was a multi-sport athlete, winning a state high jump championship and earning all-state honors in football and basketball as a junior.[4] Playing wide receiver and tight end in football, Upshaw had scholarship offers from Vanderbilt, Middle Tennessee and Louisiana–Lafayette.[3] However, he suffered a broken right foot at the end of his season and another fracture at the beginning of his basketball season, prompting him to focus on basketball in the future.[4] As a senior, Upshaw averaged 22 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks per game on the basketball court. He was considered to be a three-star recruit and received attention from several Division I programs before committing to Middle Tennessee and coach Kermit Davis.[3]

College career edit

In Upshaw's freshman season, he averaged 6.4 points and 3.5 rebounds per game.[5] As a sophomore, Upshaw averaged 9.9 points and 7.0 rebounds per game. The Blue Raiders finished the season 19–16 and lost in the first round of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament.[6]

In his junior season, Upshaw was named to the All-Conference USA third team.[7] Middle Tennessee won the Conference USA tournament, defeating Old Dominion 55–53 in the final. Upshaw, who scored nine points in the championship game including the final four points, was named Most Valuable Player.[8] In the NCAA Tournament, the Blue Raiders were given a 15 seed and matched up with 2 seed Tom Izzo-coached Michigan State. In one of the biggest surprises in the history of the NCAA Tournament, the Blue Raiders beat the highly touted Spartans 90–81, with a strong performance by Upshaw, who scored 21 points as his team's top scorer. It was Middle Tennessee's first NCAA Tournament win since 1989.[9] In the following round, however, they lost by 25 points against Syracuse, with Upshaw shooting 1-for-10 and dishing out one assist.[10] Upshaw averaged 13.7 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game as a junior. After the season, he underwent wrist surgery.[11]

As a senior at Middle Tennessee, Upshaw averaged 14.5 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. Upshaw was named to the All-Conference USA second team. Alongside JaCorey Williams, he led the Blue Raiders to the NCAA Tournament again.[7] As a #12 seed, the Blue Raiders earned a first-round win against #5 seed Minnesota. In a game in which Middle Tennessee was the betting favorite despite its lower seed,[12] the Blue Raiders won 81–72 behind a game-high 19 points from Upshaw.[13] In the next round, the Blue Raiders fell to Butler 74–65. Upshaw was selected to play in the 2017 Reese's College All-Star Game.[14]

Professional career edit

After going undrafted in the 2017 NBA draft, Upshaw joined the Milwaukee Bucks for the 2017 NBA Summer League.[7] He then moved to Germany to begin his professional career with the Tigers Tübingen of the Basketball Bundesliga.[15] Upshaw averaged 14.4 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 2.2 assists per game during the 2017–18 season.[16]

In July 2018, Upshaw played for the Los Angeles Clippers during the 2018 NBA Summer League.[17] He later moved to Spain for the 2018–19 season, where he played for BC Andorra of the Liga ACB.[18]

On July 30, 2019, Upshaw signed with Grissin Bon Reggio Emilia of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA).[19] He averaged 11.9 points and 6.3 rebounds per game during the 2019–20 season.[20]

On May 27, 2020, Upshaw signed with Maccabi Haifa of the Israeli Premier League.[21] He averaged 13.9 points and 7.6 rebounds per game during their post-COVID season return.[20]

On August 15, 2020, Upshaw signed with Hapoel Tel Aviv.[22] He averaged 11.7 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 1.1 assists per game during the 2020–21 season.[20]

On August 13, 2021, Upshaw signed with Budivelnyk Kyiv of the Ukrainian Basketball SuperLeague.[23] In January 2022, he left Ukraine and signed with Mitteldeutscher BC of the German Basketball Bundesliga.[24]

In July 2022, Upshaw joined the Wellington Saints for the rest of the 2022 New Zealand NBL season.[25]

On August 12, 2022, he has signed with Telenet Giants Antwerp of the Belgian BNXT League.[26] On 12 March 2023, Upshaw and the Giants won the Belgian Cup after beating BC Oostende in the final. He scored 9 points in the final.[27]

References edit

  1. ^ "Reggie Upshaw | ACB.COM". acb.com (in Spanish). Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  2. ^ "Upshaw, Reginald Eugene Upshaw Jr. - BDBasket". www.bdbasket.com. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  3. ^ a b c Amato, Aldo Giovanni (January 24, 2017). "Passing on football made Reggie Upshaw an MTSU basketball star". The Daily News Journal. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
  4. ^ a b Hargis, Stephen (December 29, 2012). "Reggie's dad' was star athlete in his old identity". Times Free Press. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
  5. ^ Jones, Gordie. "MTSU's Reggie Upshaw Jr. stands out as a team player on the court and off". American Sports Net. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
  6. ^ Borthick, Will (April 2, 2015). "MTSU hoops to take foreign trip to Bahamas". The Daily News Journal. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
  7. ^ a b c Organ, Mike (June 23, 2017). "MTSU's Reggie Upshaw and JaCorey Williams sign NBA contracts". The Tennessean. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
  8. ^ "Monarchs Lose Heartbreaker in C-USA Championship to MT, 55–53". Old Dominion Monarchs. March 12, 2016. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
  9. ^ "Baylor School standout Reggie Upshaw leads MTSU's stunning win over Michigan State". Chattanooga Times Free Press. Associated Press. March 19, 2016. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
  10. ^ Rexrode, Joe (March 20, 2016). "MTSU will be remembered for upset win, not blowout loss". The Tennessean. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
  11. ^ "Middle Tennessee's Reggie Upshaw to undergo wrist surgery". WMOT. Associated Press. June 2, 2016. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
  12. ^ Temple, Jesse (March 17, 2017). "Middle Tennessee's win over Minnesota an 'upset'? Not so fast". ESPN.com. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
  13. ^ Graff, Chad (March 16, 2017). "NCAA tournament: Gophers bounced by a better team in first round". St. Paul Pioneer Press. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
  14. ^ Organ, Mike (March 28, 2017). "Evan Bradds, Reggie Upshaw selected for college all-star game". The Tennessean. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
  15. ^ Bacharach, Erik (July 22, 2017). "Former MTSU forward Reggie Upshaw signs to play pro basketball in Germany". The Daily News Journal. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
  16. ^ Boclair, David (June 12, 2018). "Upshaw's sights set firmly on the NBA". The Nashville Post. Archived from the original on September 5, 2018. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
  17. ^ "Clippers' Reggie Upshaw: Scores 24 points Wednesday". CBS Sports. July 11, 2018. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
  18. ^ "Andorra acquires Reggie Upshaw". EuroHoops. July 27, 2018. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
  19. ^ Skerletic, Dario (July 30, 2019). "Reggio Emilia announces Reggie Upshaw". Sportando. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
  20. ^ a b c "Reggie Upshaw Jr". australiabasket.com. Retrieved July 10, 2022.
  21. ^ Skerletic, Dario (May 27, 2020). "Reggie Upshaw joins Maccabi Haifa". Sportando. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
  22. ^ Skerletic, Dario (August 15, 2020). "Reggie Upshaw joins Hapoel Tel Aviv". Sportando. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
  23. ^ "Reggie Upshaw Jr. (ex-H.Tel-Aviv) is a newcomer at Budivelnyk". Eurobasket. August 13, 2021. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
  24. ^ Skerletic, Dario (January 7, 2022). "Syntainics MBC lands Reggie Upshaw". Sportando. Retrieved January 9, 2022.
  25. ^ "Reggie Upshaw Jr. (ex MBC) is a newcomer at Saints". australiabasket.com. July 9, 2022. Retrieved July 10, 2022.
  26. ^ Carchia, Emiliano (August 12, 2022). "Reggie Upshaw joins Antwerp Giants". Sportando. Retrieved August 17, 2022.
  27. ^ "Antwerp Giants kloppen favoriet Oostende in spannende bekerfinale". sporza.be (in Dutch). March 12, 2023. Retrieved March 12, 2023.

External links edit