Shavon O'Day Shields (born June 5, 1994) is an American-Danish professional basketball player and the vice-captain for Olimpia Milano of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) and the EuroLeague. He played college basketball for the Nebraska Cornhuskers men's basketball team.

Shavon Shields
Shields in 2021
No. 31 – Olimpia Milano
PositionSmall forward
LeagueLega Basket Serie A
EuroLeague
Personal information
Born (1994-06-05) June 5, 1994 (age 30)
Overland Park, Kansas, U.S.
NationalityAmerican / Danish
Listed height2.01 m (6 ft 7 in)
Listed weight100 kg (220 lb)
Career information
High schoolNorthwest (Olathe, Kansas)
CollegeNebraska (2012–2016)
NBA draft2016: undrafted
Playing career2016–present
Career history
2016–2017Skyliners Frankfurt
2017–2018Aquila Trento
2018–2020Baskonia
2020–presentOlimpia Milano
Career highlights and awards

High school career

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As a junior, Shields was a second-team all-Class 6A honoree and a first-team All-Sunflower Conference selection, as he averaged 17 points and six rebounds a game. Shields transferred into Olathe Northwest for his sophomore year, earning Sunflower League Newcomer-of-the-Year accolades. He also starred playing AAU ball for the MoKan Elite and Coach Rodney Perry. An outstanding student with a 4.0 GPA, Shields was on the honor roll throughout high school and a National Honor Society member.

As a senior, Shields was a consensus first-team Class 6A selection in Kansas after averaging 21.2 points, 8.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game for Coach Michael Grove at Olathe Northwest High School. He helped the Ravens to a 20–2 record and an appearance in the sub-state finals. Shields helped Olathe Northwest to an unblemished record in league play, earning Sunflower Conference MVP honors. In addition, he earned second-team all-class honors from the Topeka Capital Journal and Wichita Eagle, a first-team all-metro selection by the Kansas City Star and was a finalist for the DiRenna Award, signifying the top player in the Kansas City area.

Shields came to Nebraska after being one of the top players in the Kansas City area throughout his prep career. Shields joined Willie Cauley-Stein as Olathe Northwest's first-ever Division I signees in November 2011. Shields totaled 1,068 points in his three-year career at the school and finished as the school's all-time leader in points, rebounds, free throws, field goals, steals and rebounds.

Recruitment

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Shavon selected Nebraska over Texas Tech, Oregon State, Weber State, Long Beach State and Wyoming.

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Shavon Shields
SG/SF
Olathe, KS Olathe Northwest High School 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Sep 5, 2011 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247SportsN/A    ESPN:    ESPN grade: 82
Overall recruiting rankings:
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

  • "2012 Nebraska Signees". Rivals.com. Retrieved 2016-02-23.
  • "2012 Nebraska Basketball Recruiting Commits". Scout.com. Retrieved 2016-02-23.
  • "ESPN - Nebraska Cornhuskers Basketball Recruiting 2012". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2016-02-23.
  • "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved 2016-02-23.
  • "2012 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved 2016-02-23.

College career

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Freshman year

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Shields was twice named Big Ten Conference Freshman of the week during the 2012–13 NCAA Division I men's basketball season.[1][2]

Sophomore year

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Shields was the November 11, 2013 and March 10, 2014 men's basketball player of the week during the 2013–14 Big Ten Conference season.[3][4] On January 31, 2014, he was named an Academic All-District by CoSIDA, placing him among the 40 finalists for fifteen 2013–14 Academic All-American basketball selections.[5]

Junior year

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On February 26, 2016, Shields became the first Nebraska men's basketball player to be named a First Team Academic All-American by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).[6]

Senior year

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Shields finished his career at Nebraska tied for fifth on the school's all-time scoring list (1,630 points). He led the Huskers in scoring his senior season with 16.8 points per game. The conference coaches named him Second Team All-Big Ten, and the conference media panel selected him to its Third Team.

Academic achievements

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Shields also excelled as a student. During the 2015–16 year, Shields was selected as the Male Student-Athlete of the Year, narrowly being selected over friend and fellow classmate Levi Gipson.[7] Shields carried a 3.73 GPA in biological sciences and was a six-time member of Nebraska's scholar-athlete honor roll. Although participating in different sports, Shields and Gipson pushed each other in the classroom and both achieved First-team CoSIDA Academic All-American honors. Shields is the sixth Husker to be a CoSIDA Academic All-American in basketball, but the only one to be named to the first team.[8]

Professional career

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Fraport Skyliners (2016–2017)

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On August 24, 2016, Shields signed with the German team Fraport Skyliners.[9]

Dolomiti Energia Trento (2017–2018)

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Fraport Skyliners Frankfurt loaned Shavon Shields to Aquila Basket Trento during the tail end of 2016–17.[10]

Kirolbet Baskonia (2018–2020)

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On July 18, 2018, Shields signed a two-year deal with Kirolbet Baskonia of the Liga ACB and the EuroLeague.[11] On June 30, 2020, Shields won the Liga ACB with Kirolbet Baskonia.[12]

Olimpia Milano (2020–present)

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On July 9, 2020, Shields signed with Olimpia Milano of the Lega Basket Serie A and the EuroLeague.[13] He averaged 13.8 points and 4.0 rebounds per game, shooting 43.2 percent from three-point range. Shields was named to the All-EuroLeague second team. He extended his contract for two seasons on September 8, 2021.[14] On December 6, he suffered a fracture of the right radius with capsuloligamentous involvement during the fourth quarter of a game against Real Madrid. He was most recently the LBA Most Valuable Player Finals (2022).[15] On June 24, 2023, Shields renewed his contract with the Italian powerhouse through 2026.

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  PIR  Performance Index Rating
 Bold  Career high

EuroLeague

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG PIR
2018–19 Baskonia 33 30 24.5 .502 .356 .883 2.8 1.1 .6 .1 9.8 9.2
2019–20 26 21 25.3 .448 .346 .857 3.4 1.0 .4 .2 9.5 8.5
2020–21 Olimpia Milano 36 17 26.8 .511 .432 .838 4.0 1.4 1.1 .2 13.8 15.0
2021–22 24 23 29.8 .437 .347 .787 4.0 2.8 1.1 .4 13.0 14.2
2022–23 10 8 21.9 .403 .345 .818 2.4 2.2 .7 .1 8.2 8.4
2023–24 29 28 30.4 .476 .389 .821 3.7 2.8 1.3 .1 15.7 16.8
Career 158 127 26.9 .474 .379 .834 3.5 1.8 .9 .2 12.1 12.5

EuroCup

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG PIR
2017–18 Aquila Trento 14 11 26.1 .512 .357 .743 3.1 2.3 1.2 .1 11.7 11.1
Career 14 11 26.1 .512 .357 .743 3.1 2.3 1.2 .1 11.7 11.1

Basketball Champions League

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2016–17 Skyliners Frankfurt 16 15 31.2 .523 .408 .787 5.1 2.1 1.2 .2 13.6
Career 16 15 31.2 .523 .408 .787 5.1 2.1 1.2 .2 13.6

Domestic leagues

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Year Team League GP MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2016–17   Skyliners Frankfurt BBL 26 32.1 .523 .375 .775 5.3 1.7 1.0 .2 14.0
2016–17   Aquila Trento LBA 18 28.7 .456 .286 .771 3.3 2.2 1.5 .2 10.1
2017–18   Aquila Trento LBA 41 28.4 .482 .343 .776 3.8 2.5 1.0 .1 14.3
2018–19   Baskonia ACB 35 24.3 .505 .314 .739 2.9 1.2 .8 .1 11.1
2019–20   Baskonia ACB 28 27.1 .463 .360 .809 4.0 1.1 1.1 .2 11.5
2020–21   Olimpia Milano LBA 38 24.4 .420 .359 .778 2.8 3.1 .7 .2 9.0
2021–22   Olimpia Milano LBA 29 24.9 .502 .400 .792 3.9 2.1 .9 .2 12.2
2022–23   Olimpia Milano LBA 25 26.0 .422 .315 .862 3.8 2.0 .8 .0 11.0
2023–24   Olimpia Milano LBA 34 26.3 .450 .421 .820 3.8 2.8 1.1 .1 14.1

College

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2012–13 Nebraska 28 19 28.7 .471 .359 .676 5.1 .9 .8 .3 8.6
2013–14 Nebraska 32 32 32.6 .443 .316 .721 5.8 1.6 .9 .3 12.8
2014–15 Nebraska 31 31 35.3 .440 .195 .827 6.0 2.2 1.1 .2 15.4
2015–16 Nebraska 30 30 30.7 .470 .364 .769 5.1 2.7 1.3 .3 16.8
Career 121 112 31.9 .455 .296 .759 5.5 1.8 1.0 .3 13.5

Personal

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Shields is the son of National Football League (NFL) Hall of Famer Will Shields. His mother, Senia, is Danish.[16] He was a high school teammate of Willie Cauley-Stein at Olathe Northwest High School. Shields represented the Denmark national basketball team in U20 competitions and joined the national team again in 2018 for the EuroBasket 2022 pre-qualifiers.

References

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  1. ^ "Michigan and Nebraska Claim Weekly Awards". BigTen.org. CBS Interactive. 2013-01-21. Archived from the original on January 23, 2013. Retrieved 2013-01-21.
  2. ^ "Indiana and Nebraska Claim Weekly Awards". BigTen.org. CBS Interactive. 2013-02-25. Archived from the original on February 28, 2013. Retrieved 2013-02-25.
  3. ^ "Indiana and Nebraska Earn First Weekly Men's Basketball Honors: Nebraska's Shavon Shields and Indiana's Noah Vonleh collect respective Player and Freshman of the Week awards". BigTen.org. CBS Interactive. 2013-11-11. Archived from the original on November 11, 2013. Retrieved 2013-11-11.
  4. ^ "Michigan, Nebraska and Indiana Earn Weekly Men's Basketball Honors". BigTen.org. CBS Interactive. 2014-03-10. Archived from the original on March 10, 2014. Retrieved 2014-03-10.
  5. ^ "Four Big Ten Standouts Named Academic All-District". BigTen.org. CBS Interactive. 2014-01-31. Archived from the original on February 1, 2014. Retrieved 2014-01-31.
  6. ^ "Shields Named First-Team Academic All-American". NU Athletic Communications. Huskers.com. 2015-02-26. Retrieved 2016-02-23.
  7. ^ "Nebraska Announces 2015-16 Award Winners".
  8. ^ "Shields Academic Trailblazer for Men?s Basketball".
  9. ^ "Rookie forward Shavon Shields inks with Fraport Skyliners Frankfurt". 24 August 2016. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
  10. ^ "Shavon Shields to Dolomiti Energia Trento". 24 August 2018. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
  11. ^ "Shavon Shields, baskonista las próximas 2 temporadas - Saski Baskonia". Saski Baskonia (in European Spanish). 18 July 2018. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  12. ^ "Baskonia wins first ACB championship in 10 years". Saski Baskonia. 7 November 2020. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
  13. ^ Lupo, Nicola (July 9, 2020). "Olimpia Milano announces deal with Shavon Shields". Sportando. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
  14. ^ Carchia, Emiliano (September 8, 2021). "Olimpia Milano extends Shavon Shields". Sportando. Retrieved September 8, 2021.
  15. ^ Carchia, Emiliano (December 18, 2021). "Olimpia Milano says Shields fractured right radius with capsuloligamentous involvement". Sportando. Retrieved December 18, 2021.
  16. ^ "Shavon Shields, Baskonia: 'I always gravitated towards basketball'". Euroleague.net. June 22, 2021. Retrieved January 30, 2019.
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