Taqwa Pinero[1] (born Taquan Dean on August 6, 1983) is an American professional basketball player who lastly played for Élan Béarnais Pau-Lacq-Orthez of the LNB Pro A.
 Pinero, playing for Murcia in 2009 | |
| Free Agent | |
|---|---|
| Position | Shooting guard |
| Personal information | |
| Born | August 6, 1983 Red Bank, New Jersey |
| Nationality | American |
| Listed height | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) |
| Listed weight | 198 lb (90 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Neptune (Neptune Township, New Jersey) |
| College | Louisville (2002–2006) |
| NBA draft | 2006: undrafted |
| Playing career | 2006–present |
| Career history | |
| 2006–2007 | Pallacanestro Biella |
| 2007 | Dynamo Moscow |
| 2007–2008 | Junior Casale Monferrato |
| 2008–2009 | Murcia |
| 2009–2010 | Unicaja Málaga |
| 2010 | Baskonia |
| 2010 | Kavala |
| 2010–2012 | Scandone Avellino |
| 2012 | Valencia |
| 2012 | Aliağa Petkim |
| 2012–2014 | Scandone Avellino |
| 2014–2015 | San Sebastián Gipuzkoa |
| 2015 | Mahram Tehran |
| 2015–2016 | Socar Petkim |
| 2016 | San Sebastián Gipuzkoa |
| 2016 | Hoops Club |
| 2016–2017 | Iberostar Tenerife |
| 2017–2019 | Élan Béarnais Pau-Lacq-Orthez |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Amateur career
editHe was born in Red Bank, New Jersey and attended Neptune High School in Neptune Township, New Jersey.[2]
Dean was a star college basketball player for the University of Louisville through 2006, where he majored in justice administration. Throughout his four-year college career, he scored 1,657 career points, and made 361 three-point field goals. After helping lead Louisville to the 2005 Final Four as a junior, he decided to stay for his senior season, finishing his career as the school's career leader in three-point field goals made.
Professional career
editHe went undrafted in the 2006 NBA draft, and signed with Angelico Biella of the Italian League. Midway through the season, he transferred to the Russian Super League club Dynamo Moscow.[3] In 2007, he signed with the Italian 2nd Division team Junior Casale Monferrato.
In July 2008, Dean played for the Phoenix Suns in the Las Vegas NBA Summer League.[4] That same year, he signed with the Spanish Liga ACB club Murcia.
In 2009, he joined the Euroleague club Unicaja Málaga of Spain[5][6] by signing a one-year contract.[6] He moved for a short time to Saski Baskonia before finishing the 2009–10 season with Greek Kavala B.C. He then signed with Italian club Air Avellino for the 2010–11 season.
In August 2014, he signed with Spanish club San Sebastián Gipuzkoa.[7] On April 9, 2015, he left San Sebastián,[8] On and on April 27, he signed with Mahram Tehran of the Iranian Super League.[9]
On July 11, 2015, Dean signed with Socar Petkim of the Turkish Basketball Second League.[10] On April 19, 2016, he signed with his former team San Sebastián Gipuzkoa for the rest of the season.[11]
On October 10, 2016, after legally changing his name to Taqwa Pinero,[1] he signed with Hoops Club of the Lebanese Basketball League.[12]
Two months later, Pinero signed with Spanish team Iberostar Tenerife.[13] In February 2017, Pinero left the team.[14] Later that month, he signed with French club Élan Béarnais Pau-Lacq-Orthez for the rest of the 2016–17 Pro A season.[15] On June 2, 2017, he signed a two-year contract extension with Pau-Orthez.[16] He officially retired as a player in 2023.
Personal life
editIn October 2016, he changed his name from Taquan Dean to Taqwa Pinero, after a DNA test uncovered that the man he knew as his father was not his biological father. He also converted to Islam, taking an Arabic given name.[1][17]
References
edit- ^ a b c "I changed my name from Taquan Dean to Taqwa Pinero: This is why". Hoopshype.com. 12 October 2016. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
- ^ Pelzman, J.P. "Feeling the pain of troubled lives", The Record (Bergen County), April 2, 2005, backed up by the Internet Archive as of March 4, 2016. Accessed October 14, 2016. "Dean's college career hasn't been easy, either, although his various injuries and maladies pale in comparison to what he's already been through. The former Neptune High School standout was hampered by a sports hernia last season, when he averaged 10.8 points."
- ^ "Dynamo adds Dean to back court", Euroleague, February 13, 2007. Accessed March 12, 2008.
- ^ NBA.com : Summer League 2008 Archived 2008-07-15 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Sportando.net Unicaja inks scoring machine Taquan Dean
- ^ a b Unicaja inks scoring machine Taquan Dean
- ^ San Sebastian Gipuzkoa announces Taquan Dean
- ^ Gipuzkoa agreed to part ways with Taquan Dean
- ^ Taquan Dean inks with Mahram
- ^ Taquan Dean moves to Socar Petkim
- ^ Gipuzkoa lands Taquan Dean
- ^ TaQuan Dean signs with Hoops Club in Lebanon
- ^ "El Iberostar Tenerife se hace con los servicios de Taqwa Pinero" (in Spanish). ACB.com. 7 December 2016. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
- ^ Acuerdo de desvinculación con Taqwa Piñero (in Spanish)
- ^ TAQWA PINERO À L'ÉLAN BÉARNAIS JUSQU'À LA FIN DE SAISON (in French)
- ^ Taqwa Pinero signs two-year extension with Elan Bearnais Pau-Orthez
- ^ "Taquan Dean changed his name in Taqwa Pinero". Sportando. 11 October 2016. Retrieved 8 December 2016.