Dejuan Blair is one of basketball’s lesser known players, but he has brought a lot to the National Basketball Association.
He is a skilled player, and has led his high school, college and professional teams to great success.
High School Basketball
It comes as no surprise that Dejuan Blair would be destined for basketball. Both of his parents played high school basketball, his father at Shenley High School and his mother at Serra Catholic High School. Blair also attended Shenley High School in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. In 2007, he was instrumental in his team’s success at the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association 4A championships.
He played for the team for four years, and led them to a spectacular 103 win, 13 loss record and a perfect record of 57 wins against Pittsburg City League teams. Blair was given several honors while in high school for his basketball skills, including three naming as Pittsburg City Player of the Year, and two Pennsylvania Player of the Year Awards.
College
Blair decided to attend college just 600 yards away from where he grew up at the University of Pittsburg. In his freshman year, he was named the Big East Conference Rookie of the Year, averaging 11.6 points per game and 9.1 rebounds per game. He set records at Pitt for the most freshman field goals, rebounds and starts.
In his sophomore year of college, Blair continued to receive accolades from the league for his outstanding performances. He was a finalist for both the Naismith Player of the Year Award and the Wooden Award.
He was also selected to the All-Big East First Team, and upped his averages to 15.7 points and 12.3 rebounds per game. Finally, he shared the title of Big East-Co Player of the Year with Hasheem Thabeet.
Going Pro
Professional basketball was obviously where Blair wanted to be, as in his sophomore year he declared for the NBA draft. In 2009, Blair played for the San Antonio Spurs summer league team, and was signed to them for the regular season.
In the 2009-10 season, he was named to the All-Rookie Second Team, and for very good reason.
His first full season with the Spurs, he played in all 82 games, becoming the only Spurs player to do so. Further, he started in 23 of those games and averaged 7.8 points per game and ranked first amongst the rookies for field goal percentage.Blair seems to give promise to the Spurs as he continues to improve his game.