Dionte Christmas

Dionte Christmas

Position	Shooting guard
Height	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Weight	205 lb (93 kg)
League	Greek League Greek Cup
Team	Rethymno
Born	September 15, 1986 (1986-09-15) (age 25) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Nationality	American
High school	Lutheran Christian Academy Samuel Fels High School
College	Temple University
Draft	Undrafted, 2009
Pro career	2009–present
Career history	Philadelphia 76ers (2009) Hapoel Afula (2009-10) ČEZ Basketball Nymburk (2010-11) PAOK BC (2011) Rethymno (2011-present)
Awards	2007 second team All-Atlantic 10 Conference 2007 first team All-Philadelphia Big 5 2007 Atlantic 10 Most Improved Player 2008 first team All-Atlantic 10 Conference 2008 first team All-Philadelphia Big 5 2008 first team USBWA All-District 2008 second team NABC All-District 2008 Atlantic 10 Tournament Most Outstanding Player 2009 first team All-Atlantic 10 Conference 2009 first team USBWA All-District 2009 first team NABC All-District 2009 Atlantic 10 Tournament Most Outstanding Player 2009 first team All-Philadelphia Big 5

Dionte Christmas (born September 15, 1986, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American basketball player. Christmas is listed as 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) and 205 lb (93 kg).^[1]

High school career

Christmas attended Samuel Fels High School in Philadelphia. In his junior year (2002–03), he averaged 17.7 points per game and was named honorable mention all-Public. He followed this by leading the City of Philadelphia in scoring, averaging 26.5 points per game and gained first team all-Public honors, as well as being named third team all-City.

After completing his career at Samuel Fels, Christmas prepped for a year at Philadelphia's Lutheran Christian Academy. He averaged 18 points per game on a team that went 35-3 and ultimately placed nine players on division I basketball rosters.

Collegiate career

Christmas was a reserve as a freshman (2005–06) on a Temple team that went 17-15 and featured future NBA player Mardy Collins. The team went to the NIT, giving Christmas his first taste of post-season play.

Christmas broke out his sophomore year (2006–07), leading Temple and the Atlantic 10 in scoring at 20 points per game. He was named second team All-Conference and the league's Most Improved Player. He also garnered his first Philadelphia Big 5 recognition as he was named first team All Big 5. However, the year was disappointing from a team standpoint as Temple went 12-18 and missed the post-season.

Christmas picked up where he left off in his junior season (2007–08), again leading the Atlantic 10 in scoring at 19.7 ppg. In doing so, he became only the third player in the history of the conference to lead the league in scoring in consecutive seasons. At the end of the year, Christmas was named first team all-conference and Big 5. In the 2008 Atlantic 10 tournament, Temple defeated LaSalle, Charlotte and St. Joseph's to win the conference title and an automatic berth to the 2008 NCAA tournament.^[2] Christmas was named Most Outstanding Player of the event after scoring 57 points in the three games, including 22 in the final game.

Christmas entered his senior year with pre-season All-American buzz. He was tabbed an Atlantic 10 preseason All-conference pick ^[3] and was on the candidate list for both the Wooden Award and the Lowe's Senior Class Award.^[4] On December 13, 2008, he scored a season-high 35 points in a nationally televised upset of #8 Tennessee. He was tabbed ESPN.com National Player of the Week for his efforts.^[5]

Christmas finished his Temple career with 2,043 points, becoming only the fourth player in school history to eclipse the 2000-point mark. During his senior season, he set school records for most three-pointers in a season (107) and career (317). He ranks in Temple's all-time top ten in three-pointers attempted and three-point field goal percentage. He is also the first player to lead the Atlantic-10 in scoring for three consecutive seasons.^[6]

College statistics

Season Averages

Season	Team	G	PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	FG%	3P%	FT%	MIN	TO
2005-06	Temple Owls	32	3.5	1.6	0.5	0.5	0.2	.281	.250	.587	11.3	0.4
2006-07	Temple Owls	30	20.0	4.2	2.1	1.4	0.4	.466	.400	.871	34.3	2.4
2007-08	Temple Owls	34	19.7	5.9	2.5	1.4	0.2	.439	.369	.772	37.2	2.8
2008-09	Temple Owls	34	19.5	5.8	2.9	1.5	0.1	.414	.352	.753	35.0	2.9
Totals:		130	15.7	4.4	2.0	1.2	0.2	.425	.360	.777	29.6	2.2

Professional career

Christmas was undrafted during the 2009 NBA draft but on June 28, he was invited to join the Philadelphia 76ers summer league team in Orlando. He was also invited to play with the Los Angeles Clippers in the 2009 Las Vegas Summer League. On September 29, 2009, he was signed by the 76ers but was waived less than a month later on October 21, 2009. Christmas has played professionally for Hapoel Afula in Israel for the 2009-2010 season.^[7]

Christmas has played for the Sacramento Kings in the NBA Summer League in 2010.^[8]

In February 2011 he signed with ČEZ Basketball Nymburk in Czech Republic.^[9]

In April 2011 he signed with PAOK B.C. in Greece until the end of the season.^[10]

In October 2011 he signed with Rethymno in Greece

See also

• 2009 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans

References

1. ^ Dionte Christmas Temple profile
2. ^ Owls soar to 1008 A-10 men's basketball title
3. ^ Xavier the choice to seize A-10 Men's Basketball title
4. ^ Lowe's Senior Class Award Candidates - Men's Basketball
5. ^ Temple's Dionte Christmas Tabbed National Player Of The Week
6. ^ Dionte Christmas Named Lowe's Senior CLASS All-Senior All-America Second Team
7. ^ http://www.eurobasket.com/Israel/basketball.asp?NewsID=180932
8. ^ http://www.ridiculousupside.com/2010/6/28/1540775/nba-summer-league-rosters-vegas NBA Summer League Rosters - Vegas
9. ^ NOVÁ POSILA (Czech)
10. ^ Ειδήσεις - Συμφωνία ΠΑΟΚ και Dionte Christmas (Greek)

External links

• Temple athletic site bio
• ESPN player profile
• Temple sports information All-American promotional flyer
• Dionte Christmas Arrested On Weapons Charges During North Philly Traffic Stop

Persondata
Name	Christmas, Dionte
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	September 15, 1986
Place of birth	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Date of death
Place of death