Derrick Byars

Derrick Byars

Nickname(s)	Dee Bee, D.B.
Position	Shooting guard Small forward
Height	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
Weight	220 lb (100 kg)
League	Pro A Euroleague
Team	Cholet Basket
Born	April 25, 1984 (1984-04-25) (age 27) Memphis, Tennessee
Nationality	American
College	Virginia (2002–04) Vanderbilt (2005–07)
Draft	42nd overall, 2007 Portland Trail Blazers
Pro career	2007–present
Career history	Köln 99ers (2007-08) Chorale Roanne (2008) Bakersfield Jam (2008-09; 2011) ALBA Berlin (2009-10) Panellinios Basket (2010) Cholet Basket (2011)

Derrick JaVaughn Byars (born April 25, 1984 in Memphis, Tennessee) is an American professional basketball player for the Pro A team Cholet Basket. Collegiality, he played for Virginia, and later for Vanderbilt. He was drafted 42nd overall in the 2007 NBA Draft.

High school career

Byars attended Ridgeway High School in Memphis, where he played for head coach Wesley Henning and won two Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association (TSSAA) Class AA State Championships.

As a sophomore (1999–2000), Byars was an honorable-mention All-State selection and led the Roadrunners to the Class AA State Championship. He averaged 16.4 points, 6.5 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game.

As a junior, he again earned honorable mention All-State honors and was named Ridgeway's Most Valuable Player. He averaged 20.5 points, 7.2 rebounds and 5 assists.

As a senior (2001–02), he averaged 23.2 points, 10 rebounds and 4.5 assists and led Ridgeway to its second TSSAA Class AA State Championship in three years. He was a fourth-team Parade All-America selection, the Gatorade Player of the Year in Tennessee, the TSSAA Class AA Tournament Most Valuable Player and first-team All-State.^[1]

As impressive as he was on the court, Byars also excelled in the classroom, finishing high school with a 3.9 GPA.^[2]

Collegiate career

Virginia

Byars played for two seasons under then-Head Coach Pete Gillen at Virginia. He started 16 of Virginia's 31 games his freshman season (2002–03) and averaged 6.5 points per game. In his sophomore season (2003–04), he started 18 of Virginia's 31 games and averaged 7.5 points per game.^[3]

After falling out with Gillen, Byars decided to transfer from Virginia. Vanderbilt, fresh off a run to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament, was his first choice, but the Commodores had no scholarship positions available. Days before Byars was due to announce his transfer to Mississippi, Vanderbilt reserve guard Adam Payton decided to transfer to William & Mary, freeing up a scholarship for Byars.^[4]

He sat out the 2004–05 season as mandated by NCAA rules.

Vanderbilt

In his junior season (2005–06), Byars started all 30 games and finished second on the team in scoring at 12.4 points per game. He led the team with 3.2 assists per game. He was named SEC Player of the Week (28 November-4 December) after scoring 20 points on 7-of-8 shooting against Oregon on November 30, 2005. A week later, he scored a season-high 25 points (including five 3-pointers) against Cincinnati on December 10, 2005.^[3]

In his senior season (2006–07), Byars was named Southeastern Conference Player of the Year by the league's coaches, who also unanimously selected him to their All-SEC first team. He led Vanderbilt to a 22–12 record (SEC East: 10–6, 2nd) and the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. He led the Commodores in scoring with 17.0 points per game and was ranked among the SEC's top 10 in four other statistical categories. During SEC play, Byars averaged 19.1 points per game, second-best in the SEC. He scored 20 points or more eight different times, including a career-high 32 points against South Carolina on February 14, 2007. He followed that performance with 24 points in Vanderbilt's 83–70 victory over then-No. 1 Florida, which earned him SEC player of the week honors for the second time that season.^[5]

Byars graduated from Vanderbilt on May 11, 2007 with a degree in sociology.

Professional career

NBA

Byars was chosen 42nd overall in the 2007 NBA Draft in the second round by the Portland Trail Blazers. His rights were then traded to the Philadelphia 76ers.^[6] He was waived by the 76ers on October 22, 2007. He was on the New Orleans Hornets and Orlando Magic rosters for the 2008 Summer League. Byars return to the NBA Summer League was successful, as he led the Magic in scoring in their first game against the New Jersey Nets with 15 points on 6 of 13 shooting [1].

In late September, Byars was signed by the Oklahoma City Thunder where he averaged 4.1 points and 14.8 minutes per game in the preseason.^[7]

Byars was invited to the Chicago Bulls training camp in 2009 but was waived on the opening day of the season, October 28, 2009.^[8]

He will play for the Chicago Bulls in the NBA Summer League in 2010.^[9]

Germany

In December 2007, Byars played in eight games for the Köln 99ers, a Basketball Bundesliga team based in Cologne, Germany, having arrived at the end of October with a foot injury that had to be cured first. He averaged 6.3 points and 18 minutes per game in four games in the ULEB Cup^[10] and 3.5 points in another 4 games in the Bundesliga. He was cut from the team again on December 21, 2007.^[11]

On November 2, 2009, Byars was introduced as the new small forward for ALBA Berlin.

France

On January 24, 2008, he was subsequently signed by Chorale Roanne Basket, a team that plays in the Ligue Nationale de Basketball (LNB) in France and is the defending 2007 national champion.^[12][13]

His club finished fourth in the 2007/08 regular season, and lost in the 2008 LNB final against Nancy after beating regular season winner Le Mans in the semi-final. Byars averaged 8 points and 3 rebounds in 24 minutes of playing time.^[14]

NBDL

Derrick Byars later played in the NBA Developmental League for the Bakersfield Jam. He was named to the 2009 NBDL All-Star Game. He returned to the team briefly in 2011.

Greece

In September 2010, he signed a one-year deal with the Greek club Panellinios Basket.^[15]

Return to France

In August 2011 he signed a one-year contract with Cholet Basket in France.^[16]. However, he leaves the club in November, having played only two games, one in Pro A and one in Euroleague qualifying round^[17].

Awards and accomplishments

• All-SEC First Team: (2007)
• SEC Co-Player of the Year: (2007)

Notes

1. ^ "Derrick Byars Profile (Virginia)". CSTV.com. http://virginiasports.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/byars_derrick00.html. Retrieved 2007-03-08. 
2. ^ Moss, J.D. (2002-11-12). "Derrick Byars Inside Out". Cavalier Daily. http://www.cavalierdaily.com/news/2002/nov/12/derrick-byars/. Retrieved 2007-03-08. 
3. ^ ^{a b} "Derrick Byars Profile (Vanderbilt)". CSTV.com. http://vucommodores.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/byars_derrick00.html. Retrieved 2007-03-08. 
4. ^ Jenkins, Lee (2007-03-19). "Commodores' Success Is Built on Two Players Who Never Met". NYTimes.com. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/19/sports/ncaabasketball/19vandy.html. Retrieved 2007-03-19. 
5. ^ "Coaches say Byars SEC's best". Tennessean.com. http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070308/SPORTS0602/703080416/1002. Retrieved 2007-03-08. ^{[dead link]}
6. ^ "Byars may go late in first round". Tennessean.com. http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007705090445. Retrieved 2007-05-14. ^{[dead link]}
7. ^ "Thunder Notebook". Tulsa World. 2008-09-30. http://www.tulsaworld.com/sports/article.aspx?articleID=20080930_226_B5_OKLAHO809612. Retrieved 2008-09-30. 
8. ^ "Bulls' starting 5?". Chicago Breaking Sports News. 2008-10-28. http://www.chicagobreakingsports.com/2009/10/bulls-starting-5.html. Retrieved 2008-10-28. 
9. ^ http://www.ridiculousupside.com/2010/6/28/1540775/nba-summer-league-rosters-vegas NBA Summer League Rosters - Vegas
10. ^ "Derrick Byars – Köln 99ers Game Log". Euroleague.net. http://www.euroleague.net/competition/players/showplayer?clubcode=col&pcode=000685&seasoncode=u2007. Retrieved 2008-01-22. 
11. ^ "Köln 99ers trennen sich von Derrick Byars (Köln 99ers are separating from Derrick Byars)" (in German). Köln 99ers Official Homepage. Archived from the original on 2007-12-31. http://web.archive.org/web/20071231125543/http://www.koeln99ers.de/99ers/index3.php?cat=news&storyID=466. Retrieved 2008-03-06. 
12. ^ "Chorale Roanne Basket Current Roster". Eurobasket.com. http://www.eurobasket.com/team.asp?Cntry=FRA&Team=417. Retrieved 2008-03-06. 
13. ^ "Derrick Byars est choralien (Derrick Byars is a Choralien)" (in French). Chorale Roanne Official Homepage. http://www.chorale-roanne.com/?id=1&num=1475. Retrieved 2008-03-06. 
14. ^ Ligue Nationale de Basket
15. ^ PANELLINIOS signs Derrick Byars.
16. ^ Cholet Basket signs Byars
17. ^ (French)"Derrick Byars quitte Cholet". cholet-basket.com. November 12, 2011. http://www.cholet-basket.com/news/actualites/derrick-byars-quitte-cholet-basket-n5104.htm. 

External links

• NBA.com Profile
• NBA D-League Profile
• Euroleague.net Profile
• Greek League Profile (Greek)

Persondata
Name	Byars, Derrick
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1984-04-25
Place of birth	Memphis, Tennessee
Date of death
Place of death