The remarkable Marcus Keene in Dragon’s Nest!

In the position of the point guard, the head coach of Cedevita Olimpija Jurica Golemac will be able to count on an exceptional scorer, Marcus Keene, who was the top scorer of the VTB United League in the 2020/21 season.

Cedevita Olimpija will be able to count on the exceptional 175-centimeter-tall Marcus Keene in the position of game organizer in the 2021/22 competition season. Don’t be fooled by his height, as Keene is considered an extraordinary scorer who scored as many as 20.0 points per game in the Estonian Kalev jersey in the VTB United League last season and was thus the top scorer in this powerful competition. Of course, it is necessary to take into account the fact that Alexey Shved scored 23.3 points per game, but played nine games less than Keene.

Marcus, 26, is proof that his love of basketball knows no bounds. He first met orange leather in San Antonio, and is considered Earl Warren High School basketball player, for whom he scored more than 1,600 points. From 2013 to 2015, he continued his education at Youngstown State College and then moved to Central Michigan, where he averaged 20.8 points, 4.9 assists and 4.1 rebounds in the 2016/17 season.

The path, however, did not lead him to the NBA, as in 2017 he was not selected on the roster for the strongest league in the world. He thus began his professional basketball career in the second Italian league, at Cagliari, where he averaged 18.5 points per game. This was followed by a move to exotic lands, and Keene spent three years in Asia. In Thailand, he played in the Mono Vampire jersey, and in December 2018, he moved to Memphis to join the Memphis Hustle team, averaging 8.2 points, 2.8 assists and 2.3 rebounds per game in 25 games in the G-League.

In March 2019 he moved to KCC Egis, which plays in the Korean League, and at the end of the year he moved to Taiwan, to Yulon. Interestingly, the Taiwan National Championships did not stop despite the coronavirus pandemic, and Keene, with an average of 25.2 points per game, became the Most Valuable Player of the regular season.

Before the start of the 2020/21 season, he seized the opportunity and returned to European basketball, wearing the Estonian Kalev jersey. Keene shone in Tallinn and averaged 20.0 points, 5.0 assists and 3.2 rebounds per game in the VTB United League, while throwing 41.4 percent for three points. It should be noted that in 13 matches he scored at least 20 points, and in three he scored or exceeded the limit of 30 points. He also showed very good performances in the Estonian-Latvian national championship, adding 15.6 points, 4.6 assists and 3.3 rebounds per game. In the final game with Riga, which Kalev won with the score 86:75, Keene scored 12 points, dished out seven assists and grabbed five rebounds.

Marcus Johnny Rashaan Keene
Date and place of birth: May 6 1995; San Antonio (Texas, USA)
Height: 175 cm
Playing position: Point Guard
Career: Cagliari Dinamo (Italy; 2017-18), Mono Vampire (Thailand; 2018), Memphis Hustle (USA; 2018-19), Egis (South Korea; 2019), Formosa Dreamers (Taiwan; 2019), Yulon (Taiwan; 2019-20), Kalev/Cramo (Estonia; 2020-21), Cedevita Olimpija (2021).

Sani Bečirović, sports director of Cedevita Olimpija:
“Marcus Keene is a player who has been flying under the radar for many years and proving himself outside of Europe, and when he came to the VTB United League he shone and showed the dimension of his talent. Being the top scorer of one of the strongest leagues in European basketball is no small thing and we are happy that he has decided to become part of Cedevita Olympia. Marcus plays with his heart, he wants to prove himself and I believe he will fit in perfectly with our game system.”

Jurica Golemac, head coach of Cedevita Olimpija:
“We brought into our team the player we really wanted. Marcus Keene is always playing at full strength and is now starting his European career more seriously. He has experience from the VTB United League and I am sure he will impress our fans, as he is an extremely explosive, fast and attractive basketball player. We have brought in players who have been a great help to us in the coming season, and they also wanted to make a lot of progress in their game. We are happy that Marcus will join us in Ljubljana and lead our game in the new season.”

Marcus Keene, player of Cedevita Olimpija:
“I am very happy that I am joining Cedevita Olimpija. I heard a lot of nice things about the club, the city of Ljubljana and Slovenia, that I am going to play for. Obviously, I played a year in college with Kendrick Perry, who is a good friend of mine, and I received quite a bit of good information from him. I am excited that the club trusts me and alows me to do, what I am cappable of doing. I want to win and bring as many championship as I can.”