Introduction
DeMarcus De'Juan Nelson (born November 2, 1985) is an American-Serbian professional basketball player for Limoges CSP of the LNB Pro A. Standing at 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) he plays at the point guard position. He also holds Serbian citizenship as of 2014.
College career
Nelson played at the shooting guard position on the Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team.He was also the lone captain of the team for the 2007–2008 season, which was his senior year.
College statistics
| College | Year | GP | MIN | SPG | BPG | RPG | APG | PPG | FG% | FT% | 3P% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Duke | 2004–05 | 33 | 19.2 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 4.5 | 0.8 | 6.2 | .400 | .532 | .319 |
| Duke | 2005–06 | 24 | 21.5 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 3.4 | 1.2 | 7.1 | .452 | .649 | .410 |
| Duke | 2006–07 | 33 | 31.9 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 5.4 | 2.0 | 14.1 | .478 | .593 | .364 |
| Duke | 2007–08 | 34 | 30.9 | 1.6 | 0.3 | 5.8 | 2.9 | 14.5 | .490 | .601 | .388 |
Professional career
Nelson was not drafted in the 2008 NBA draft, but he was signed by the Golden State Warriors on September 9, 2008.He became the first undrafted rookie to start on opening night in the history of the NBA. On November 14, 2008, he and teammate Richard Hendrix were assigned to the Bakersfield Jam of the NBA D-League. He was recalled by the Warriors on December 16, 2008, but he was waived on January 6, 2009 to make room for Jermareo Davidson.
Nelson joined the Croatian Adriatic League club KK Zagreb in January 2009, but only played a single game. In March 2009, Nelson returned to the NBA D-League as a member of the Austin Toros.
On April 9, 2009 Nelson signed with the Chicago Bulls. On July 30, 2009 he was waived by the Bulls.
On August 29, 2009, he was signed by Scandone Avellino of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A for the 2009–10 season.
He played for the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA Summer League in 2010.
On August 23, 2010, he was signed by Cholet Basket of France. Cholet Basket is qualified for the Euroleague for the 2010–11 season.
In July 2011 he signed with BC Donetsk in Ukraine. On November 15, 2011, he returned to Cholet Basket by signing a contract for the rest of the season.
In September 2012, he signed a one-year contract with the Serbian team Crvena zvezda Belgrade. In June 2013 he re-signed with them for one more season, with an option for a second year. He became the first foreign player to stay at the club for two seasons.
In November 2013, he was named EuroLeague MVP for Round 4. In April 2014, along with his teammate Boban Marjanović, he was selected to the Ideal Team of the 2013–14 ABA League season. He was also named to the All-EuroCup First Team in 2014.
On July 22, 2014, Panathinaikos announced the signing of Nelson, on a 1+1 year-deal.
On September 25, 2015, he signed a one-month deal with the French team Monaco, with the role to replace injured Larry Drew II. On December 23, 2015, he signedfor the rest of the season with the Spanish team Unicaja, with the role to replace injured Stefan Marković.
On October 15, 2016, Nelson signed with ASVEL Basket for the rest of the 2016-17 season. On July 8, 2017, he re-signed with ASVEL for two more seasons.
On January 29, 2020, he has signed with Limoges CSP of the LNB Pro A.
Career statistics
| Legend | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game | ||
| FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage | ||
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game | ||
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | PIR | Performance Index Rating | ||
| Bold | Career high | ||||||
Note: The EuroLeague is not the only competition in which the player participated for the team during the season. He also played in domestic competition, and regional competition if applicable.
NBA
Regular season
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008–09 | Golden State | 13 | 5 | 13.2 | .444 | .000 | .357 | 1.8 | 1.0 | .7 | .2 | 4.1 |
| Career | 13 | 5 | 13.2 | .444 | .000 | .357 | 1.8 | 1.0 | .7 | .2 | 4.1 |
Domestic leagues
| Season | Team | League | GP | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008–09 | Bakersfield Jam | D-League | 9 | 32.7 | .569 | .300 | .576 | 4.8 | 4.0 | 2.2 | .2 | 16.0 |
| Austin Toros | 11 | 41.4 | .564 | .450 | .803 | 5.9 | 4.2 | 1.2 | .5 | 23.0 | ||
| KK Zagreb | Adriatic League | 1 | 13.0 | .333 | -- | -- | .0 | .0 | .0 | 1.0 | 2.0 | |
| 2009–10 | Air Avellino | Lega A | 28 | 25.8 | .510 | .220 | .770 | 3.6 | 1.2 | 1.6 | .4 | 9.0 |
| 2010–11 | Cholet Basket | Pro A | 34 | 25.0 | .509 | .271 | .744 | 3.5 | 2.4 | .9 | .4 | 10.8 |
| 2011–12 | BC Donetsk | SuperLeague | 12 | 22.3 | .532 | .250 | .796 | 4.4 | 2.5 | 1.6 | .2 | 10.6 |
| Cholet Basket | Pro A | 30 | 30.0 | .516 | .265 | .804 | 3.8 | 3.6 | 1.3 | .2 | 13.7 | |
| 2012–13 | KK Crvena zvezda | Adriatic League | 28 | 26.4 | .533 | .273 | .637 | 3.8 | 3.5 | 1.0 | .3 | 8.6 |
| KLS | 19 | 28.8 | .524 | .410 | .635 | 4.2 | 3.8 | 1.8 | .4 | 11.4 | ||
| 2013–14 | Adriatic League | 27 | 25.5 | .604 | .236 | .712 | 3.2 | 3.3 | 1.5 | .1 | 9.8 | |
| KLS | 18 | 25.4 | .500 | .373 | .732 | 3.6 | 4.0 | 1.6 | .0 | 10.7 | ||
| 2014–15 | Panathinaikos B.C. | Greek A1 | 23 | 18.4 | .505 | .259 | .527 | 3.4 | 2.0 | .7 | .0 | 6.5 |
EuroLeague
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG | PIR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010–11 | Cholet | 10 | 7 | 25.6 | .423 | .313 | .636 | 3.3 | 1.5 | .5 | .3 | 9.2 | 5.8 |
| 2013–14 | Crvena zvezda | 10 | 10 | 26.8 | .479 | .286 | .737 | 4.0 | 3.2 | 1.1 | .2 | 11.2 | 13.0 |
| 2014–15 | Panathinaikos | 18 | 0 | 17.8 | .402 | .130 | .625 | 2.4 | 2.2 | .6 | .2 | 5.8 | 5.6 |
| Career | 38 | 17 | 22.2 | .434 | .239 | .658 | 3.1 | 2.3 | .7 | .2 | 8.1 | 7.6 |
Personal life
DeMarcus attended high school at Vallejo High School in Vallejo, California and Sheldon High School in Sacramento, California. His Freshman, Sophomore, and Junior years were at Vallejo and his Senior year was at Sheldon.
He attained Serbian citizenship on July 24, 2014, late for a possible extension with Crvena zvezda.