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Another Bahamian basketball player is headed to Turkey to play professionally. Zane Knowles recently agreed to terms to play for Balıkesir Buyuksehir Belediyespor in the Turkey Basketball League (TBL) in Balıkesir, Turkey, in the upcoming season.
Knowles joins Dwight Coleby who signed a contract to play for Denizli Basket in Denizli, Turkey, earlier this month.
Last season, 28-year-old Knowles played in three leagues in two different countries – Bulgaria and Greece. In Bulgaria, he played for Levski Lukoil in the National Basketball League (NBL) there; and in Greece, the center was able to play for PAOK Thessaloniki in Greece-A1 (Greek league) and also in the Basketball Champions League.
His latest stint was in the NBL back in February of this year when he played in only two games as the COVID-19 pandemic brought a halt to the season. He averaged 13 points, 7 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game.
In Greece-A1 action, Knowles finished with 9.3 points and 7.8 rebounds per game. He shot a blistering 62.9 percent from the field in the 16 games that he played in. Knowles averaged 6.3 points and 6.3 rebounds per game in 12 Basketball Champions League games. He shot 57.9 percent in that league.
After finishing his high school education at Champagnat Catholic Institute in 2010 in Hialeah, Florida, Knowles went to Pearl River Community College and Grambling State University. In 2012, he went on to play for the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders for two years.
In his junior year, he played in 24 games and started in half of those games, averaging 5.3 points and 4.0 rebounds per game. He finished with a total of 20 blocks and shot 51.9 percent from the field that season.
In his senior season for the Islanders, Knowles saw an uptick in his stats primarily due to him playing and starting in all 34 games. The big man averaged 7.0 points and 7.6 rebounds that season.
In 2017, he was drafted by the Wisconsin Herd in the third round – No. 68 overall, in the National Basketball Association (NBA) G-League Draft.
Balıkesir is expected to insert Knowles into their starting five for next season. They finished last season in 10th place with a 12-12 win/loss record as the season was stopped due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.
Knowles has played in Europe, Asia and North America, and was a Bulgarian Cup champion this past season. He has also had a few stints with The Bahamas’ senior men’s national basketball team.