The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

DWIGHT Coleby will join the top-tiered basketball league in France for the 2021-22 season.

After his deal with Polish club Anwil Wloclawek fell through, Coleby found a home quickly and signed with Cholet Basket of the JEEP Elite Pro A League in France.

Based in Cholet, France, the club was established in 1975 and has one French Championship and two French Cups in club history.

Chloet finished last season 12-22 and opens the 2021 campaign on October 2 on the road against Strasbourg.

Head coach Laurent Vila said the club was eager to seize the opportunity once Coleby became available.

“We are happy that Dwight has signed with us, he was one of the players on our short list. He has the characteristics of the profile we were looking for, ie.

“A player with a physical density, very good rebounder, mobile, who will apply in defence and who has the ability tofinish in traffic and free throws,” Vila said. “He is also an experienced player who has played several seasons in Europe, as in Belgium, in Italy and twice in the Turkish second division, notably last season with Merkezefendi Belediyesi club Denizli Basket, which reaches the first division this season.”

Coleby originally intended to join Anwil Wloclawek of the Polish Basketball League (PLK) for this season but a failed medical led to the contract being voided.

The 6’ 10” forward/centre spent last season with Merkezefendi Belediyesi Denizli of the Turkish Basketball First League (TBL), his second stint in the country..

In a history-making milestone season for the club, Coleby averaged 12.8 points, 10.1 rebounds per game and was named Eurobasket.com all TBL Honourable Mention and Player of the Week twice.

Denzeli was also granted promotion to the ING Turkish Basketball Super League, the top division in the country.

In his first stint in Turkey in 2018, Coleby averaged 11.5 points and a team-leading 8.5 rebounds for Sigortam.net ITU in the BSL League.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Coleby spent approximately a month of the previous season in Italy’s Lega Basket Serie A with perennial league contender Dinamo Banco di Sardegna Sassari.

He appeared in just three regular season games and five Champions League games where he averaged 4.8 points and 4.2 rebounds per game.

Coleby spent a portion of the 2019-20 season alongside his brother Kadeem Coleby with the Akita Northern Happinets in the Japanese B-League following a short stint in Belgium with Liege Basket in Belgium’s Pro Basketball League (PBL). He also spent time with Kalev/Cramo (KML) in the Estonian league.

Following his senior season with the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers where he averaged

11.1 points and 7.9 rebounds per game, he was named to the 2018 Las Vegas Summer League

and minicamp roster of the New Orleans Pelicans. He also participated in a pre-NBA Draft workout with the Utah Jazz.

Out of the Piney Woods High School Mississippi, Coleby signed with the Ole Miss Rebels. In his freshman season with the Rebels, he averaged 2.4 points and 1.9 rebounds per game in 10.4 minutes and as a sophomore, he averaged 5.4 points and 4.8 rebounds per game on 53 percent shooting.

The following offseason Coleby planned to spend the 2015-16 season on the sidelines as a transfer to the

Kansas Jayhawks, but he suffered a torn ACL in his left knee during a light team workout in October. When he finally made his debut with the Jayhawks following a grueling rehab process, he averaged 1.7 points and 1.8 rebounds per game in his lone season in

Lawrence.

Coleby has been a member of various Bahamian national teams at both the junior and senior levels.