Know Your Team: Derrick Nix
Windsor Express
6'8
Centre
From Detroit, Michigan
New to the NBL Canada and the Windsor Express in the 2019-20 season, Derrick Nix has honed his tough, aggressive style of basketball through a wide and varied series of experiences of basketball at many different levels.
In his youth Nix played for Pershing High before accepting a roster spot with the Michigan State Spartans in 2009. He set a freshman record with 14 rebounds in a single game, the same year he reached the final four of the NCAA Division 1 tournament, which would be as far as the team would go after a 52-50 loss to Butler. He played in three more Division 1 tournaments but never making it as far as they did his freshman year.
In junior year he won the Most Improved Player award as well as being the team's fifth-best scorer and fourth in rebounding and steals. He was made co-captain in his senior year where he also posted the best stats of his tenure, 9.9 points and 6.6 rebounds per game.
Turning professional in 2013, Nix originally signed with Krka in Slovenia but instead joined VEF Riga in Latvia. His showings in the national league, VTB United League and EuroCup earned him an All-Star selection.
He played in France for Orleans the following season, averaging 9.6 points in 16 games. In 2015 he joined up with Czarni in Poland before being acquired by the Grand Rapids Drive in the NBA D-League. After three games played he moved back to Latvia, spending the rest of the season with Ventspils.
In the 2016 Orlando Summer League he played for Detroit Pistons and in 2017 he was drafted by another NBA G League team, the Windy City Bulls. His next professional contract was with the Windsor Express ahead of their 2019-20 season. He began his NBL Canada career with 20 points against the London Lightning and went on to record nine double digit finishes in his first ten games.
Putting up some of the best numbers of his career so far, Derrick Nix seems to have found a home in the NBL Canada - something that fans, Express fans and officials in particular, are hoping it will continue to be home to him for time to come.
Picture: Fernando Medina
