Know Your Team: Shaquille Keith
Halifax Hurricanes
6'5
Forward
From Toronto, Ontario
Named for Shaquille O'Neal by his basketball-obsessed mother, it seemed inevitable that this Shaquille was going to follow on his namesake's footsteps.
His journey in the sport began in with the CBU Capers, for whom he averaged 13.2 points per game in 2012-13, after which he played for the Kilgore Rangers in Texas before making the move to the professional ranks in 2015.
Keith was chosen in the fifth round of the 2015 NBA D-League Draft by the Raptors 905, but did not sign with the team. Instead he joined the Windsor Express and made an immediate impact, averaging 10.3 points in his first professional season. The Express finished second in the Central Division and reached the playoff semi-finals.
He started the 2016-17 season with the Cape Breton Highlanders, but a trade for Clifton Springer would send him back to Windsor. He saw big development this season, averaging a total 13.8 points and becoming a more notable presence in the NBL Canada.
In this off-season, he represented the Canadian team at the William Jones Cup, helping them to go on and win the gold medal. He and the team repeated this success in 2018, where he led his side in scoring on two outings.
After playing for Peruvian team Regatas Lima in the group stage of the 2017 Liga Sudamericana, Keith returned to Windsor for his third straight season with the Express. Starting in all but two games in the season, he posted career-best averages of 15.9 points and 5.8 rebounds per game.
In 2018, Keith played for Taiwanese team Fubon Braves in the Terrific 12 tournament in Macau. Though the team were unable to make it past the group stage, he averaged 27.5 points across both outings. Once the tournament was over, Keith made his return to the NBL Canada, joining the St. John's Edge. He played in sixteen games and averaged 10.3 points and 4.9 rebounds.
For the inaugural CEBL season Keith played for both the Hamilton Honey Badgers and the Saskatchewan Rattlers - playing for the latter at the season's conclusion, he would lay claim to the championship. After signing to play for BC Kyiv in December 2019, he instead returned to Windsor.
Keith made eight starts for the Express in the 2019-20 season, averaging 18.9 points, before being traded to the Halifax Hurricanes for Marvell Waithe. The premature end to the season meant he would not play for Halifax.
Whichever NBL Canada team he finds himself on, Shaquille Keith has become a firm fixture in the league, always providing when called on and proving the basketball court is the place he belongs.
Picture: Tyler Brownbridge
