NBLC Alumni: Trayvon Lathan

6'7

Forward

From Chesapeake, Virginia

Tenure: 2012-2014

2x All-NBLC

1x All-Defensive

What the NBL Canada needed in their early days was players with a range of experience playing at all different levels of basketball. That came to the league in the form of Trayvon Lathan, a powerful, multi-talented performer who had played all over the world and brought the wealth of his experience to Canada's then-new basketball startup.

A graduate of Deep Creek High School, he would go on to play four seasons for NCAA Division 2 team the Chowan Braves in Murfressboro, North Carolina. At the end of that time he finished as the team's all-time leading scorer, as well as the leader in nine more categories. With scoring averages in double digits each year, he went on to win numerous individual accolades and, following his graduation, was inducted into the team's hall of fame.

In November 2007 Lathan was chosen by the Utah Flash in the fifth round of the NBA D-League Draft. Instead he played for a number of minor-league American teams - including a pre-NBLC Halifax Rainmen - before landing a contract in Lebanon with Anible Zahle. The season after he remained in the middle-east, signing with Libyan team Al Muttahed Tripoli.

His contract in Libya over, he moved closer to home, becoming part of the inaugural NBL Canada season. Signing with the Moncton Miracles, he started 24 times out of 26 games played and averaged 16.9 points for the team that finished the season in last place. Lathan's efforts, though, saw him named to the All-NBLC second team.

January 3rd 2012 saw his best performance in his first NBLC season, scoring 32 points and grabbing 13 total rebounds against the Saint John Mill Rats. He had eleven more double-doubles in the season, including three in a row with two rebounding totals of fourteen boards.

After beginning the following season in Germany, Lathan moved back to Canada and became a part of the Halifax Rainmen franchise. He played 13 games, one of which saw him finish with a season-best 22 points and 13 rebounds against the Summerside Storm. With final averages of 8.8 points and 5.9 rebounds, he helped the Rainmen to finish second overall and reach the NBLC Finals, but couldn't help them capture the title, eventually losing in five games to the London Lightning.

He returned to Moncton in 2013, which proved to be a momentous signing for all involved. Finishing in double digits in all but five games, Lathan also recorded eight double-doubles and two triple-doubles, the first a 22-14-11 performance in a four-point loss to Saint John on February 10th. Just seven days later he scored 23 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and dished 10 assists against Halifax, though the team lost the game 99-89.

The Miracles reached the playoffs but lost in the first round 3-1 to the Storm. Lathan's numbers in the season were sensational enough to make the Miracles want to retain him in 2014. In his first game of the next season, he led the scoring with 26 points and followed that up with 20 points and 11 rebounds against Halifax.

He had his season-best 29 points on the last day of the regular season in Moncton's 112-103 win over the Orangeville A's. From there they moved on to the playoffs, but lost the series 3-1 to Halifax, his last campaign in Canada, departing the team with spots on the All-NBLC third team and All-Defensive team. He moved south to Mexico and Indios de Juarez before winning back-to-back MVP honours and the CIBACOPA championship with the Tijuana Zonkeys.

Lathan retired in 2018 and now serves as a development coach in addition to his full-time occupation as co-owner of a demolition and landscaping business in Chesapeake. With that his journey as a player was at an end, with a good amount of it spent in Canada and seeing plenty of success along the way. His early NBLC efforts left a lasting impression and he remains a part of Moncton basketball history to this day.

Picture: Dan Janisse